“I think art has a right — not an obligation — to be difficult if it wishes. And, since people generally go on from this to talk about elitism versus democracy, I would add that genuinely difficult art is truly democratic.” PeopleIfsThinkingArtWishDifficultDemocracyGoes OnArt IsAddDemocraticObligationVersusElitism Author:Geoffrey Hill
“We talk about spreading democracy and freedom all over the world, but they are to us words rather than conditions. We haven't even got them here in America, and the farther we get into this war the farther we get away from democracy and freedom. Where is it leading us to, and when will it end? The war might stop this winter, but that is improbable. It may go on for fifty years or more. That also is improbable. The elements are too conflicting and confused to form any accurate judgment of its length. There may be a series of wars, one after another, going on indefinitely.” WorldYearsMayWarEndsMightAmericaFormDemocracyConditionsHavensGoes OnElementsJudgmentSeriesWinterConfusedFiftyGet AwayLengthAccurateImprobable Author:Charles Lindbergh
“A democracy depends upon people getting brighter all the time. Democracies are delicate. They're not just ipso facto and just go on and on.” PeopleDemocracyGoes OnDependsDelicateBrighter Author:Norman Mailer
“What we're doing is saying what happens with the establishment and how are we as ordinary human beings are used as pawns. What do we really know about what goes on! We think we are a democracy.... Are we? I'm not so sure.” ThinkingKnowsHumansHappensUsedHuman BeingsDemocracyGoes OnOrdinaryEstablishmentPawns Author:David Suchet
“The truth is that the materialistic paternalism of the present day, if allowed to go on unchecked, will rapidly make of America one huge "Main Street," where spiritual adventure will be discouraged and democracy will be regarded as consisting in the reduction of all mankind to the proportions of the narrowest and least gifted of the citizens. God grant that there may come a reaction, and that the great principles of Anglo-Saxon liberty may be rediscovered before it is too late!” IfsMayAmericaSpiritualLibertyPrinciplesDemocracyStreetsMankindAdventureHugeGoes OnCitizensTruth IsLateReactionsProportionToo LateGrantsGiftedDiscouragedReductionMaterialisticPresent DayMain StreetAnglo SaxonPaternalism Author:John Gresham Machen
“I'm sometimes impatient with young people who demonstrate at my meetings and who don't want an argument, but who just want to go on television as having been there and made a fuss. This doesn't mean I don't believe in participatory democracy.” PeopleWantBelieveMeanMadeSometimesYoungDemocracyTelevisionGoes OnArgumentMeetingsDon't BelieveImpatientParticipatory Democracy Author:Pierre Trudeau
“The Arab spring reminds me a bit of the decolonisation process where one country gets independence and everybody else wants it. How about us, when do we get it, when do we make our move? And you have a situation where someone has been in power for decades, where the integrity of elections, democracy and security have really not been debated or discussed and most people suspect that elections are rigged and that the democratic rotation that elections are supposed to ensure doesn't really happen. And when this goes on for a while you are sitting on a powder keg.” PeopleWantHas BeensCountryHappensMovingBitsProcessSituationDemocracySecurityGoes OnIntegritySpringSittingElectionIndependenceDemocraticDecadesSuspectsPowderRiggedRotationArab SpringKegs Author:Kofi Annan