Democracy quotes

Democracy

2.6K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.

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Democracy quotes (page 32 of 129)

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Gore Vidal Writer, Essayist, Playwright
Democracy

"I'd still like to be the President, of course, and I think the best way to do that would be to raise an army and seize the Capital. This strikes me as true democracy."

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Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Democracy

"Julian Assange shouldn't be the subject of a grand jury hearing, he should be given a medal. He's contributing to democracy."

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Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Democracy

"I think a decent society should protect rights to private property within limits, but not concentrations of private power that infringe on the freedom and rights of others, including exploitation of labor, and that convert any democratic forms into what have been called sometimes "hierarchical democracies," like ours, in which some have vastly greater influence over public policy than others. Spelling all of this out is a complex matter that raises many issue and problems that are impossible to address here."

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Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Democracy

"...dissent, protest, presures of a wide variety that escape elite control can modify the calculus of costs of planners, and offer a slight hope that Washington can be compelled to permit at least some steps towards "justice, freedom and democracy" within its domains."

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Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Democracy

"Putting it in plain terms, the general public must be reduced to its traditional apathy and obedience, and driven from the arena of political debate and action, if democracy is to survive."

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Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Democracy

"One of the most interesting reactions to come out of 1968 was in the first publication of the Trilateral Commission, which believed there was a 'crisis of democracy' from too much participation of the masses."

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Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Democracy

"Our only real hope for democracy is that we get the money out of politics entirely and establish a system of publicly funded elections."

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Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Democracy

"Democracy was regarded as entering into a crisis in the 1960s. The crisis was that large segments of the population were becoming organized and active and trying to participate in the political arena."

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Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Democracy

"Plainly elites in America don't want democracy. And why should they? Democracy is always harmful to elite interests. Almost by definition."

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Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Democracy

"There's kind of a hidden point which isn't being brought out, and that is that it is inconceivable that the U.S. would permit democracy in the Middle East, and for a very simple reason. Just take a look at polls of Arab public opinion. They exist. You can't find them in the press, but they exist from prestigious polling agencies. Released by major institutions. And what they show is that if there was democracy in the Middle East, the entire U.S. program for domination of the Middle East would be down the tube."

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Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Democracy

"It turned out that [Bill] Clinton had authorized Texaco to illegally ship oil to the military junta [in Haiti] during a time when we were supposedly opposing the military junta and supporting democracy instead."

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Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Democracy

"In a democracy the day when you pay your taxes, April 15, would be a day of celebration, because you're getting together to provide resources for the programs you decided on."

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Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Democracy

"We could not bring democracy to South Vietnam at a cost that we were willing to accept. So it was a disaster. That' is the left extreme."

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