Best 3411 quotes in «democracy quotes» category

I can't see democracy occurring by force - after an Iraqi war, because of the fallout from that.

I care deeply about women's rights. I have been an outspoken advocate for them for many years and as secretary of state I carried that message around the world because empowering women, providing for women's rights, their full participation in society, politics, the economy is not only a matter of individuals being able to chart their own futures. It's good for democracy and it's good for peace and prosperity.

I certainly hoped that in the Eastern part of Germany, what was just beginning to be called the German Democratic Republic, you would develop a system of socialism with freedom and democracy.

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

I define democracy as control by the people. Slaves are those who allow others to control their lives. Insofar as people succeed in solving their problems fairly and efficiently at a grassroots level, they retain control over their lives. Insofar as they delegate their problem solving to a higher authority, they lose control over their lives.

I didn't want to be either the cre`me de la cre`me or a martyr. I'd rather be a novelty, especially in a democracy that doesn't understand the language I write in.

I'd like people to be educated on the voting machines, making sure that our democracy isn't being hijacked by computer technology. There's no reason there can't be a paper trail on those machines.

I'd like to think that "President Obama believed deeply in this democracy and the American people.

I do believe there is absolutely space for legitimate debate in a liberal democracy about immigration selection, screening and integration.

I do believe that what I have called populist democracy is to be preferred to what I have called elitist democracy.

I do not admire 'the people,' as such. No one really does. Their folk wisdom is usually false, their instincts predatory. Even their sense of survival - so highly developed in the individual - goes berserk in the mass. A crowd is a fool.

I do not believe that the values which the Western democracies consider essential to civilization can survive in a world rent by the international anarchy of nationalism and the economic anarchy of competitive enterprise.

I do not regard myself as a Christian politician. I regard myself as a politician who just happens to think religion matters. I would be appalled, absolutely appalled, to think religion drove anyone's politics in a secular democracy like ours.

I do not think you can push public expenditure significantly above 60 per cent and maintain the values of a plural society with adequate freedom of choice. We are here close to one of the frontiers of social democracy.

I do not think an enormous permanent underclass is a very good thing to have if you're attempting to operate something that at least pretends sometimes to be a democracy.

I don't believe in democracy by bayonet.

I don't care if you're a liberal icon or a conservative icon. If you are not willing to be active in your democracy and do what is necessary to deal with our problems, I think you should be voted out.

I don't even know in American educational history classes how much of D-Day, World War II, all of that is taught versus how much of it is just ignored or looked back on with mockery or insincerity or what have you. But it was one of the most crucially important events in all of human history in terms of the preservation of freedom and liberty and the notion of democracy and things associated with it.

I don't have any formula for ousting a dictator or building democracy. All I can suggest is to forget about yourself and just think of your people. It's always the people who make things happen.

I don't know how we continue to do politics in a democracy if we simply can't listen to one another, if we simply close the door and say you are beyond redemption.

I dont personally feel that I have to save democracy and journalism.

I don't know much about Capitalism, but I do know about Democracy and freedom, and if Capitalism may change in many, many ways, I'm not really very much interested in Capitalism.

I don't know how you define 'neoconservatism,' but I think it's associated with trying to spread open political systems and democracy.

I don't want to get too nuanced, but we have the electoral college in the United States and that means we don't have direct democracy.

I don't see democracy getting better. I see democracy diminishing. More rules, more legislation. Eventually governments will see everything.

I don't want to get involved in Australian politics. You are a democracy, and Australian people should decide who they will vote for and I'm not mingling or interfering in that all.

I don't understand why it has to be either - or - either socialism or democracy. Why can't we combine things to get the best of each system?

If American democracy is to remain the greatest hope of humanity, it must continue abundantly in the faith of the Bible

I do think that the U.S. has an opportunity as a democracy to really exemplify what a religiously diverse society can be when it embraces the pluralism.

I'd rather vote for something I want and not get it than vote for something I don't want, and get it.

If a jerk burns the flag, America is not threatened, democracy is not under siege, freedom is not at risk.

If allowed to run free of the social system, capitalism will attempt to corrupt and undermine democracy, which is after all not a natural state.

If America has a civic religion, the First Amendment is its central article of faith.

I do think, from the other side, that George W. ush was somewhat of an innocent in his thinking about what Ronald Reagan did during the Cold War and by bringing democracy to Eastern Europe. I think he believed that he could do the same thing by bringing democracy - or Midland, Texas, really - to the Middle East. I truly think he felt it was possible. "I want to do for the Middle East what Reagan did for the Soviet Union.

I'd still like to be the President, of course, and I think the best way to do that would be to raise an army and seize the Capital. This strikes me as true democracy.

If an individual agrees with everybody, he lacks conviction; if he likes everybody and is everybody's friend, he is indifferent to one and all.

If a man went simply by what he saw, he might be tempted to affirm that the essence of democracy is melodrama.

If democracy is such a good thing, let's have more of it.

If Despotism failed only for want of a capable benevolent despot, what chance has Democracy, which requires a whole population of capable voters.

If democracy is justified in governing the state,then it must also be justified in governing economic enterprises, and to say that it is not justified in governing economic enterprises is to imply that it is not justified in governing the state.

If democracy were to be given any meaning, if it were to go beyond the limits of capitalism and nationalism, this would not come, if history were any guide, from the top. It would come through citizen's movements, educating, organizing, agitating, striking, boycotting, demonstrating, threatening those in power with disruption of the stability they needed.

I feel honor-bound to have a private relationship with my children. And that's not a judgment about anybody else and what they choose. And that's the beauty of living in a democracy, right?

I feel like there's not as many bands anymore. It's more like there's a front-person and a band supporting them, solo-type spirits that have a look, a vibe, a message, a voice and a style. I was talking about it with a journalist in Europe; he was like, "You're a democracy; everyone in the band does stuff." There's not a lot of bands I can think of that still have it so every member of the band has an equal say. I was like, dude, you're right. I can't really think of any right now. There might be one or two leaders in them, but there are not a lot of bands like that anymore.

If, in a democracy, the cognition of the majority is not much better than the cognition of the sheep, democracy will surely fail.

If every inhabitant of a liberal democracy believes in liberal democracy, then it doesn't matter what creed or colour they are.

If fighting for the legislatures meant a sacrifice of truth and nonviolence, democracy would not be worth a moment's purchase.

If factual information upsets you, then you are creating a world that is not embracing objective truths, and that's not how you advance a democracy.

If I like somebody else's tribe I'm going to promote the hell out of it. The whole thing is a democracy, and if somebody's more popular then good luck to them.

I first interviewed Fidel Castro 39 years ago. He was charming and fiercely guarded about his private life. He called our interviews 'fiery debates.' During our times together, he made clear to me that he was an absolute dictator and that he was a staunch opponent of democracy.

If information is the currency of democracy, then libraries are its banks.