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Democracy63 quotes
Democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time. — Winston Churchill · 1947Democracy passes into despotism. — Socrates · 375 BCThe basis of a democratic state is liberty. — Aristotle · 350 BCParties must ever exist in a free country. — Edmund Burke · 1775For who can be secure of private right,
If sovereign sway may be dissolved by might?
Nor is the people's judgement always true:
The most may err as grossly as the few. — John Dryden · 1681What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War but the end of history as such: that is, the end point of man's ideological evolution and the universalism of Western liberal democracy. — Francis Fukuyama · 1989All 63 quotes →Political theory20 quotes
Democracy passes into despotism. — Socrates · 375 BCA monarchy is a merchantman which sails well, but will sometimes strike on a rock, and go to the bottom; a republic is a raft which will never sink, but then your feet are always in the water. — Fisher Ames · 1795When the masses get involved in reasoning, everything is lost. — Voltaire · 1766It is ESSENTIAL to such a government that it be derived from the great body of the society, not from an inconsiderable proportion, or a favored class of it; otherwise a handful of tyrannical nobles, exercising their oppressions by a delegation of their powers, might aspire to the rank of republicans, and claim for their government the honorable title of republic. — James Madison · 1788Remember Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes exhausts and murders itself. There never was a Democracy Yet, that did not commit suicide. — John Adams · 1814It rests now with ourselves alone to enjoy in peace and concord the blessings of self-government, so long denied to mankind: to shew by example the sufficiency of human reason for the care of human affairs and that the will of the majority, the Natural law of every society, is the only sure guardian of the rights of man. — Thomas Jefferson · 1790All 20 quotes →Politics17 quotes
Democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time. — Winston Churchill · 1947Democracy passes into despotism. — Socrates · 375 BCParties must ever exist in a free country. — Edmund Burke · 1775Democracy, which is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike. — Socrates · 375 BCIt is ESSENTIAL to such a government that it be derived from the great body of the society, not from an inconsiderable proportion, or a favored class of it; otherwise a handful of tyrannical nobles, exercising their oppressions by a delegation of their powers, might aspire to the rank of republicans, and claim for their government the honorable title of republic. — James Madison · 1788We may define a republic to be, or at least may bestow that name on, a government which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people, and is administered by persons holding their offices during pleasure, for a limited period, or during good behavior. — James Madison · 1788All 17 quotes →Freedom5 quotes
The basis of a democratic state is liberty. — Aristotle · 350 BCFor if liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost. — Aristotle · 350 BCAmong a people generally corrupt liberty cannot long exist. — Edmund Burke · 1777Since the turn of the century, the number of democracies in the world has grown fourfold. Human freedom is on the march, and nowhere more so than in our own hemisphere. Freedom is one of the deepest and noblest aspirations of the human spirit. People, worldwide, hunger for the right of self-determination, for those inalienable rights that make for human dignity and progress. — Ronald Reagan · 1985The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people. — George Washington · 1789Decline of democracy4 quotes
Among a people generally corrupt liberty cannot long exist. — Edmund Burke · 1777Democracies 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. — James Madison · 1787Remember Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes exhausts and murders itself. There never was a Democracy Yet, that did not commit suicide. — John Adams · 1814After each war there is a little less democracy to save. — Brooks Atkinson · 1951Downsides of democracy4 quotes
Well, the people have spoken-the bastards. — Dick Tuck · 1966Thus not only does democracy make every man forget his ancestors, but it hides his descendants and separates his contemporaries from him; it throws him back forever upon himself alone and threatens in the end to confine him entirely within the solitude of his own heart. — Alexis de Tocqueville · 1840A monarchy is a merchantman which sails well, but will sometimes strike on a rock, and go to the bottom; a republic is a raft which will never sink, but then your feet are always in the water. — Fisher Ames · 1795Democracies cannot dispense with hypocrisy any more than dictatorships can with cynicism. — Georges Bernanos · 1939Elections4 quotes
Free election of masters does not abolish the masters or the slaves. — Herbert Marcuse · 1964Elections of any kind are fucking bourgeois affectation. — Cleve Jones · 2008You see, I believe in the voters. They understand that elections aren't just popularity contests. They know this country was built by people just like me who work very hard and don't have everything handed to them on a silver spoon. — Tracy Flick · 1999We are not the masters. The people are the masters. We are the servants of the people... What the electorate gives, the electorate can take away. — Tony Blair · 1997Democratic theory3 quotes
In a racially divided society majority rule is not a reliable instrument of democracy. — Lani Guinier · 1992It is ESSENTIAL to such a government that it be derived from the great body of the society, not from an inconsiderable proportion, or a favored class of it; otherwise a handful of tyrannical nobles, exercising their oppressions by a delegation of their powers, might aspire to the rank of republicans, and claim for their government the honorable title of republic. — James Madison · 1788We may define a republic to be, or at least may bestow that name on, a government which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people, and is administered by persons holding their offices during pleasure, for a limited period, or during good behavior. — James Madison · 1788Cold War2 quotes
What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War but the end of history as such: that is, the end point of man's ideological evolution and the universalism of Western liberal democracy. — Francis Fukuyama · 1989Communism is based on the belief that man is so weak and inadequate that he is unable to govern himself, and therefore requires the rule of strong masters. Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with reason and justice. — Harry Truman · 1949Critique of democracy2 quotes
Democracy is the worst form of government. It is the most inefficient, the most clumsy, the most unpractical... It reduces wisdom to impotence and secures the triumph of folly, ignorance, claptrap, and demagogy... Yet democracy is the only form of social order that is admissible, because it is the only one consistent with justice. — Robert Briffault · 1930Democracy is beautiful in theory; in practice it is a fallacy. — Benito Mussolini · 1928Equality2 quotes
For if liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost. — Aristotle · 350 BCAs I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy. — Abraham Lincoln · 1858Human nature2 quotes
The democratic aspiration is no mere recent phase in human history. It is human history. It permeated the ancient life of early peoples. It blazed anew in the Middle Ages. It was written in Magna Charta. — Franklin D. Roosevelt · 1941Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary. — Reinhold Niebuhr · 1944Monarchy2 quotes
A monarchy is a merchantman which sails well, but will sometimes strike on a rock, and go to the bottom; a republic is a raft which will never sink, but then your feet are always in the water. — Fisher Ames · 1795The mystic reverence, the religious allegiance, which are essential to a true monarchy, are imaginative sentiments that no legislature can manufacture in any people. — Walter Bagehot · 1867Nature of democracy2 quotes
Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people. — Oscar Wilde · 1891Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time. — E.B. White · 1944Political progress2 quotes
In a democratic society like ours, relief must come through an aroused popular conscience that sears the conscience of the people's representatives. — Felix Frankfurter · 1962It is my firm conviction that the civilized world is tending toward republicanism, or government by the people through their chosen representatives, and that our own great Republic is destined to be the guiding star to all others. — Ulysses S. Grant · 1873Rule of law2 quotes
For who can be secure of private right,
If sovereign sway may be dissolved by might?
Nor is the people's judgement always true:
The most may err as grossly as the few. — John Dryden · 1681Our constitution is named a democracy, because it is in the hands not of the few but of the many. But our laws secure equal justice for all in their private disputes, and our public opinion welcomes and honors talent in every branch of achievement, not for any sectional reason but on grounds of excellence alone. And as we give free play to all in our public life, so we care the same spirit into our daily relations with one another... Open and friendly in our private intercourse, in our public acts we keep strictly within the control of law. We acknowledge the restraint of authority, and to the laws, more especially to those which offer protection to the oppressed and those unwritten ordinances whose transgression brings admitted shame. — Pericles · 430 BCSpread of freedom and democracy2 quotes
Since the turn of the century, the number of democracies in the world has grown fourfold. Human freedom is on the march, and nowhere more so than in our own hemisphere. Freedom is one of the deepest and noblest aspirations of the human spirit. People, worldwide, hunger for the right of self-determination, for those inalienable rights that make for human dignity and progress. — Ronald Reagan · 1985It is my firm conviction that the civilized world is tending toward republicanism, or government by the people through their chosen representatives, and that our own great Republic is destined to be the guiding star to all others. — Ulysses S. Grant · 1873The masses2 quotes
For who can be secure of private right,
If sovereign sway may be dissolved by might?
Nor is the people's judgement always true:
The most may err as grossly as the few. — John Dryden · 1681When the masses get involved in reasoning, everything is lost. — Voltaire · 1766America and the world1 quote
It is my firm conviction that the civilized world is tending toward republicanism, or government by the people through their chosen representatives, and that our own great Republic is destined to be the guiding star to all others. — Ulysses S. Grant · 1873American experiment1 quote
The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people. — George Washington · 1789American ideals1 quote
Our democratic faith is more than the creed of our country, it is the inborn hope of our humanity, an ideal we carry but do not own, a trust we bear and pass along. And even after nearly 225 years, we have a long way yet to travel. — George W. Bush · 2001Authoritarianism1 quote
Right conclusions are more likely to be gathered out of a multitude of tongues, than through any kind of authoritative selection. To many this is, and will always be, folly; but we have staked upon it our all. — Learned Hand · 1943Bureaucracy1 quote
Bureaucracy is not an obstacle to democracy but an inevitable complement to it. — Joseph Schumpeter · 1942Campaign promises1 quote
Campaign promises are-by long democratic tradition-the least binding form of human commitment. — Antonin Scalia · 2002Citizen and state1 quote
Would it not be easier
In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another? — Bertolt Brecht · 1956Communism1 quote
Communism is based on the belief that man is so weak and inadequate that he is unable to govern himself, and therefore requires the rule of strong masters. Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with reason and justice. — Harry Truman · 1949Communism vs. democracy1 quote
Communism is based on the belief that man is so weak and inadequate that he is unable to govern himself, and therefore requires the rule of strong masters. Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with reason and justice. — Harry Truman · 1949Democratic legitimacy1 quote
The basis of a democratic state is liberty. — Aristotle · 350 BCDemocratic triumphalism1 quote
Democracy is not tearing down; it is a building up. It is not denial of the divine right of Kings; it supplements that claim with the assertion of the divine right of all men. It does not destroy; it fulfills. It is the consummation of all theories of government, to the spirit of which all the nations of the Earth must yield. It is the great constructive course of the ages. — Calvin Coolidge · 1916End of history1 quote
What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War but the end of history as such: that is, the end point of man's ideological evolution and the universalism of Western liberal democracy. — Francis Fukuyama · 1989