democracy quotes

“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. ”

— Winston Churchill

“Democracy and socialism are means to an end, not the end itself. ”

— Jawaharlal Nehru

“As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.”

— Abraham Lincoln

“Democracy is the process by which people choose the man who'll get the blame.”

— Bertrand Russell

“Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty. ”

“Democracy... is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder; and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike.”

“Democracy passes into despotism.”

“Tyranny naturally arises out of democracy.”

“Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.”

“Democracy arises out of the notion that those who are equal in any respect are equal in all respects; because men are equally free, they claim to be absolutely equal.”

“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. ”

“If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in government to the utmost. ”

“Nothing can be more abhorrent to democracy than to imprison a person or keep him in prison because he is unpopular. This is really the test of civilization. ”

— Winston Churchill

“It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.”

— Winston Churchill

“Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.”

— Franklin Roosevelt

“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 Roosevelt

“Democracy is the road to socialism.”

“A democracy which makes or even effectively prepares for modern, scientific war must necessarily cease to be democratic. No country can be really well prepared for modern war unless it is governed by a tyrant, at the head of a highly trained and perfectly obedient bureaucracy.”

— Aldous Huxley

“The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy, but the best weapon of a democracy should be the weapon of openness.”

“You can't put democracy and freedom back into a box. ”

— George Washington Bush

“The worst thing that can happen in a democracy - as well as in an individual's life - is to become cynical about the future and lose hope.”

— Hillary Clinton

“Democracy is still a radical idea in a world where we often confuse images with realities, words with actions. ”

— Hillary Clinton

“I've never understood multi-party democracy. It's hard enough with two parties. ”

— Hillary Clinton

“Democracy don't rule the world, You'd better get that in your head; This world is ruled by violence, But I guess that's better left unsaid. ”

“Israel was not created in order to disappear - Israel will endure and flourish. It is the child of hope and the home of the brave. It can neither be broken by adversity nor demoralized by success. It carries the shield of democracy and it honors the sword of freedom.”

— John Fitzgerald Kennedy

“The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.”

— John Fitzgerald Kennedy

“No party has a monopoly on wisdom. No democracy works without compromise. But when Governor Romney and his allies in Congress tell us we can somehow lower our deficit by spending trillions more on new tax breaks for the wealthy - well, you do the math. I refuse to go along with that. And as long as I'm President, I never will.”

— Barack Obama

“A pure democracy is a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person.”

— James Madison

“The advantage of the internet is that it has taken away the charade of politics. China has heard of democracy and people know about certain concepts they wouldn't have previously.”

— Marilyn Manson

“Our country's founders cherished liberty, not democracy.”

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