“..(T)here are two opposite reasons for being a democrat. You may think all men so good that they deserve a share in the government of the commonwealth, and so wise that the commonwealth needs their advice. That is, in my opinion, the false, romantic doctrine of democracy. On the other hand, you may believe fallen men to be so wicked that not one of them can be trusted with any irresponsible power over his fellows.” ThinkingMenNeedsBelieveMayTwoReasonHandsGovernmentOpinionDemocracyWiseShareAdviceDeserveOppositesFellowsDemocratDoctrineFallenWickedTrustedIrresponsibleCommonwealthTwo Opposites Author:C. S. Lewis
“No one can learn tolerance in a climate of irresponsibility, which does not produce democracy. The act of tolerating requires a climate in which limits may be established, in which there are principles to be respected. That is why tolerance is not coexistence with the intolerable. Under an authoritarian regime, in which authority is abused, or a permissive one, in which freedom is not limited, one can hardly learn tolerance. Tolerance requires respect, discipline, and ethics.” MayDoePrinciplesDemocracySocietyProduceDisciplineLimitsAuthorityEthicsClimateToleranceRegimesCoexistenceIrresponsibility Author:Paulo Freire
“This leads to a question - if a great many people are for a certain project, is it necessarily right? If the vast majority is for it, is it even more certainly right? This, to be sure, is one of the tricky points of democracy. The minority often turns out to be right, and though one believes in the efficacy of the democratic process, one has also to recognize that the demand of the many for a particular project at a particular time may mean only disaster.” PeopleIfsBelieveMayMeanCertainTurnsProcessDemocracyParticularDemandProjectsMajorityDemocraticDisasterGreat MenMinoritiesTrickyEfficacyDemocratic Process Book:The Roosevelt I Knew Source: The Roosevelt I Knew
“Democracy may not prove in the long run to be as efficient as other forms of government, but it has one saving grace: it allows us to know and say that it isn't.” KnowsMayLongGovernmentRunningFormDemocracyGraceProveSavingEfficientLong RunsForms Of GovernmentSaving Grace Author:Bill Moyers
“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.” PeopleIfsMenMayIdeasCountryFactsRealityWould BeFatherWhiteDemocracyIssuesNiceLandColorVoteStealingWhite ManFoundingInitialsReally NiceSpeculators Author:Winona LaDuke
“The art of politics, under democracy, is simply the art of ringing it. Two branches reveal themselves. There is the art of the demagogue, and there is the art of what may be called, by a shot-gun marriage of Latin and Greek, the demaslave. They are complementary, and both of them are degrading to their practitioners. The demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots. The demaslave is one who listens to what these idiots have to say and then pretends that he believes it himself.” KnowsMenBelieveMayArtTwoDemocracyGunShotsDoctrineIdiotGreekBranchesLatinUntrueDegradingComplementaryLatin And Greek Author:H. L. Mencken
“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