If there was one decision I would overrule, it would be ‚Citizens United.‘ 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.

There is too much government today. We’ve got to remember the government should be by the people, of the people, and for the people.

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

Democracy as a system has evolved into something that Thomas Jefferson didn’t anticipate.

Money has always been in politics. And I’m not sure you’d want money to be completely out of politics.

I consider anybody a twerp who hasn’t read ‚Democracy in America‘ by Alexis de Tocqueville. There can never be a better book than that one on the strengths and vulnerabilities inherent in our form of government.

To give victory to the right, not bloody bullets, but peaceful ballots only, are necessary.

While democracy in the long run is the most stable form of government, in the short run, it is among the most fragile.

Because of my parents‘ love of democracy, we came to America after being driven twice from our home in Czechoslovakia – first by Hitler and then by Stalin.

Tyranny naturally arises out of democracy.

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

We can’t equate democracy with Christianity because the largest democracy on earth is India, which is primarily Hindu. The third largest democracy is Indonesia, which is Islamic. Democracy and freedom are not dependent on Christian beliefs.

Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.

Adultery is the application of democracy to love.

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.

In a democracy, the well-being, individuality and happiness of every citizen is important for the overall prosperity, peace and happiness of the nation.

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

All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin. And therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words ‚Ich bin ein Berliner!‘

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.

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

You can never have a revolution in order to establish a democracy. You must have a democracy in order to have a revolution.

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

I think it’s important to vote.

In a democracy, the majority of the citizens is capable of exercising the most cruel oppressions upon the minority.

Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion.

Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.

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.

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.

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

It’s actually very easy for democracy to disappear.

It won’t happen. It would be an impossible dream. But I’d love to see ‚Citizens United‘ overruled.

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

We have the best government that money can buy.

What I worry about would be that you essentially have two chambers, the House and the Senate, but you have simply, majoritarian, absolute power on either side. And that’s just not what the founders intended.

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.

My Democratic friends just can’t accept the fact that the American people chose Donald Trump to be president – it’s called democracy. My advice to them, and I say this gently: Fill out a ‚Hurt Feelings Report‘ and let’s move on.

Our public life withers when only the most extreme voices get attention. Most of all, democracy breaks down when the average person feels their voice doesn’t matter; that the system is rigged in favor of the rich or the powerful or some narrow interest.

I’m glad I can’t vote.

Optimism comes less easily today, not because democracy is less vigorous, but because democracy’s enemies have refined their instruments of repression.

There’s no way now for you to get a Democratic or Republican nomination without being able to raise $200 or $300 million or more. I would not be inclined to do that, and I would not be capable of doing it.

If the people of Utah shall peacefully form a State Constitution tolerating polygamy, will the Democracy admit them into the Union?

To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea.

Leave no authority existing not responsible to the people.

The money in politics is a cash cow for the media.

Democracy is the road to socialism.

It’s time to stop thinking of the Republican Party as an exclusive club where your ideological card is checked at the door, and start thinking about how we can attract more solution-based leaders like Nathan Fletcher and Anthony Adams.

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.

In Republics, the great danger is, that the majority may not sufficiently respect the rights of the minority.

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

You can’t put democracy and freedom back into a box.

We think the Dred Scott decision is erroneous. We know the court that made it has often overruled its own decisions, and we shall do what we can to have it overrule this.

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.

You’ve got to vote, vote, vote, vote. That’s it; that’s the way we move forward. That’s how we make progress for ourselves and for our country.

Our society is illuminated by the spiritual insights of the Hebrew prophets. America and Israel have a common love of human freedom, and they have a common faith in a democratic way of life.

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

I am the son of a freedom fighter, and a son of a freedom fighter automatically imbibes the value of democracy.

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

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. 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.

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

If you know how to read, you have a complete education about life, then you know how to vote within a democracy. But if you don’t know how to read, you don’t know how to decide. That’s the great thing about our country – we’re a democracy of readers, and we should keep it that way.

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