Democracy Quotes

"And that is my definition of democracy, the right to be in a minority and not be suppressed"

Lee Harvey Oswald, Criminal

"Is America truly a democracy? Has America ever been a democracy with the institution of slavery?"

Tatyana Ali, Actress

"Democracy was being saved from Communism by getting rid of democracy"

Juan Bosch, Statesman

"Integrity is the lifeblood of democracy. Deceit is a poison in its veins"

Edward Kennedy, Politician

"I do think that we are facing a crisis in our democracy. As true patriots, each and every one of us has to speak up, speak out, and change those in charge. Our democracy depends upon it"

Robert Greenwald, Director

"There are some things the general public does not need to know and shouldn't. I believe democracy flourishes when the government can take legitimate steps to keep its secrets, and when the press can decide whether to print what it knows"

Katherine Graham, Publisher

"A basic tenet of a healthy democracy is open dialogue and transparency"

Peter Fenn, Journalist

"Democracy is constructed like an edifice, freedom by freedom, right by right, until it reaches its snapping point"

Abdoulaye Wade, Statesman

"Our brave soldiers and support personnel are engaged in a battle as important as any the United States has ever before waged, for the success of democracy in Iraq is a crucial test of the ideals this Nation was founded upon"

Virginia Foxx, Politician

"Propaganda is to a democracy what violence is to a dictatorship"

William Blum, Author

"The Western world, the free world, loses what it cherishes most, and that is freedom and liberty we've seen for a couple of hundred years in this grand experiment that we call democracy"

Tommy Franks, Soldier

"The American flag is the most recognized symbol of freedom and democracy in the world"

Virginia Foxx, Politician

"I tell you, in my opinion, the cornerstone of democracy is free press - that's the cornerstone"

Milos Forman, Director

"The Chinese have certain advantages. The fact that it's a single party government. But I do believe in the long run the fact that India is a functioning democracy committed to the rule of law. Our system is slow to move but I'm confident that once decisions are taken they are going to be far more durable"

Manmohan Singh, Statesman

"Democracy encourages the majority to decide things about which the majority is ignorant"

John Simon, Critic

"You do not export democracy through the Defense Department or the Defense Secretary. You do it through trade agreements, through the Department of Commerce and favorable agreements with our friends and neighbors across the globe"

Stephen F. Lynch, Politician

"We must take proactive steps to promote democracy and human rights abroad"

Sam Brownback, Politician

"Speaking as a Democrat, all my life battling for what I conceived to be Democracy, and what I conceived to be right, I am yet an American above Democracy"

Richard Parks Bland, Politician

"If we don't have an informed electorate we don't have a democracy. So I don't care how people get the information, as long as they get it. I'm just doing it my particular way and I feel lucky I can do it the way I want to do it"

Jim Lehrer, Journalist

"Republicans are pushing legislation forward that will improve the effectiveness of and bring more accountability to U.S. foreign assistance around the world and bring democracy even further into the light"

Virginia Foxx, Politician

"Nobody should be allowed to tinker with democracy. We will not discontinue the good works of the past government"

Manmohan Singh, Statesman

"I told the students that we can exert pressure without resorting to violence, and that we can move towards democracy without violence; that way, God will allow it"

Abdurrahman Wahid, Statesman

"We will not be intimidated or pushed off the world stage by people who do not like what we stand for, and that is, freedom, democracy and the fight against disease, poverty and terrorism"

Madeleine Albright, Statesman

"Democracy doesn't recognize east or west; democracy is simply people's will. Therefore, I do not acknowledge that there are various models of democracy; there is just democracy itself"

Shirin Ebadi, Lawyer

"We will not fail your expectations of us as a new nation dedicated to peace, democracy, and freedom"

Shigeru Yoshida, Politician

"The equality that we are all entitled to, as citizens of this democracy, can't be avoided by some religious dogma of a President who's is supposed to believe in the notion of separation of church and state. And he frankly doesn't"

Rosie O'Donnell, Comedian

"There is so much that can be done, you see, the assembly is about improving our democracy"

Ron Davies, Politician

"My submission to you is we're fighting the war on terror not overseas but in our own streets, and we'd be spending vast more fortunes to try to be a defensive country to protect ourselves rather than an offensive country to spread democracy wherever people yearn for it"

Johnny Isakson, Politician

"The capacity to combine commitment with skepticism is essential to democracy"

Mary Catherine Bateson, Scientist

"Under the leadership of this President, the state of the union is not strong. We are being pulled apart rather than pulling together. Our democracy is suffering from the choices being made, and yet we are offered the same tired excuses and unrealistic analyses"

Jose Serrano, Politician

"If our republican form of government is perishing because communications - the infrastructure of that republic - is under the yoke of international business how, at last, do we save it? We must build a confrontational movement to reclaim our democracy, a movement committed to active and sustained protest against the present order"

Mark Lloyd, Public Servant

"I also know that there have been many times in our history when the proximity of an election has induced exactly the kind of leadership and consensus-building that produce progress in our democracy"

Joe Lieberman, Politician

"On Jan. 30, millions of Iraqis will cast ballots in the country's first fair and free election in decades, marking continued progress in Iraq's transition toward a country built on the pillars of democracy and freedom for all"

Jim Gerlach, Politician

"It's important to address young people in the reopening of New Orleans. In rebuilding, let's revisit the potential of American democracy and American glory"

Wynton Marsalis, Musician

"A democracy is a volcano which conceals the fiery materials of its own destruction. These will produce an eruption and carry desolation in their way"

Fisher Ames, Statesman

"We are not directly involved in Syria. But we will be working with our partners in the European Union and at the United Nations to see if we can persuade the Syrian authorities to go, as I say, more in that direction of respect for democracy and human rights"

William Hague

"We need to remind our core supporters that we have not forgotten their concern with the way our democracy is being replaced by European bureaucracy in so many areas"

John Redwood, Politician

"It would be hard to ignore the absence of democracy in any Arab nation"

Jack Schwartz, Scientist

"Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East"

Jack Schwartz, Scientist

"Two hundred years ago, our Founding Fathers gave us a democracy. It was based upon the simple, yet noble, idea that government derives its validity from the consent of the governed"

Paul Tsongas, Politician

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