“In the past the great majority of minority voters, in Ohio and other places that means African American voters, cast a large percentage of their votes during the early voting process.” MeanPastProcessVoteMajorityCastsAfrican AmericanVotingMinoritiesVotersPercentagesOhioAmerican Voters Author:John Lewis
“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 is essentially a means, a utilitarian device for safeguarding internal peace and individual freedom. As such it is by no means infallible or certain. Nor must we forget that there has often been much more cultural and spiritual freedom under an autocratic rule than under some democracies and it is at least conceivable that under the government of a very homogeneous and doctrinaire majority democratic government might be as oppressive as the worst dictatorship.” MeanGovernmentMightSpiritualCertainIndividualForgetDemocracyWorstMajorityDemocraticInternalsDevicesDictatorshipInfallibleIndividual FreedomUtilitarianSpiritual FreedomDemocratic GovernmentHomogeneousSafeguardingInternal Peace Author:Friedrich August von Hayek
“The artist must ever play and experiment with new means of arranging experience, even though the majority of his audience may prefer to remain fixed in their old perceptual attitudes.” MayMeanPlayArtistAttitudeAudienceMajorityExperimentsFixedArranging Book:Understanding media: the extensions of man Source: Understanding media: the extensions of man
“Nothing is good but mediocrity. The majority has settled that, and finds fault with him who escapes it at whichever end... To leave the mean is to abandon humanity.” MeanEndsHumanityMajorityFaultsAbandonMediocrity Book:Thoughts, Letters and Minor Works Source: Thoughts, Letters and Minor Works
“Courage is a terribly important value. It means you don’t run away when things are tough. It means you don’t turn away from a friend when he or she is in trouble. It means standing up against the majority opinion... There’s a lot of people who won’t wear it on their sleeve, or display it through some heroic act. But courage is having the strength to do what’s honorable and decent.” PeopleMeanImportantRunningValuesTurnsOpinionCourageTroubleToughStandingMajorityDecentHeroicRunning AwayDisplayHonorableSleevesHeroic ActsImportant ValuesMajority Opinion Author:George H. W. Bush
“The ethical regime [of the Jews] was quite definitely Ptolemaic, revolving around the small group of Jews, not the larger Gentile group and, accordingly, they learned to remain unimpressed by Gentile temporal power. Being unimpressed did not mean being unafraid material power might beat or starve one to death; it did mean refusing to surrender moral hegemony to the majority merely because it had power.” MeanMightMoralGroupsMaterialsBeatsMajorityJewSurrenderEthicalRegimesSmall GroupsUnafraidHegemonyGentilesRevolving Author:David Riesman
“I avoid the carwash when I think it might rain anytime in the near future, which means I drive around the majority of the time in a pollen and bird poop covered car. This presents a stand off between Neat Freakshow and Practical Pennypincher, and Neat Freak usually triumphs. And then it rains.” ThinkingMeanMightCarBirdRainMajorityPracticalsTriumphCoveredFreakNeatPoopPollen Author:Kristin Armstrong