best quotations about
Democracy |
| 70 quotes | Visits: 18,928 |
Quotations
 | If voting made any difference they wouldn't let us do it. — Mark Twain, 1835-1910, American writer 34 likes |
 | The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. — Winston Churchill, 1874-1965, British Prime Minister, Nobel 1953 29 likes |
 | Democracy is four wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. — Ambrose Bierce, 1842–1914, American writer 29 likes |
 | The minority is sometimes right; the majority always wrong. — George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, Irish writer, Nobel 1925 27 likes |
 | Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance. — H.L. Mencken, 1880-1956, American columnist & cultural critic 23 likes |
| Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others. — Winston Churchill, 1874-1965, British Prime Minister, Nobel 1953 22 likes |
 | A republic cannot succeed, till it contains a certain body of men imbued with the principles of justice and honour. — Charles Darwin, 1809-1882, British scientist 21 likes |
| Democracy is the worship of jackals by jackasses. — H.L. Mencken, 1880-1956, American columnist & cultural critic 16 likes |
 | There is a better chance of seeing a camel pass through the eye of a needle than of seeing a really great man 'discovered' through an election. — Adolf Hitler, 1889-1945, German dictator 16 likes |
 | In a democracy, someone who fails to get elected to office can always console himself with the thought that there was something not quite fair about it. — Thucydides, 460-394 BC, Ancient Greek historian 16 likes |
 | The fabric of democracy is always fragile everywhere because it depends on the will of citizens to protect it, and when they become scared, when it becomes dangerous for them to defend it, it can go very quickly. — Margaret Atwood, 1939 -, Canadian writer 16 likes |
| Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right. — H.L. Mencken, 1880-1956, American columnist & cultural critic 15 likes |
 | Jesus Christ was the greatest republican. — Napoleon, 1769-1821, French Emperor 14 likes |
| Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few. — George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, Irish writer, Nobel 1925 14 likes |
| Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey-cage. — H.L. Mencken, 1880-1956, American columnist & cultural critic 12 likes |
 | As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy. — Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865, American President 12 likes |
 | It's not the hand that signs the laws that holds the destiny of America. It's the hand that casts the ballot. — Harry Truman, 1884-1972, American President [1945-1953] 12 likes |
| Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard. — H.L. Mencken, 1880-1956, American columnist & cultural critic 11 likes |
 | Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education. — Franklin Roosevelt, 1882-1945, American President [1936-1945] 10 likes |
| Aristocracy is the spirit of the Old Testament, democracy of the New. — Napoleon, 1769-1821, French Emperor 8 likes |
 | Democracy for an insignificant minority, democracy for the rich — that is the democracy of capitalist society. — Vladimir Lenin, 1870-1924, Soviet revolutionary & leader 8 likes |
 | Corruption, the most infallible symptom of constitutional liberty. — Edward Gibbon, 1737-1794, English historian 7 likes |
 | Democracy is the menopause of Western society, the Grand Climacteric of the body social. Fascism is its middle-aged lust. — Jean Baudrillard, 1929-2007, French intellectual 7 likes |
 | Democracy may not be perfect, but at least I don't have to build a wall to keep my people in. — John Kennedy, 1917-1963, American President [1961-1963] 7 likes |
| There's really no point to voting. If it made any difference, it would probably be illegal. — H.L. Mencken, 1880-1956, American columnist & cultural critic 7 likes |
 | As long as there are dictatorships, I won’t have the heart to criticize a democracy. — Jean Rostand, 1894-1977, French scientist & philosopher 6 likes |
 | The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority. — Lord Acton, 1834-1902, English historian 6 likes |
 | The Tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy. — Montesquieu, 1689-1755, French thinker 6 likes |
 | When threatened, the first thing a democracy gives up is democracy. — Mignon McLaughlin, 1913-1983, American magazine editor 5 likes |
 | The people I admire most are those who are sensitive and want to create something or discover something, and do not see life in terms of power, and such people get more of a chance under a democracy than elsewhere. — E. M. Forster, 1879-1970, British writer 5 likes |
 | Democracy is when the doorbell rings at six in the morning and it’s the milkman! — Henri Jeanson, 1900-1970, French critic & columnist 5 likes |
| The ballot is stronger than the bullet. — Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865, American President 4 likes |
 | Democracy is not a tearing down; it is a building up. It does not denial of the divine right of kings; it asserts the divine right of all men. — Calvin Coolidge, 1872-1933, American President [1923-1929] 4 likes |
 | In Switzerland they had brotherly love, 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock! — Graham Greene, 1904-1991, British writer 4 likes |
 | Every government is a parliament of whores. The trouble is, in a democracy, the whores are us. — P.J. O’ Rourke, 1947-2022, American columnist & writer 4 likes |
 | In the strict sense of the term, a true democracy has never existed, and never will exist. It is against natural order that the great number should govern and that the few should be governed. — Jean Jacques Rousseau, 1712-1778, Swiss-French philosopher 4 likes |
 | Democracy divides people into workers and loafers. It makes no provision for those who have no time to work. — Karl Kraus, 1874-1936, Austrian writer 3 likes |
 | Indeed, the ideal for a well-functioning democratic state is like the ideal for a gentleman's well-cut suit — it is not noticed. — Arthur Koestler, 1905-1983, Hungarian-British writer 3 likes |
| Two cheers for Democracy: one because it admits variety and two because it permits criticism. Two cheers are quite enough: there is no occasion to give three. — E. M. Forster, 1879-1970, British writer 2 likes |
 | The greatest fallacy of democracy is that everyone’s opinion is worth the same. — Robert Heinlein, 1907-1988, American sci-fi writer 2 likes |
| Democracy is four wolves and a sheep voting on dinner. — Robert Heinlein, 1907-1988, American sci-fi writer 2 likes |
 | Democracy will prevail when men believe the vote of Judas as good as that of Jesus Christ. |
 | If one man offers you democracy and another offers you a bag of grain, at what stage of starvation do you prefer the grain to the vote? |
| Democracy is the process by which people choose the man who'll get the blame. |
| The only distinction that democracies reward is a high degree of conformity. |
 | A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for democracy, but won't cross the street to vote in a national election. |
 | In republics, the people give their favor, never their trust. |
 | The whole dream of democracy is to raise the proletarian to the level of bourgeois stupidity. |
 | If fear and destructiveness are the major emotional sources of fascism, eros belongs mainly to democracy. |
 | You can’t have meaningful political democracy without functioning economic democracy. — Noam Chomsky, 1928-, American linguist, philosopher, social activist |
| The most effective way to restrict democracy is to transfer decision-making from the public arena to unaccountable institutions: kings and princes, priestly castes, military juntas, party dictatorships, or modern corporations. — Noam Chomsky, 1928-, American linguist, philosopher, social activist |
| The best defense against democracy is to distract people. — Noam Chomsky, 1928-, American linguist, philosopher, social activist |
| If voting could actually change anything, it would be illegal. — Noam Chomsky, 1928-, American linguist, philosopher, social activist |
 | Human beings are naturally hierarchical beasts. Democracy is not their native religion. |
 | An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics. |
 | The blind lead the blind, it's the democratic way. |
 | In a democracy, every little wrong idea may grow up to become national policy. — Ashleigh Brilliant, 1933-, British cartoonist & epigrammatist |
 | Dictatorships are one-way streets. Democracy boasts two-way traffic. |
 | Freedom must be distinguished from democracy, with which it is often confused. |
 | The cause of democracy’s stupidities is confidence in the anonymous citizen; and the cause of its crimes is the anonymous citizen’s confidence in himself. |
 | The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting. |
Funny Quotes
| Vote, v. The instrument and symbol of a freeman's power to make a fool of himself and a wreck of his country. — Ambrose Bierce, 1842–1914, American writer 2 likes |
 | The election is not very far off when a candidate can recognize you across the street. |
| We'd all like to vote for the best man but he's never a candidate. |
Stupid Quotes
 | A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls — George W. Bush, 1946-, American President 10 likes |
Ancient Greek
 | The best democracy is where everybody is afraid of the law like a tyrant. Κρατίστην είναι δημοκρατίαν εν ή πάντες ως τύραννον φοβούνται τον νόμον. — Bias of Priene, 625-540 BC, one of the 7 sages of Ancient Greece 4 likes |
 | O democracy, where are you leading us? Ω δημοκρατία, ποι προβιβάς ημάς ποτε; — Aristophanes, 445-386 BC, Ancient Greek comic playwright ‐ Birds 3 likes |
 | Democracy is better than tyranny. Δημοκρατία κρείττον τυραννίδος. — Periander of Corinth, 668-584 BC, tyrant of Corinth 3 likes |
 | The electorate is the most unstable and unpredictable thing. Ως ο μεν δήμος εστιν ασταθμητότατον πράγμα των πάντων και ασυνθετώτατον. — Demosthenes, 384-322 BC, Ancient Athenian & statesman orator 2 likes |
Movie Quotes
 | In Switzerland, they had brotherly love. And in 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. — from the film The Third Man (1949) 8 likes |
