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Opinion Quotes

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Opinion Quotes

“..(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.”

“The intolerant man will not rely on persuasion, or on the worth of the idea. He would deny to others the very freedom of opinion or of dissent which he so stridently demands for himself. He cannot trust democracy.”

Men Ideas Opinion Democracy Demand Speech Deny Rely Persuasion Dissent

Book:The Pursuit of Justice

Source: The Pursuit of Justice

“In Islam, democracy is included and people are free in Islam, both in expressing their opinions and their actions, until there is no conspiracy and they don't bring up ideas which would deviate Iranian generation.”

People Ideas Action Opinion Democracy Generations Islam Conspiracy Iranian Deviate

Author:Ruhollah Khomeini

“We are a democracy, and there is only one way to get a democracy on its feet in the matter of its individual, its social, its municipal, its State, its National conduct, and that is by keeping the public informed about what is going on.There isnot a crime, there isnot a dodge, there is not a trick, there is not a swindle, there is not a vice which does not live by secrecy.Get these things out in the open, describe them, attack them, ridicule them in the press, and sooner or later public opinion will sweep them away.”

Way Doe Matter States Individual Social Opinion Democracy Feet Crime Presses Vices Tricks One Way Live By Sooner Or Later Ridicule Public Opinion Secrecy Dodge

Author:Joseph Pulitzer

“The conception that government should be guided by majority opinion makes sense only if that opinion is independent of government. The ideal of democracy rests on the belief that the view which will direct government emerges from an independent and spontaneous process. It requires, therefore, the existence of a large sphere independent of majority control in which the opinions of the individuals are formed.”

“For us, democracy is a question of human dignity. This includes the political liberties, the right to freely express our views, the right to criticize and to influence opinion. It embraces the right to health and work, to education and social security.”

Humans Political Social Views Liberty Opinion Democracy Influence Security Dignity Embrace Criticize Social Security Human Dignity

Author:Olof Palme

“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.”

“The successful politician owes his power to the fact that he moves within the accepted framework of thought, that he thinks and talks conventionally. It would be almost a contradiction in terms for a politician to be a leader in the field of ideas. His task in a democracy is to find out what the opinions held by the largest number are, not to give currency to new opinions which may become the majority view in some distant future.”

“I cannot help concurring with the opinion that an absolute democracy, no more than absolute monarchy, is to be reckoned among the legitimate forms of government.”

Helping Government Form Opinion Democracy Absolutes Monarchy Forms Of Government Absolute Monarchy

Book:Edmund Burke: Selected Writings and Speeches

Source: Edmund Burke: Selected Writings and Speeches

“There are only two forces that can withstand the force of the war's spirit when it seizes upon the world. The one is the force of an independently thinking, free, and articulate democracy. The other is the force of an instructed and enlightened public opinion.”

Thinking World Two War Spirit Force Peace Opinion Democracy Enlightened Public Opinion

Author:Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, Baroness Pethick-Lawrence

“Because the rich are generally few in number, while the poor are many, they appear to be antagonistic, and as the one or the other prevails they form the government. Hence arises the common opinion that there are two kinds of government - democracy and oligarchy.”

Kind Two Government Form Poor Common Numbers Opinion Democracy Rich Arise Oligarchy

Book:Complete Works of Aristotle, Volume 2: The Revised Oxford Translation

Source: Complete Works of Aristotle, Volume 2: The Revised Oxford Translation

“Tradition is only democracy extended through time; it may be defined as an extension of the franchise. Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who are merely walking about. All democrats object to men being disqualified by accident of birth; tradition objects to their being disqualified by accident of death. Democracy tells us not to neglect a good man's opinion, even if he is our father.”

“Majorities can be wrong, majorities can overrule rights of minorities. If majorities ruled, we could still have slavery. 80% of the population once enslaved 20% of the population. While run by majority rule that is ok. That is very flawed notion of what democracy is. Democracy has to take into account several things - proportionate requirements of people, not just needs of the majority, but also needs of the minority. Majority, especially in societies where the media manipulates public opinion, can be totally wrong and evil. People have to act according to conscience and not by majority vote.”

“Is there any other democracy where the voters are as spoiled as they are in the United States? Especially, of course, in certain states, such as Iowa and New Hampshire, where the old joke is literally true about the citizens who say they haven't yet formed an opinion about a candidate because they've only met the fellow a few times.”

States Certain Courses United Opinion United States Democracy Havens Citizens Mets Jokes Fellows Candidates Voters Law Enforcement Spoiled Iowa Hampshire New Hampshire Old Jokes

Author:Michael Kinsley

“Perhaps the best known, and certainly the most vaunted, "discovery" of modern public opinion research is the indifference and ignorance of a majority of the electorate in western democracies.”

Known Opinion Democracy Modern Ignorance Research Discovery Majority Western Indifference Public Opinion Electorate

Book:Democracy ancient and modern

Source: Democracy ancient and modern

“Democracy's real test lies in its respect for minority opinion.”

Real Lying Opinion Democracy Tests Minorities

Author:Ellery Sedgwick

“Under democracy, individual liberty of opinion and action is jealously guarded.”

Action Individual Liberty Opinion Democracy Guarded Individual Liberty Jealously

Book:India of My Dreams

Source: India of My Dreams

“The only force at the disposal of democracy is that of public opinion.”

Force Opinion Democracy Public Opinion

Book:The Mind of Mahatma Gandhi

Source: The Mind of Mahatma Gandhi

“Highly intelligent and well-informed people disagree on every political issue. Therefore, intelligence and knowledge are useless for making decisions, because if any of that stuff helped, then all the smart people would have the same opinions. So use your "gut instinct" to make voting choices. That is exactly like being clueless, but with the added advantage that you'll feel as if your random vote preserved democracy.”

“Democracy is just a filler for textbooks! Do you actually believe that public opinion influences the government?”

Believe Government Opinion Democracy Influence Public Opinion Textbooks Fillers

Author:Voltaire

“Democracy, finally, rests on a higher power than Parliament. It rests on an informed and cultivated and alert public opinion. The Members of Parliament are only representatives of the citizens. They cannot represent apathy and indifference. They can play the part allotted to them only if they represent intelligence and public spiritness.”

Ifs Play Opinion Democracy Higher Citizens Members Indifference Apathy Representatives Parliament Public Opinion Higher Power Members Of Parliament

Author:Eric Williams

“I call government that works the best for people open society, which is basically just another more general term for a democracy that is - you call it maybe a liberal democracy. It's not only majority rule but also respect for minorities and minority opinions and the rule of law. So it's really a sort of institutional democracy.”

People Government Law Term Opinion Democracy Majority Minorities Rule Of Law Majority Rule Liberal Democracy

Author:George Soros

“I confess to considerable doubts about the eventual stability of democracy, unless buttressed by constitutional safeguards and a general climate of opinion which thoroughly understands the case for liberty in general”

Liberty Opinion Cases Democracy Doubt Climate Stability

Author:Lionel Robbins, Baron Robbins

“Democracy is for infidels. A real Muslim is not a democrat because he doesn't care about the opinions of majorities and minorities don't interest him. He is only interested in what Islam says.”

Real Care Interest Opinion Democracy Majority Democrat Islam Minorities Infidel He Doesn't Care Majority And Minority

Author:Abdul Sattar Abu Risha

“A well-functioning democracy has a culture of free speech, not simply legal protection of free speech. It encourages independence of mind. It imparts a willingness to challenge prevailing opinion through both words and deeds. Equally important, it encourages a certain set of attitudes in listeners, one that gives a respectful hearing to those who do not embrace the conventional wisdom. In a culture of free speech, the attitude of listeners is no less important than that of speakers.”

“We say that if America has entered the war to make the world safe for democracy, she must first make democracy safe in America. How else is the world to take America seriously, when democracy at home is daily being outraged, free speech suppressed, peaceable assemblies broken up by overbearing and brutal gangsters in uniform; when free press is curtailed and every independent opinion gagged? Verily, poor as we are in democracy, how can we give of it to the world?”

Ifs World Giving Firsts War Home America Poor Opinion Democracy Broken Safe Speech Independent Presses Free Speech Brutal Uniforms Assembly Gangsters Outraged Broken Up Free Press Overbearing

Author:Emma Goldman

“Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths. Theoretic politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would, at the same time, be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions.”

Source: The Fœderalist: A Collection of Essays, Written in Favor of the New Constitution, as Agreed Upon by the Fœderal Convention, September 17, 1787. Reprinted from the Original Text. With an Historical Introduction and Notes