- Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country. ― Franklin D. Roosevelt
- To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain. ― Louis L’Amour
- The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. -Winston Churchill
- If we desire a society of peace, then we cannot achieve such a society through violence. If we desire a society without discrimination, then we must not discriminate against anyone in the process of building this society. If we desire a society that is democratic, then democracy must become a means as well as an end. ― Bayard Rustin
- Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on. ― Thurgood Marshall
- Corruption is a cancer: a cancer that eats away at a citizen’s faith in democracy, diminishes the instinct for innovation and creativity; already-tight national budgets, crowding out important national investments. It wastes the talent of entire generations. It scares away investments and jobs. ― Joe Biden
- Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.
―H. L. Mencken
- “Democracy, freedom and liberty do not make us more than what we are; it is our commitment that matters.” ― M.F. Moonzajer
- “A democracy without values easily turns into open or thinly disguised totalitarianism.” ― John Paul II
- “Success of democracy lies within the analytical thought of a common man.”
― M.H. Rakib
- Democracy must be built through open societies that share information. When there is information, there is enlightenment. When there is debate, there are solutions. When there is no sharing of power, no rule of law, no accountability, there is abuse, corruption, subjugation and indignation. ― Atifete Jahjaga
- Democracy is beautiful in theory; in practice it is a fallacy. ―Benito Mussolini
- Democracy is the road to socialism. ― Karl Marx
- Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few. – George Bernard Shaw Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few. ― George Bernard Shaw
- Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage. ― L. Mencken
- Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education. ―Franklin D. Roosevelt
- There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge. ― Isaac Asimov
- The objective I propose is quite simple to state: to foster the infrastructure of democracy – the system of a free press, unions, political parties, universities – which allows a people to choose their own way to develop their own culture, to reconcile their own differences through peaceful means. ―Ronald Reagan
- The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don’t have to waste your time voting. ― Charles Bukowski
- Elections remind us not only of the rights but the responsibilities of citizenship in a democracy. ―Robert Kennedy
- “System fails when people with ability don’t have authority and people with authority don’t have ability.” ― Amit Kalantri
- “The price of liberty is labor as well as vigilance.” ― Carl Scovel
- “Democracy is eternal and human. It dignifies the human being; it respects humanity.” ― Thomas Mann
- Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude. ― Alexis de Tocqueville
- As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. ― Abraham Lincoln
- Democracy is necessary to peace and to undermining the forces of terrorism. ― Benazir Bhutto
- Journalism is what maintains democracy. It’s the force for progressive social change. ―Andrew Vachss
- The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy. ― Charles de Montesquieu
- Democracy is not just an election, it is our daily life. ―Tsai Ing-wen
- Democracy is a device that insures we shall be governed no better than we deserve. ―George Bernard Shaw
- Democracy is indispensable to socialism. ―Vladimir Lenin
- People cannot be free unless they are willing to sacrifice some of their interests to guarantee the freedom of others. The price of democracy is the ongoing pursuit of the common good by all of the people. ― Saul Alinsky
- Integrity is the lifeblood of democracy. Deceit is a poison in its veins. ―Edward Kennedy
- The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy, but the best weapon of a democracy should be the weapon of openness. ―Niels Bohr
- All the blood is drained out of democracy – it dies – when only half the population votes. ―Hunter S. Thompson
- The rule of law is the basis for any democracy. And without the rule of law in democracy, you have chaos. ―Meles Zenawi
- The government, which was designed for the people, has got into the hands of the bosses and their employers, the special interests. An invisible empire has been set up above the forms of democracy. ―Woodrow Wilson
- Tyranny naturally arises out of democracy. ―Plato
- .. is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder; and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike. ―Plato
- Candor and accountability in a democracy is very important. Hypocrisy has no place. ―Alan Dershowitz
- While democracy in the long run is the most stable form of government, in the short run, it is among the most fragile. ―Madeleine Albright
- More socialism means more democracy, openness and collectivism in everyday life. ―Mikhail Gorbachev
- In democracy, every election is a learning process. You learn from every election, the one that you win and the one that you lose. And then you prepare for the next one. ―Salman Khurshid
- It’s not the voting that’s democracy; it’s the counting. ―Tom Stoppard
- A people inspired by democracy, human rights and economic opportunity will turn their back decisively against extremism. ―Benazir Bhutto
- Democracy’s a very fragile thing. You have to take care of democracy. As soon as you stop being responsible to it and allow it to turn into scare tactics, it’s no longer democracy, is it? It’s something else. It may be an inch away from totalitarianism. ―Sam Shepard
- Democracy is liberty – a liberty which does not infringe on the liberty nor encroach on the rights of others; a liberty which maintains strict discipline, and makes law its guarantee and the basis of its exercise. This alone is true liberty; this alone can produce true democracy. ―Chiang Kai-shek
- Democracy is a daring concept – a hope that we’ll be best governed if all of us participate in the act of government. It is meant to be a conversation, a place where the intelligence and local knowledge of the electorate sums together to arrive at actions that reflect the participation of the largest possible number of people. ― Brian Eno
- Our only real hope for democracy is that we get the money out of politics entirely and establish a system of publicly funded elections. ― Noam Chomsky
- It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried. ―Winston Churchill
- Democracy is not a spectator sport, it’s a participatory event. If we don’t participate in it, it ceases to be a democracy. ―Michael Moore
- In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme. ―Aristotle
- Concentration of executive power, unless it’s very temporary and for specific circumstances, let’s say fighting world war two, it’s an assault on democracy. ―Noam Chomsky
- In a democracy, dissent is an act of faith. ― William Fulbright
- Our way is straight and clear – the building up of a socialist democracy at home, with freedom and prosperity for all, and the maintenance of world peace and friendship with all nations abroad. ―Lal Bahadur Shastri
- “People shouldn’t be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.” ― Alan Moore
- “What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or in the holy name of liberty or democracy?” ― Mahatma Gandhi
- “Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”
― Abraham Lincoln
- “Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it.” ― Howard Zinn
- “A vote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.” ― Theodore Roosevelt
- “Secrecy begets tyranny.” ― Robert A. Heinlein
- “The ballot is stronger than the bullet.” ― Abraham Lincoln
- “A great democracy has got to be progressive or it will soon cease to be great or a democracy.” ― Theodore Roosevelt
- “it is the people who control the Government, not the Government the people.”
― Winston S. Churchill
- “Democracy is not merely a form of Government. It is primarily a mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated experience. It is essentially an attitude of respect and reverence towards our fellow men.” ― B.R. Ambedkar
- “It is not enough to be electors only. It is necessary to be law-makers; otherwise those who can be law-makers will be the masters of those who can only be electors.”
― B.R. Ambedkar
- “Equality may be a fiction but nonetheless one must accept it as a governing principle.” ― B.R. Ambedkar
- “Democracy arose from men’s thinking that if they are equal in any respect, they are equal absolutely.” ― Aristotle
- “It is the purpose of government to see that not only the legitimate interests of the few are protected but that the welfare and rights of the many are conserved.” ― Franklin D. Roosevelt
- “My definition of democracy is – A form and a method of Government whereby revolutionary changes in the social life are brought about without bloodshed.
That is the real test. It is perhaps the severest test. But when you are judging the quality of the material you must put it to the severest test.” ― B.R. Ambedkar
- “Youths are the life blood of any nation.” “Youths are our arrows to the future.”
― Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha
- “To safeguard democracy the people must have a keen sense of independence, self-respect and their oneness, and should insist upon choosing as their representatives only such persons as are good and true.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
- “Politics doesn’t corrupt people, people corrupt politics.” ― Amit Kalantri
- “Democracy is even more important for what it prevents than for what it provides.”
― Clive James
- “What is democracy? It is what it says, the rule of the people. It is as good as the people are, or as bad.” ― Mary Renault,
- “Democracy is not perfect. It is an imperfection that the majority choose to support.”
― Debasish Mridha
- “Empower yourselves with a good education, then get out there and use that education to build a country worthy of your boundless promise.” ― Michelle Obama
- “The great political problem in our modern democracy is how to induce our leaders to lead.” ― Edward L. Bernays
- “Democracy can exist only in the countries where people are brave! Coward nations always live under the authoritarian regimes!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan
- “There is no middle ground for moral choice and political decision because by being on a safe side, any indecisive act poses a moral hazard to the individual freedom and integrity of a democratic society. ―Danny Castillones Sillada
