Home / Topics / Democracy Quotes

Democracy Quotes

Browse 5972 quotes about Democracy.

Democracy Quotes

“All such men are, or ought to be, agreed, that simple governments are despotisms; and of all despotisms, a democracy, though the least durable, is the most violent.”

Men Government Simple Democracy Ought Violent Despotism

Book:The influences of democracy on liberty, property, and the happiness of society, considered

Source: The influences of democracy on liberty, property, and the happiness of society, considered

“Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotisms.”

Politics Democracy Society Philosophical Historical Republic Decline Despotism Degenerates

Author:Aristotle

“The faith in reason insists that the poverty of democracy offers a greater hope for mankind than the prosperity that attaches itself to aristocracy or despotism.”

Reason Poverty Democracy Greater Mankind Offers Prosperity Aristocracy Despotism

Author:Bill Vaughan

“Democracy has two excesses to avoid: the spirit of inequality, which leads to an aristocracy, or to the government of a single individual; and the spirit of extreme equality, which conducts it to despotism, as the despotism of a single individual finishes by conquest.”

Two Wisdom Government Spirit Politics Individual Economy Democracy Extremes Inequality Liberalism Excess Conquest Aristocracy Despotism Democracies Have

Author:Baron de Montesquieu

“Monarchy hardens into despotism. Aristocracy contracts into oligarchy. Democracy expands into the supremacy of numbers.”

Numbers Democracy Contracts Monarchy Aristocracy Despotism Supremacy Oligarchy

Book:The History of Freedom (and other Essays)

Source: The History of Freedom (and other Essays)

“The worst of all States is the democratic State.”

States Democracy Worst Democratic Tyranny Despotism All State

Author:Pierre Corneille

“All modes of government are failures. Despotism is unjust to everybody, including the despot, who was probably made for better things. Oligarchies are unjust to the many, and ochlocracies are unjust to the few. High hopes were once formed of democracy; but democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people. It has been found out. I must say that it was high time, for all authority is quite degrading. It degrades those who exercise it, and degrades those over whom it is exercised.”

People Mean Has Beens Made Government Found Democracy Exercise Authority Including Unjust Despotism Degrade Degrading Oligarchy Despots

Author:Oscar Wilde

“Despotism may be able to do without religion, but democracy cannot.”

May Able Christian Religious Democracy Despotism

Author:Alexis de Tocqueville

“Despotism subjects a nation to one tyrant; democracy, to many.”

Nations Democracy Subjects Tyrants Despotism

Book:Desultory Thoughts and Reflections

Source: Desultory Thoughts and Reflections

“After many unhappy experiments in the direction of an ideal Republic, it was found that what may be described as a Despotism tempered by Dynamite provides, on the whole, the most satisfactory description of ruler - an autocrat who dares not abuse his autocratic power.”

May Whole Found Democracy Ideals Abuse Dare Experiments Unhappy Description Republic Rulers Despotism Dynamite

Book:The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan

Source: The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan

“It is quite possible that we will soon come to live under some sort of global despotism, enlightened or not. This is not a nice prospect. And there is only one way of avoiding that this happens: to establish a global democracy. And it is not too late to strive for such a democracy, of a straightforward populist nature, where people on the globe elect a world parliament, which in turn elects a world government.”

People World Way Government Happens Turns Democracy Nice Late Strive One Way Too Late Enlightened Globes Avoiding Parliament Straightforward Despotism World Government Populist

Author:Torbjorn Tannsjo