Quotessence
Home / Topics / Democracy Quotes

Democracy Quotes

Browse 5972 quotes about Democracy.

Related topics

PeopleIfsGovernmentPoliticalWorldThinkingCountryFreedomMenStatesDemocraticShouldWayBelieveMeanAmericaElectionHumansNationsRightsDemocracies HavePoliticsCitizensNeedsWarFormWantLibertyKnowsVoteGivingWellsLawMajorityLongHas BeensImportantMayPartyInterestUnitedDoeJusticePresidentIndividualIdeasValuesYearsFirstsSocialKindPrinciplesEconomicHuman RightsRealTryingUnited StatesPolicyFightingProcessTodayDictatorshipIndiaProblemTyrannyAmerican DemocracyCapitalismFactsI BelieveVotingInstitutionsStillsTwoConstitutionForms Of GovernmentEconomyEndsForceSelfMilitaryPoliticianVoting And DemocracyLeaderMadeReasonSaidOpinionWould BeCommonDevelopmentOpportunityRunningSocialismWesternCultureHelpingRepublicCommunityEqualOrdermore

Democracy Quotes

“Obama is not just a powerful speaker, but a thinker engaged with the ideas of his country and his age--this argument by historian James Kloppenberg should therefore fascinate anyone interested in American politics or how ideas shape public life. Tracing the influences of Obama's family, educational, and work experiences on his ideas, Reading Obama locates a unique individual in the crosscurrents of American democracy and continuing fights over American ideals.”

ShouldIdeasCountryAgeFightingReadingIndividualPowerfulDemocracyInfluenceShapesUniqueIdealsArgumentEducationalEngagedThinkerHistorianSpeakersContinuingAmerican PoliticsPublic LifeAmerican DemocracyTracingUnique IndividualsWork Experience
Author:Martha Minow
Create image

“There is a vulgar persuasion, that the ignorance of women, by favoring their subordination, ensures their utility. 'Tis the same argument employed by the ruling few against the subject many in aristocracies; by the rich against the poor in democracies; by the learned professions against the people in all countries.”

PeopleCountryPoorDemocracyRichSubjectsIgnoranceArgumentProfessionPersuasionEmployedVulgarRulingUtilityAristocracyElitismSubordination
Book:Course of popular lectures as delivered by Frances Wright: with three addresses on various public occasions, and a reply to the charges against the French reformers of 1789. Second edition
Create image

“The two great points of difference between a democracy and a republic are: first, the delegation of the government, in the latter,to a small number of citizens elected by the rest; secondly, the greater number of citizens and greater sphere of country over which the latter may be extended.”

FirstsMayTwoCountryGovernmentDifferencesNumbersDemocracyGreaterCitizensLatterRepublicSpheresSmall NumbersDelegation
Book:The Federalist Papers and the Constitution of the United States: The Principles of the American Government
Create image

“But the question is, do we care enough? Do we care enough to keep standing up for the country that we know is possible, even if it's hard, and even if it's politically uncomfortable? Do we care enough to sustain the passion and the pressure to make our communities safer and our country safer? Do we care enough to do everything we can to spare other families the pain that is felt here today?”

IfsKnowsCountryHardEnoughRealityCareTodayPainPassionPoliticsFeltCommunityLeadershipJusticeDemocracyViolenceHuman NaturePolicyEthicsStandingPressureHuman RightsOur CountryIdeologyUncomfortableSparesCivilityDisobedienceOur CommunityCivil Disobedience
Author:Barack Obama
Create image

“I view the United States, today, much like East Berlin. And I'm off the grid. I've tried for 20 years to warn the country about the Democrats and Republicans, and nobody's listening.”

YearsCountryStatesTodayPoliticalPoliticsCommunityUnitedViewsPartyTechnologyUnited StatesDemocracyGenerationsPolicyListeningRepublicanEthicsDemocratHuman RightsIndividualityTerrorismEastIdeologyFree SpeechPolitical PartiesDisobedienceBerlinCivil DisobedienceGridsEast Berlin
Author:Jesse Ventura
Create image

“Corporations are a good thing. But corporations should not be running our government... They have driven the American economy since its founding, and the prosperity of our country is largely dependent on the free operation of corporations. But some corporations don't want free markets, and they don't want democracy. They want profits.”

WantShouldCountryGovernmentRunningEconomyDemocracyGood ThingsProfitProsperityDrivenOur CountryCorporationsOperationsDependentFoundingFree MarketAmerican Economy
Author:Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Create image

“That's really a part of my nature , it goes along with autonomy and independence of action - it's just that I don't identify with the local group, no matter what it is, whether it's the human species or the American democracy, the nation, the country, religions, political parties, nothing. None of these have my allegiance because I'm not really concerned with what they do. I don't feel a part of any of this.”

FeelsHumansCountryMatterActionPoliticalNationsPartyDemocracyGroupsConcernedNo Matter WhatIndependenceSpeciesLocalsPolitical PartiesAutonomyAllegianceHuman SpeciesAmerican Democracy
Author:George Carlin
Create image

“But how can you speed up the transformation of society in a country as large as Russia? Those sounding the moral outcry are the ones who are trying to dictate their standards from the outside. Of course, that isn't the right way to go either. One cannot impose democracy from the other side of national borders, which is something we ourselves experienced during the communist era. The West's policies toward Eastern Europe, the Helsinki process - none of that really helped us.”

WayTryingCountryCoursesProcessSidesMoralDemocracyPolicyStandardsEuropeTransformationWestSpeedRussiaErasBordersCommunistRight WayEasternEastern EuropeNational BordersHelsinki
Author:Vaclav Klaus
Create image

“I think it's something that the citizenry needs to be vigilant about - participating in democracy, and that includes issues like what's going on and how much secrecy and transparency there should be. That's an on-going thing - in a democracy you want checks and balances and oversight, but you need a covert agency to protect the country. It's a very tricky balance and I think it changes as the world changes and I think we all need to be mindful of that.”

ThinkingWorldWantNeedsShouldCountryDemocracyIssuesBalanceProtectChecksAgencySecrecyTransparencyTrickyParticipatingVigilantCitizenryOversightCovert
Author:Matt Damon
Create image

“For me George Bush is just as scary, if not more. Because he doesn't look like a scary guy, because he's shaved and he has a tie on. But he's a real fanatic - a fanatic by definition is the one who says, if you are not with me, you are against me, and that's exactly the position he takes. The mullahs in my country, it's obvious. But a guy who says I am the president of the biggest secular democracy in the world and asks people to read the Bible and make crusades and says he's God's best friend - this guy is even more scary because you don't see it at the beginning.”

PeopleIfsWorldLooksRealCountryGuyAsksPresidentDemocracyPositionDefinitionsObviousScaryTiesSecularThis GuyFanaticsCrusadesMullahs
Author:Marjane Satrapi
Create image

“Ever since our country came into existence, we have always assumed that we are better than the Arabs. But we are noticing that these are no longer backward people. Suddenly we are confronted with a new situation - the fact that the Arab world maybe thinks just as democratically as we do, perhaps even more democratically. Where does this leave us? After all, we're supposed to be the only democracy in the Middle East!”

PeopleThinkingWorldDoeCountryFactsExistenceSituationDemocracyMiddleEastOur CountrySupposed To BeMiddle EastNoticingArab WorldNew SituationsDemocracy In The Middle East
Author:Tom Segev
Create image

“The establishment can't admit [that] it is human rights violations that make ... countries attractive to business - so history has to be fudged, including denial of our support of regimes of terror and the practices that provide favorable climates of investment, and our destabilization of democracies that [don't] meet [the] standard of service to the transnational corporation.”

HumansCountryPracticeSupportDemocracyRightsStandardsInvestmentClimateIncludingHuman RightsTerrorDenialCorporationsAttractiveEstablishmentRegimesViolationTransnational Corporations
Author:Edward S. Herman
Create image

“The United States has given frequent and enthusiastic support to the overthrow of democracy in favor of "investor friendly" regimes. The World Bank, IMF, and private banks have consistently lavished huge sums on terror regimes, following their displacement of democratic governments, and a number of quantitative studies have shown a systematic positive relationship between U.S. and IMF / World Bank aid to countries and their violations of human rights.”

WorldHumansCountryStatesGovernmentGivenUnitedNumbersUnited StatesSupportDemocracyStudyRightsHugeDemocraticHuman RightsTerrorFollowingAidsFavorsFriendlyInvestorsRegimesConsistentlyEnthusiasticViolationSystematicDisplacementDemocratic GovernmentImfWorld BankViolation Of Human RightsPositive Relationship
Author:Edward S. Herman
Create image

“As a form of government, imperialism does not seek or require the consent of the governed. It is a pure form of tyranny. The American attempt to combine domestic democracy with such tyrannical control over foreigners is hopelessly contradictory and hypocritical. A country can be democratic or it can be imperialistic, but it cannot be both.”

DoeCountryGovernmentFormDemocracyPureDemocraticTyrannyConsentImperialismContradictoryForeignersForms Of GovernmentHypocriticalConsent Of The Governed
Book:Dismantling the Empire: America's Last Best Hope
Create image

“Democracy is the eagle on the back of a dollar bill, with 13 arrows in one claw, 13 leaves on a branch, 13 tail feathers, and 13 stars over its head - this signifies that when the white man came to this country, it was bad luck for the Indians, bad luck for the trees, bad luck for the wildlife, and lights out for the American eagle.”

MenCountryLightStarsWhiteDemocracyTreeLuckBillsDollarsBranchesOver ItTailsWhite ManFeathersEaglesArrowsWildlifeBad LuckClawsDollar BillsAmerican Eagle
Author:Johnny Carson
Create image

“In the United States we have all across this country, we have dozens of Halakha courts, in which particularly observant Jews can take these issues of family law to an orthodox Court and have that judge, judge for them. As long as the courts don't violate the laws of the land and as long as there's a room for appeal should one or two parties disagree with the verdict, I don't see how this would have anything to do with being incompatible with what we refer to as Western ideas of democracy.”

ShouldLongTwoIdeasCountryStatesLawUnitedRoomsPartyUnited StatesDemocracyIssuesLandJudgingCourtWesternJewAppealsOrthodoxDisagreeDozenVerdictObservantFamily Law
Author:Mark Durie
Create image

“Far from being the product of a democratic revolution and of an opposition to English institutions, the constitution of the United States was the result of a powerful reaction against democracy, and in favor of the traditions of the mother country.”

CountryStatesMotherUnitedResultsPowerfulUnited StatesDemocracyProductsRevolutionTraditionConstitutionInstitutionsDemocraticFavorsReactionsOppositionConstitution Of The United StatesMother Country
Author:Lord Acton
Create image