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Democracy Quotes

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Democracy Quotes

“The honest and serious student of American history will recall that our Founding Fathers managed to write both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution without using the term 'democracy' even once. No part of any of the existing state Constitutions contains any reference to the word. [The men] who were most influential in the institution and formulation of our government refer to 'democracy' only to distinguish it sharply from the republican form of our American Constitutional system.”

“The reality is that the founding fathers were land speculators. The fact was that you couldn't vote in this country if you did not own land, and that was basically you had to be a white man who owned land. Now how did they get that land? They basically had to steal it from someone, and that would be probably the Indians. And so most of the initial founding fathers were, while they may have had some really nice ideas about democracy, they had a lot of issues with people of color. They had a lot of issues with people who held things that they coveted.”

People Ifs Men May Ideas Country Facts Reality Would Be Father White Democracy Issues Nice Land Color Vote Stealing White Man Founding Initials Really Nice Speculators

Author:Winona LaDuke

“At bottom, the Court's opinion is thus a rejection of the common sense of the American people, who have recognized a need to prevent corporations from undermining self-government since the founding, and who have fought against the distinctive corrupting potential of corporate electioneering since the days of Theodore Roosevelt. It is a strange time to repudiate that common sense. While American democracy is imperfect, few outside the majority of this court would have thought its flaws included a dearth of corporate money in politics.”

“Democracy is something America has never really practiced. Because the Founding Fathers hated two things: monarchy and democracy. They wanted a republic, a replica of the Roman or Venetian republics. They didn't even like the etymology of the word "democracy."”

Two Wanted America Father Democracy Hated Two Things Republic Founding Monarchy Replica Etymology

Author:Gore Vidal

“The simple fact is we do not live in a democracy. Certainly not the kind our Founding Fathers intended. We live in a corporate dictatorship represented by, and beholden to, no single human being you can reason with or hold responsible for anything.”

Humans Kind Reason Facts Father Human Beings Simple Democracy Responsible Corporate Dictatorship Founding Our Founding Fathers

Author:Steven Van Zandt

“In the months ahead, I will leave the Department of Justice, but I will never -- I will never -- leave the work. I will continue to serve and try to find ways to make our nation even more true to its founding ideals.”

Way Trying Father Politics Nations Leadership Work Justice History Democracy Policy Months Ideals Constitution Strategy Ideology Department Founding

Author:Eric Holder

“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.”

Want Should Country Government Running Economy Democracy Good Things Profit Prosperity Driven Our Country Corporations Operations Dependent Founding Free Market American Economy

Author:Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

“Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.”

Source: The Book of Abigail and John: Selected Letters of the Adams Family, 1762-1784

“The American founding is not just about a group of people, a group of men. It is about an ideal: Both a vision and understanding of the very essence of democracy, constitutional government, a representative republic, and the remarkably powerful concept of being endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights.”

“The ideas of ancient Greece helped inspire America's founding fathers as they reached for democracy. Our revolutionary ideas helped inspire Greeks as they sought their own freedom.”

Ideas America Father Democracy Inspire Ancient Greek Revolutionary Founding Greece Ancient Greece Revolutionary Ideas

Author:Barack Obama