DEMOCRACY
QUOTES
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Our
civilization is locked in the grip of an ideology -
corporatism. An ideology that denies and undermines
the legitimacy of individuals as the citizen in a democracy.
The particular imbalance of this ideology leads to a
worship of self-interest and a denial of the public
good. The practical effects on the individual are passivity
and conformism in the areas that matter, and non-conformism
in the areas that don't
-- John Ralston Saul
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The spread of democracy is a wonderful thing—it
is a necessary foundation for peace—and it can happen.
But it cannot be advanced by force, and still less
by the creation of a new empire, an idea that is
as unworkable as it morally mistaken. Empire, the
embodiment of force, violates equity on a global
scale. No lover of freedom can give it support.
It is especially contrary to the founding principles
of the United States.
-- Jonathan Schell
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Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be
governed no better than we deserve.
-- George Bernard
Shaw
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We
must add our voices to those who cry out that there
is a standard below which we will not allow human
beings to live, and that that standard is not at
the freezing nor starving point....In a democracy
all are responsible.
-- Hannah Solomon |
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Most of the poverty and misery in the world is
due to bad government, lack of democracy, weak
states, internal strife, and so on.
-- George Soros
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We
can no longer allow multi-nationalists to parade as
agents of progress and democracy in the newspapers,
even as they subvert it at the workplace.
—John Sweeney
Democracy
and capitalism have very different beliefs about the
proper distribution of power. One believes in a completely
equal distribution of political power, 'one man, one
vote', while the other believes that it is the duty
of the economically fit to drive the unfit out of business
and into economic extinction. 'Survival of the fittest'
and inequalities in purchasing power is what capitalist
efficiency is all about. Individuals and firms become
efficient to be rich. To put it in its starkest form,
capitalism is perfectly compatible with slavery. The
American South had such a system for more than two centuries.
Democracy is not comparable with slavery.
-- Lester Thurow
The
surface of American society is covered with a layer
of democratic paint, but from time to time one can see
the old aristocratic colours breaking through.
-- Alexis De Tocqueville
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Democracy is constructed like an edifice, freedom
by freedom, right by right, until it reaches its
snapping point.
-- Abdoulaye Wade
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"You cannot have peace without human rights, democracy,
gender equality, and clean water. Look to the
root causes of war and you will find, in their
reverse, the root foundations of peace."
-- Cora Weiss
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As free citizens in a political democracy, we
have a responsibility to be interested and involved
in the affairs of the human community, be it at
the local or the global level.
-- Paul Wellstone
“There
are three critical ingredients to democratic renewal
and progressive change in America: good public
policy, grassroots organizing and electoral politics.”
-- Paul Wellstone
Education
and democracy have the same goal: the fullest
possible development of human capabilities.
-- Paul Wellstone
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Democracy is itself, a religious faith. For some
it comes close to being the only formal religion
they have.
~ E. B. White
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I
still have great faith in democracy. I have great
belief in the power of community.
~
Terry Tempest
Williams
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The human heart is the first home of democracy.
It is where we embrace our questions: Can we be
equitable? Can we be generous? Can we listen with
our whole beings, not just our minds, and offer
our attention rather than our opinion? And do
we have enough resolve in our hearts to act courageously,
relentlessly, without giving up, trusting our
fellow citizens to join us in our determined pursuit—a
living democracy?
~
Terry Tempest
Williams
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We
have to speak out now on behalf of our community and
on behalf of the land and say they're the same thing
and say "No, we are not rolling over" and "No, this
is not a corporate enterprise." This is democracy in
the fullest sense and we must have regard and reverence
and those are the cornerstones of a just society.
~ Terry Tempest
Williams
I
feel like we are at a time of great creativity if we
choose to embrace it as such, if we choose to engage
the will of our imaginations and imagine another way
of being in the world. Democracy requires our participation.
The land trust movement in this country is a beautiful
example of how we can find hope within our own communities
because it bypasses government and creates a diverse
and truly bipartisan conversation on behalf of the land.
We dare to define community to include all life—rocks,
rivers, plants, and animals, alongside human beings.
Whether it is the Castle Rock Collaboration in the red
rock desert of southern Utah or the Blue Hill Heritage
Trust in coastal Maine, these small groups made up of
neighbors and friends from all walks of life are having
an extraordinary influence on our creation of an ethic
of place. I believe radical change occurs through the
care of our relationships.
~ Terry Tempest
Williams
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"The whole purpose of democracy is that we may
hold counsel with one another, so as not to depend
upon the understanding of one man."
-- Woodrow
Wilson
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In
our so-called democracy we are accustomed to give
the majority what they want rather than educate
them to understand what is best for them.
~Carter Woodson
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A free America... means just this: individual
freedom for all, rich or poor, or else this
system of government we call democracy is only
an expedient to enslave man to the machine and
make him like it.
-- Frank Lloyd
Wright
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I
have defended democracy, human rights, and brotherhood
between peoples. And I’ll keep doing so for as
long as I live.
-- Leyla Zana
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