Quotes About Citizenship

Human beings are by nature political animals

All agree that the just in distributions must accord with some sort of worth, but what they call worth is not the same; supporters of democracy say it is free citizenship, some supporters of oligarchy say it is wealth, others good birth, while supporters of aristocracy say it is virtue.

One who surpasses his fellow-citizens in virtue is no longer a part of the city. Their law is not for him, since he is a law to himself.

It is always a joy to meet an American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believes that the folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes.

To abstain from politics is in itself a political attitude.

My business is that of every other good citizen - to uphold the law.

A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in ... And how many want out.

A city which belongs to just one man is no true city

A State for one man is no State at all.

And whoever places a friend above the good of his own country, he is nothing.

My city too, not yours alone!

And whoever places a friend above the good of his own country, he is nothing: I have no use for him. Zeus my witness, Zeus who sees all things

People who develop the habit of thinking of themselves as world citizens are fulfilling the first requirement of sanity in our time.

Whenever she walked along the streets of Manhattan, she looked at all the different faces coming toward her and, despite their different features and colors, she regarded them all as Americans.

A strong sense of citizenship--a new concept in a new nation--was essential to securing the Union. And when he used the word American in this section of the manuscript, he underlined the term twice for emphasis.

Ultimately, the overarching prescription from President Eisenhower was similar to what Washington had counseled as the ultimate check and balance: vigorous citizenship. In a democracy, political father figures are never the last sources of responsibility. 'Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry,' Ike advised, 'can compel the proper meshing of the huge industry and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

GW: 'Vigilant citizens are required to keep parties focused on serving the people rather than the unprincipled pursuit of power that divides in order to conquer

If individuals do not occupy their legitimate position, then it will be occupied by a god or a king or a coalition of interest groups. If citizens do not exercise the powers confered by their legitimacy, others will do so. (I - The Great Leap Backwards)

Politics is the force that channels social, cultural, and economic powers and makes them imminent in our lives. Abstaining from politics is like turning your back on a beast when it is angry and intent on ripping your guts out.

I've heard over and over that people don't vote on the basis of foreign policy.

Everyone who receives the protection of society owes a return for the benefit.

Everyone who receives protection from the society owes a return for the benefit.

Free institutions are next to impossible in a country made up of different nationalities. Among a people without fellow-feeling, especially if they read and speak different languages, the united public opinion, necessary to the working of representative government, cannot exist. ... it is in general a necessary condition of free institutions that the boundaries of governments should coincide in the main with those of nationalities.

Free institutions are next to impossible in a country made up of different nationalities