Democracy Quotes

"I think Russians today have a distorted picture of capitalism, liberal democracy and market economy"

"America's support for human rights and democracy is our noblest export to the world"

"But the West is trying to weaken Islam from outside and inside. They attack our people and invade our countries from outside, and they weaken us from within with ideas like secularism, liberalism and democracy. This is all designed to contaminate our pure Islam"

Abu Bakar Bashir, Activist

"The majority of the world's Muslims do not believe that terrorism is a legitimate strategy or that Islam is incompatible with democracy"

Gijs de Vries, Politician

"Trade creates jobs and lifts people out of poverty. And when that happens, societies stabilize and grow. And there is nothing like a stable society to fight terrorism and strengthen democracy, freedom and rule of law"

Dennis Hastert, Politician

"The Communists automatically violated the daily practices of democracy to which I was accustomed"

Elia Kazan, Director

"Capitalism and the market are presented as synonymous, but they are not. Capitalism is both the enemy of the market and democracy"

David Korten, Activist

"The good news, to relieve all this gloom, is that a democracy is inherently self-correcting. Here, the people are sovereign. Inept political leaders can be replaced. Foolish policies can be changed. Disastrous mistakes can be reversed"

Theodore C. Sorensen, Lawyer

"Free nations of the world cannot allow Taiwan, a beacon of democracy, to be subdued by an authoritarian China"

Nick Lampson, Politician

"Moreover, as we live in an era of the ascendancy of democracy and human rights, we must see that Taiwan has been a vibrant democracy with a democratically elected president and legislature"

Nick Lampson, Politician

"Iraq can emerge as a beacon of hope and democracy in the Middle East, and the world, with our help"

Chris Chocola, Politician

"To my mind, there is a solution which has to do with democracy, because democratic governments are subject to the will of the people. So, if the people will it, you can actually create international institutions through the democratic states"

George Soros, Businessman

"Everybody now seems to be talking about democracy. I don't understand this. As I think of it, democracy isn't like a Sunday suit to be brought out and worn only for parades. It's the kind of a life a decent man leads, it's something to live for and to die for"

Dalton Trumbo, Novelist

"And when we draw lines in the sand with regard to certain basic things that are vital to our interest and to the interest of democracy and our friends around the world, we have to be willing to back that up"

Fred Thompson, Politician

"I chose America as my home because I value freedom and democracy, civil liberties and an open society"

George Soros, Businessman

"Reading builds the educated and informed electorate so vital to our democracy"

Brad Henry, Politician

"Dishonesty in government is the business of every citizen. It is not enough to do your own job. There's no particular virtue in that. Democracy isn't a gift. It's a responsibility"

Dalton Trumbo, Novelist

"The Paris Commune was first and foremost a democracy. The government was a body elected by universal suffrage"

C. L. R. James, Journalist

"It is a paradox that far too few Americans participate in the wonderful ritual of democracy that we call Election Day"

Brad Henry, Politician

"Only a knowledgeable, empowered and vocal citizenry can perform well in democracy"

David Brin, Author

"Democracy is necessary to peace and to undermining the forces of terrorism"

Benazir Bhutto, Leader

"Democracy means that people can say what they want to. All the people. It means that they can vote as they wish. All the people. It means that they can worship God in any way they feel right, and that includes Christians and Jews and voodoo doctors as well"

Dalton Trumbo, Novelist

"When Bush says democracy, I often wonder what he's referring to"

Angela Davis, Activist

"Democracy is never a thing done. Democracy is always something that a nation must be doing. What is necessary now is one thing and one thing only that democracy become again democracy in action, not democracy accomplished and piled up in goods and gold"

Archibald MacLeish, Poet

"Our country's founders cherished liberty, not democracy"

Ron Paul, Politician

"We're going to have to forgive a great deal of the Soviet era debt. There's no question about that. Let's face up to that. We're going to have to put in money if Russia is really going to consolidate a democracy"

Jeffrey Sachs, Economist

"The best Governments of the World have bin composed of Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Democracy"

Algernon Sydney, Politician

"The stakes are very high for us in Haiti. We have many important interests there. Perhaps the most important to me is our interest in the promotion of democracy in this hemisphere"

Warren Christopher, Statesman

"Sir, I am a republican; and I desire to see this House observe the principles of that democracy which is ever on the lips of its members, and which, I hope, is in their hearts, as I know and feel it is in mine, and mean it shall be in my conduct"

Caleb Cushing, Diplomat

"I believe in the power of democracy. We need to work together to build a democratic and free society"

Volodymyr Zelensky, President

"The great thing about our system of democracy is when they call you for jury duty, you have to come... It's an honor and a privilege. I was called and I've got to be here"

Antonio Villaraigosa, Politician

"Democracy is the wholesome and pure air without which a socialist public organization cannot live a full-blooded life"

Mikhail Gorbachev, Statesman

"Abortion on demand, throughout the full nine months of a pregnancy, for virtually any reason, became public policy in the United States of America. No other developed democracy had, or has, such a permissive abortion regime"

Robert Casey, Politician

"I've always been very interested in the struggle for human rights, not just here but abroad, and I wanted to be an inside player in that struggle. I wanted to make the laws reflect our ideals and ideas in this democracy that is America"

Leah Ward Sears, Judge

"Democracy is too good to share with just anybody"

Nigel Rees, Author

"More socialism means more democracy, openness and collectivism in everyday life"

Mikhail Gorbachev, Statesman

"For about ten years now, the struggle for democracy and the respect of human rights has been in the focus point - if not a commodity - of political groups aiming to rise to power"

Omar Bongo, Statesman

"We can no longer allow multinationals to parade as agents of progress and democracy in the newspapers, even as they subvert it at the workplace"

John J. Sweeney, Businessman

"I can't talk about foreign policy like anyone who's spent their life reading and learning foreign policy. But as a citizen in a democracy, it's very important that I participate in that"

Ron Silver, Actor

"Being 'at the mercy of legislative majorities' is merely another way of describing the basic American plan: representative democracy"

Robert Bork, Public Servant

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