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.

I happen to be a big fan of Western civilization; I think it beats the hell out of tyranny and starvation.

A man without a vote is man without protection.

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.

A Constitution should be short and obscure.

I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

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.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy.

On account of being a democracy and run by the people, we are the only nation in the world that has to keep a government four years, no matter what it does.

It is just as important that business keep out of government as that government keep out of business.

No policy that does not rest upon some philosophical public opinion can be permanently maintained.

In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.

Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.

Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage.

Democracy passes into despotism.

Finality is not the language of politics.

I confess I enjoy democracy immensely. It is incomparably idiotic, and hence incomparably amusing.

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

Our brand of democracy is hard. But I can promise that a year from now, when I no longer hold this office, I’ll be right there with you as a citizen – inspired by those voices of fairness and vision, of grit and good humor and kindness that have helped America travel so far.

Those who oppose reform will also tell you that under our plan, you won’t get to choose your doctor – that some bureaucrat will choose for you. That’s also not true.

Government’s first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.

It is clearly better that property should be private, but the use of it common; and the special business of the legislator is to create in men this benevolent disposition.

Self-government can succeed only through an instructed electorate.

Beauty is a short-lived tyranny.

We will not be intimidated or pushed off the world stage by people who do not like what we stand for, and that is, freedom, democracy and the fight against disease, poverty and terrorism.

Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good.

Democracy is worth dying for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man.

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

I think the notion that we have all the democracy that money can buy strays so far from what our democracy is supposed to be.

Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as a heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors.

I always say the strength of democracy lies in criticism. If there is no criticism, that means there is no democracy. And if you want to grow, you must invite criticism. And I want to grow; I want to invite criticism.

Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few.

It is amazing that people who think we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, and medication somehow think that we can afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, medication and a government bureaucracy to administer it.

The government, whether state or central, is elected. That means we have a responsibility to elect the right kind of leaders.

I don’t see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its people. The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves.

Unless a president can protect the privacy of the advice he gets, he cannot get the advice he needs.

It is unnatural for a majority to rule, for a majority can seldom be organized and united for specific action, and a minority can.

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

Men govern nothing with more difficulty than their tongues, and can moderate their desires more than their words.

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.

The spirit of democracy is not a mechanical thing to be adjusted by abolition of forms. It requires change of heart.

In the 21st century, the countries that thrive will be the ones where citizens know their voices will be heard because the institutions are transparent.

Freedom of opinion can only exist when the government thinks itself secure.

It’s not tyranny we desire; it’s a just, limited, federal government.

In a democracy, in a functioning democracy, what would be happening is that popular organizations, unions, political groupings, others would be developing their programs, putting them forth, insisting that their representatives implement those programs.

Where an excess of power prevails, property of no sort is duly respected. No man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties, or his possessions.

The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home.

A whole people with the ballot in their hands possess the most conclusive and unlimited power ever entrusted to humanity.

We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.

For more than four decades, the Libyan people have been ruled by a tyrant – Moammar Gaddafi. He has denied his people freedom, exploited their wealth, murdered opponents at home and abroad, and terrorized innocent people around the world – including Americans who were killed by Libyan agents.

Although we resolutely supported the armed struggle against Batista’s tyranny, we were, on principle, opposed to any terrorist action that could cause the death of innocent people.

We have the oldest written constitution still in force in the world, and it starts out with three words, ‚We, the people.‘

The very design of neoliberal principles is a direct attack on democracy.

I do think that Magna Carta and international law are worth paying some attention to.

Public opinion is the thermometer a monarch should constantly consult.

Tyrants have always some slight shade of virtue; they support the laws before destroying them.

How easy it is to govern when one follows a system of consulting the will of the people and one holds as the only norm all the actions which contribute to the well being of the people.

Ballots are the rightful and peaceful successors to bullets.

Africans require, want, the franchise on the basis of one man one vote. They want political independence.

Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.