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The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy; the best weapon of a democracy is openness.
Sep 17, 2025
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.
The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.
Democracy does not guarantee equality of conditions - it only guarantees equality of opportunity.
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."
Democracy needs support, and the best support for democracy comes from other democracies.
Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses.
Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.
Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time.
Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.
On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.
A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until a majority of voters discover that they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury.
You can never have a revolution in order to establish a democracy. You must have a democracy in order to have a revolution.
It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.
Democracy means government by discussion, but it is only effective if you can stop people talking.
Democracy! Bah! When I hear that I reach for my feather boa!
In this possibly terminal phase of human existence, democracy and freedom are more than just ideals to be valued - they may be essential to survival.
Everybody's for democracy in principle. It's only in practice that the thing gives rise to stiff objections.
Democracy consists of choosing your dictators, after they've told you what you think it is you want to hear.
The road to democracy may be winding and is like a river taking many curves, but eventually the river will reach the ocean.
Corruption is nature's way of restoring our faith in democracy.
Democracy is beautiful in theory; in practice it is a fallacy.
Education is a human right with immense power to transform
Education is a human right with immense power to transform. On its foundation rest the cornerstones of freedom, democracy and sustainable human development.
Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.
Democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largesse out of the public treasure. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefit from the public treasury, with the result that democracy always collapses over a loose fiscal policy, always to be followed by a dictatorship, and then a monarchy.
The first and continuing argument for the curtailment of working hours and the raising of the minimum age was that education was necessary in a democracy and working children could not attend school.
So, two cheers for Democracy: one because it admits variety and two because it permits criticism.
Education and democracy have the same goal: the fullest possible development of human capabilities.
Elections belong to the people. It's their decision.
Democracy is the process by which people choose the man who'll get the blame.
We'd all like to vote for the best man but he's never a candidate.
The ballot is stronger than the bullet.
Democracy is supposed to give you the feeling of choice, like Painkiller X and Painkiller Y. But they're both just aspirin.
Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage.
Democracy means government by the uneducated, while aristocracy means government by the badly educated.
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few.
You can't have five wolves and one sheep voting on what to have for dinner.
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 the holy name of liberty or democracy?
Propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state...
As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.
A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for democracy, but won't cross the street to vote in a national election.
The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment.
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.
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.
Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.
If Voting Changed Anything They'd Abolish It
Of the people, by the people, for the people.
Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.