I’m glad I can’t vote.

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.

I would not vote for the mayor. It’s not just because he didn’t invite me to dinner, but because on my way into town from the airport there were such enormous potholes.

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

As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.

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

Democracy means government by the uneducated, while aristocracy means government by the badly educated.

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

Ballots are the rightful and peaceful successors to bullets.

For any young democracy, the most difficult but important step is burying the legacy of tyranny and establishing an economy and a government and institutions that abide by the rule of law. Every country faces challenges to the rule of law, including my own.

Let me just be very clear that the Republican Party will select a nominee that will beat Bill Clinton.

I have a fantasy where Ted Turner is elected President but refuses because he doesn’t want to give up power.

Adultery is the application of democracy to love.

Democracy is our commitment. It is our great legacy, a legacy we simply cannot compromise. Democracy is in our DNA.

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.

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

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

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.

There’s a lot of fuss on the Left about election irregularities, like, you know, the voting machines were tampered with, they didn’t count the votes right, and so on. That’s all accurate and of some importance, but of far more importance is the fact that elections just don’t take place, not in any meaningful sense of the term ‚election.‘

That fatal drollery called a representative government.

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!‘

Democracy passes into despotism.

We have the best government that money can buy.

In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.

Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty.

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

Economic freedom cannot be sacrificed if political freedom is to be preserved.

I have decided in 2020 to run for president.

All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.

And frankly, I don’t understand – I mean, I’m obviously a card-carrying Democrat – but I can’t understand why any woman would want to vote for Mitt Romney, except maybe Mrs. Romney.

Thinking isn’t agreeing or disagreeing. That’s voting.

If people don’t vote, everything stays the same. You can protest until the sky turns yellow or the moon turns blue, and it’s not going to change anything if you don’t vote.

Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to that arrogant oligarchy who merely happen to be walking around.

I do not think I could myself be brought to support a man for office whom I knew to be an open enemy of, and scoffer at, religion.

The government is us; we are the government, you and I.

It’s not just a matter of whether you support Obama or Romney. It’s who they have coming with them. I always keep my powder dry, as they say in the military.

I think organized labor is a necessary part of democracy. Organized labor is the only way to have fair distribution of wealth.

The wisest use of American strength is to advance freedom.

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

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.

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.

Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people.

This election is about who’s going to be the next President of the United States!

I grew up in San Francisco. And so I’m informed in a certain kind of way about, you know, believing in democracy and believing in America. And I’m a very ardent patriot.

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

The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men.

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.

I have considered voting Conservative because I am so against the Labour party.

Self-government can succeed only through an instructed electorate.

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

Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.

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.

I vote and I do jury duty.

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

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

Gray Davis can run a dirty campaign better than anyone, but he can’t run a state.

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

I guess you’d call me an independent, since I’ve never identified myself with one party or another in politics. I always decide my vote by taking as careful a look as I can at the actual candidates and issues themselves, no matter what the party label.

Remember, it is not about voting for the perfect candidate – there is no such thing. Presidents are human.

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