Democracies Have Quotes

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  No man is good enough to govern another man without the other's consent.

  Abraham Lincoln

  Leadership, Witty, Men

  85 Copy quote
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  The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

  H. L. Mencken

  Freedom, Government, Libertarian Party

  H.L. Mencken (2012). “Mencken Chrestomathy”, p.29, Vintage

  183 Copy quote

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• A modern democracy is a tyranny whose borders are undefined; one discovers how far one can go only by traveling in a straight line until one is stopped.

  Norman Mailer

  Freedom, Tyrants, Democracy

  1963 The Presidential Papers, preface.

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• No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.

  Mark Twain

  Life, Trust, Freedom

  113 Copy quote

• Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule—and both commonly succeed, and are right.

  H. L. Mencken

  Freedom, War, Party

  Minority Report : H.L. Mencken's Notebooks (222), 1956.

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• Democracy consists of choosing your dictators, after they've told you what you think it is you want to hear.

  Alan Coren

  Freedom, Thinking, Democracy

  "Biography/Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Wise, Wisdom, Men

  Thomas Jefferson (2011). “Jefferson on Freedom: Wisdom, Advice, and Hints on Freedom, Democracy, and the American Way”, p.65, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

  113 Copy quote

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  Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

  Margaret Mead

  Inspirational, Life, Friendship

  Margaret Mead, Robert B. Textor (2005). “The World Ahead: An Anthropologist Anticipates the Future”, p.12, Berghahn Books

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• When great changes occur in history, when great principles are involved, as a rule the majority are wrong.

  Eugene V. Debs

  Freedom, Majority Rule, Democracy

  Speech at trial, Cleveland, Ohio, 12 Sept. 1918 See Ibsen 16; Sydney Smith 14

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  We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.

  Abraham Lincoln

  Freedom, Men, Congress And The President

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• The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority.

  Lord Acton

  Majority Rule, Evil, Democracy

  John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton (2016). “The History of Freedom (and other Essays)”, p.103, Jazzybee Verlag

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• Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Trust, Freedom, Educational

  Thomas Jefferson, Jerry Holmes (2002). “Thomas Jefferson: A Chronology of His Thoughts”, p.106, Rowman & Littlefield

  92 Copy quote

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• Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.

  H. L. Mencken

  Freedom, Ignorance, Majority Rule

  "Notes On Journalism". Chicago Tribune, September 19, 1926.

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• I understand democracy as something that gives the weak the same chance as the strong.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Strong, Freedom, Giving

  9 Copy quote

• The spirit of democracy cannot be established in the midst of terrorism, whether governmental or popular.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Freedom, Democracy, Spirit

  Mahatma Gandhi (1959). “India of My Dreams”, p.27, Rajpal & Sons

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• That government is best which governs least.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Freedom, Government, Libertarian Party

  Civil Disobedience (1849) See Ralph Waldo Emerson 29; O'Sullivan 1; Shipley 1

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• If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Education, Freedom, War

  Letter to Colonel Charles Yancey, 6 January 1816

  56 Copy quote

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• Naturally, the common people don't want war ... but after all it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country.

  Hermann Goring

  Country, Peace, Military

  Interview in Göring's jail cell, April 18, 1946. "Nuremberg Diary". Book by Gustave Gilbert, 1947.

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• Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few.

  George Bernard Shaw

  Freedom, Government, Voting

  "The Collected Works of George Bernard Shaw".

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• It's not the voting that's democracy; it's the counting.

  Tom Stoppard

  Fake People, Freedom, Government

  Jumpers act 1 (1972) See Nast 1; Somoza 1

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• Democracy is beautiful in theory; in practice it is a fallacy.

  Benito Mussolini

  Beautiful, Practice, Democracy

  to Edwin L James of the New York Times, 1928.

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• There can be no daily democracy without daily citizenship.

  Ralph Nader

  Freedom, Democracy, Citizens

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• The 20th century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance. The growth of democracy; the growth of corporate power; and the growth of corporate propaganda against democracy.

  Alex Carey

  Wisdom, Australia Day, Political

  Alex Carey, Andrew Lohrey (1997). “Taking the Risk Out of Democracy: Corporate Propaganda Versus Freedom and Liberty”, p.18, University of Illinois Press

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• Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.

  P. J. O'Rourke

  Inspirational, Funny, Money

  P. J. O'Rourke (2007). “Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government”, p.24, Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

  122 Copy quote

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• Dictatorships are one-way streets. Democracy boasts two-way traffic.

  Alberto Moravia

  Motivational, Freedom, Two

  23 Copy quote