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Quotes about democracy

108 quotes from 83 people

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If you’re tired of arguing with strangers on the internet, try to talk with one in real life. If something needs fixing, lace up your shoes and do some organizing. If you’re disappointed by your elected officials, grab a clipboard, get some signatures, and run for office yourself.
Barack Obamaborn 1961Barack Obama’s Farewell Address (2017)
- Politics
- Responsibility
Democracy does not require uniformity. Our founders quarreled and compromised, and expected us to do the same. But they knew that democracy does require a basic sense of solidarity⁠—the idea that for all our outward differences, we are all in this together; that we rise or fall as one.
Barack Obamaborn 1961Barack Obama’s Farewell Address (2017)
Our Constitution is a remarkable, beautiful gift. But it’s really just a piece of parchment. It has no power on its own. We, the people, give it power⁠—with our participation, and the choices we make.
Barack Obamaborn 1961Barack Obama’s Farewell Address (2017)
- Government
- Responsibility
It is my considered judgment that my oath to support and defend the Constitution constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not.
Mike Penceborn 1959Official statement prior to engaging in his role in the counting of the votes of the Electoral College (6 January 2021)
- Voting
Democracy is a process by which people are free to choose the man who will get the blame.
Laurence J. Peter1919–1990
Democracy, which is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike.
Plato429–349 BCThe Republic (c. 375 BC), Book VIIIIn context
- Government
There is no one to talk to since Mahatma Gandhi died.
Vladimir Putinborn 1952Responding to a question “Former Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder called you a ‘pure democrat’. Do you consider yourself such?” June 4, 2007
- Politics
The other day, someone told me the difference between a democracy and a people’s democracy. It’s the same difference between a jacket and a straitjacket.
Ronald Reagan1911–2004Remarks at Human Rights Day event (10 December 1986)
- Clever Jabs
I believe that Facebook represents one of the gravest threats to democracies around the world, and I am amazed that we have allowed our freedoms to be taken away by technology companies’ greed for growth and revenues.
Maria Ressaborn 1963How to Stand Up to a Dictator (2022)
- Technology
We must be the great arsenal of Democracy.
Franklin D. Roosevelt1882–1945The Great Arsenal of Democracy (1940)
- War & Peace
There can be no constitutional democracy in any community which denies to the individual his freedom to speak and worship as he wishes.
Franklin D. Roosevelt1882–1945Fireside Chat (24 June 1938)
- Freedom
The government is us; we are the government, you and I.
Theodore Roosevelt1858–1919Speech at Asheville, North Carolina (9 September 1902)
- Government
Every law the people has not ratified in person is null and void⁠—is, in fact, not a law.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau1712–1778The Social Contract (1762), Book III, Chapter XVIn context
- Laws
To acquire immunity to eloquence is of the utmost importance to the citizens of a democracy.
Bertrand Russell1872–1970Power: A New Social Analysis (1938), Ch. 18: The Taming of Power
- Talking
Democracy has to be judged not just by the institutions that formally exist but by the extent to which different voices from diverse sections of the people can actually be heard.
Amartya Senborn 1933The Idea of Justice (2009), p. xiii