It is almost universally felt that when we call a country democratic we are praising it; consequently, the defenders of every kind of regime claim that it is a democracy, and fear that they might have to stop using the word if it were tied down to any one meaning.

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

No man will ever carry out of the Presidency the reputation which carried him into it.

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.

I don’t vote. I don’t do no voting.

The human being is in the most literal sense a political animal, not merely a gregarious animal, but an animal which can individuate itself only in the midst of society.

I would not give half a guinea to live under one form of government other than another. It is of no moment to the happiness of an individual.

A constitution is the arrangement of magistracies in a state.

We don’t believe in planners and deciders making the decisions on behalf of Americans.

If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.

We are a forward-looking people, and we must have a forward-looking government.

The government of Israel doesn’t like the kinds of things I say, which puts them into the same category as every other government in the world.

Fifty years of isolating Cuba had failed to promote democracy, setting us back in Latin America. That’s why we restored diplomatic relations, opened the door to travel and commerce, and positioned ourselves to improve the lives of the Cuban people.

Those who govern, having much business on their hands, do not generally like to take the trouble of considering and carrying into execution new projects. The best public measures are therefore seldom adopted from previous wisdom, but forced by the occasion.

India is a democracy; it is in our DNA.

I think it’s important to vote.

The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.

Ninety-nine percent of the men and women of the FBI… are just professionals. I don’t want Americans, if an FBI agent knocks on their door, to have to be worried about well, is he a Democrat or a Republican? He’s an FBI agent.

Any government that supports, protects or harbours terrorists is complicit in the murder of the innocent and equally guilty of terrorist crimes.

Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation.

Anger is wonderful. It keeps you going. I’m angry about bankers. About the government.

Governments are not representative. They have their own power, serving segments of the population that are dominant and rich.

In Kosovo, the U.S. has chosen a course of action that escalates atrocities and violence. It is also a course of action that strikes a blow against the regime of international order, but which offers the weak at least some protection from predatory states.

No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth!

I am concerned about the whole man. I am concerned about what the people, using their government as an instrument and a tool, can do toward building the whole man, which will mean a better society and a better world.

In a democracy, allegations will never improve situations. So, I’m against allegations, but I always welcome criticism.

We have to do more than just elect a new President if we truly want to change this country.

Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate, now what’s going to happen to us with both a House and a Senate?

Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.

There will be no end to the troubles of states, or of humanity itself, till philosophers become kings in this world, or till those we now call kings and rulers really and truly become philosophers, and political power and philosophy thus come into the same hands.

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

The people are the only legitimate fountain of power, and it is from them that the constitutional charter, under which the several branches of government hold their power, is derived.

So confident am I in the intentions, as well as wisdom, of the government, that I shall always be satisfied that what is not done, either cannot, or ought not to be done.

The biggest problem that we have is that California is being run now by special interests. All of the politicians are not anymore making the moves for the people, but for special interests and we have to stop that.

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

I would just like to say something, ladies and gentlemen. Something that I think is very important. It is that, you, we – we own this country. We – we own it. It is not you owning it, and not politicians owning it. Politicians are employees of ours.

To acquire immunity to eloquence is of the utmost importance to the citizens of a democracy.

The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out… without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.

All the blood is drained out of democracy – it dies – when only half the population votes.

The Chinese government wants me to say that for many centuries Tibet has been part of China. Even if I make that statement, many people would just laugh. And my statement will not change past history. History is history.

I believe the Republicans have never thought that democracy was anything but a tribal myth.

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

All impeachments, I guess, are political.

I found this national debt, doubled, wrapped in a big bow waiting for me as I stepped into the Oval Office.

The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over the goverment.

Personally, I’d like to see more of our leaders take a technocratic approach to solving our biggest problems.

I love being in the United States Senate.

Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting.

If you make any money, the government shoves you in the creek once a year with it in your pockets, and all that don’t get wet you can keep.

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

Libertarian socialism is properly to be regarded as the inheritor of the liberal ideals of the Enlightenment.

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

There will be no whitewash in the White House.

Elections should be held on April 16th- the day after we pay our income taxes. That is one of the few things that might discourage politicians from being big spenders.

How can a president not be an actor?

Democracy is only a dream: it should be put in the same category as Arcadia, Santa Claus, and Heaven.

Even if the politics needed doesn’t exist today, we still need to use our voices to make sure that the people in power are focused on the right things. Because this is a democracy, and in a democracy, people are the ones who run the country.

You’re not just voting for an individual, in my judgment, you’re voting for an agenda. You’re voting for a platform. You’re voting for a political philosophy.

An individual’s refusal to carry out the criminal acts of his government sets the stage, in the most effective way possible, for the attempt to demonstrate the criminal nature of these acts.

I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it.

The art of government is the organisation of idolatry.