38 Inspiring Democracy Quotes

In a rapidly evolving world, the principles of democracy stand as pillars upholding freedom, equality, and justice. These ideals, cherished across nations and cultures, have inspired countless individuals to strive for greater civic engagement and societal progress. As we navigate the complexities of modern governance, reflecting on the wisdom and insights of leaders, thinkers, and activists can reignite our commitment to democratic values. In this collection, explore a diverse array of inspiring democracy quotes that not only celebrate the power of the people's voice but also challenge us to take meaningful action in shaping a more equitable and inclusive world.

1. “...I do not want art for a few; any more than education for a few; or freedom for a few... ” - William Morris

2. “No one in this world, so far as I know—and I have searched the record for years, and employed agents to help me—has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.” - H.L. Mencken

3. “You have to remember one thing about the will of the people: it wasn't that long ago that we were swept away by the Macarena.” - Jon Stewart

4. “You don't spread democracy with a barrel of a gun.” - Helen Thomas

5. “Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in ancient Greek republics: Freedom for slave owners.” - Vladimir Lenin

6. “The only way we'll get freedom for ourselves is to identify ourselves with every oppressed people in the world. We are blood brothers to the people of Brazil, Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba -- yes Cuba too.” - Malcolm X

7. “[N]icht durch Reden und Majoritätsbeschlüsse werden die großen Fragen der Zeit entschiedenen [...] sondern durch Eisen und Blut.” - Otto Bismarck

8. “I really am a pessimist. I've always felt that fascism is a more natural governmental condition than democracy. Democracy is a grace. It's something essentially splendid because it's not at all routine or automatic. Fascism goes back to our infancy and childhood, where we were always told how to live. We were told, Yes, you may do this; no, you may not do that. So the secret of fascism is that it has this appeal to people whose later lives are not satisfactory.” - Norman Mailer

9. “Those in power must spend a lot of their time laughing at us.” - Alice Walker

10. “Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.” - Abraham Lincoln

11. “Had he lived some centuries ago, in the brightly coloured civilizations of the past, he would have had a definite status, his rank and his income would have corresponded. But in his day the angel of Democracy had arisen, enshadowing the classes with leathern wings, and proclaiming, "All men are equal--all men, that is to say, who possess umbrellas...” - E.M. Forster

12. “The major western democracies are moving towards corporatism. Democracy has become a business plan, with a bottom line for every human activity, every dream, every decency, every hope. The main parliamentary parties are now devoted to the same economic policies — socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor — and the same foreign policy of servility to endless war. This is not democracy. It is to politics what McDonalds is to food.” - John Pilger

13. “There has always been, and there is now, a profound conflict of interest between the people and the government of the United States.” - Howard Zinn

14. “Every actual democracy rests on the principle that not only are equals equal but unequals will not be treated equally. Democracy requires, therefore, first homogeneity and second—if the need arises elimination or eradication of heterogeneity.” - Carl Schmitt

15. “[The American President] has to take all sorts of abuse from liars and demagogues.… The people can never understand why the President does not use his supposedly great power to make ’em behave. Well, all the President is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway.” - Harry S. Truman

16. “Without Revolutionary theory, there can be no Revolutionary Movement.” - Vladimir Lenin

17. “The greatest purveyor of violence in the world : My own Government, I can not be Silent.” - Martin Luther King Jr.

18. “To be a member of such a crowd ... is not much to be far removed from solitude; the freedom of everyone is assured by the freedom to which everyone else lays claim. ” - Remy De Gourmont

19. “Corporations are not legal “persons” with constitutional rights and freedoms of their own, but legal fictions that we created and must therefore control.” - Kalle Lasn

20. “Hamas is regularly described as 'Iranian-backed Hamas, which is dedicated to the destruction of Israel.' One will be hard put to find something like 'democratically elected Hamas, which has long been calling for a two-state settlement in accord with the international consensus'—blocked for over 30 years by the US and Israel. All true, but not a useful contribution to the Party Line, hence dispensable.” - Noam Chomsky

21. “Remember something, if you will, about voting: Voting is not a horse race, you're not going there thinking "Gee, I gotta pick the winner so I can brag to my friends 'Oh, I picked so-and-so and he or she won'". Voting is voting your heart and voting your conscience and when you've done that, don't ever, EVER let a Democrat or Republican tell you that you've wasted your vote because the fact is, if you DON'T vote your heart and conscience then you HAVE wasted your vote.” - Jesse Ventura

22. “I thought I was getting away from politics for a while. But I now realise that the vuvuzela is to these World Cup blogs what Julius Malema is to my politics columns: a noisy, but sadly unavoidable irritant. With both Malema and the vuvuzela, their importance is far overstated. Malema: South Africa's Robert Mugabe? I think not. The vuvuzela: an archetypal symbol of 'African culture?' For African civilisation's sake, I seriously hope not.Both are getting far too much airtime than they deserve. Both have thrust themselves on to the world stage through a combination of hot air and raucous bluster. Both amuse and enervate in roughly equal measure. And both are equally harmless in and of themselves — though in Malema's case, it is the political tendency that he represents, and the right-wing interests that lie behind his diatribes that is dangerous. With the vuvu I doubt if there are such nefarious interests behind the scenes; it may upset the delicate ears of the middle classes, both here and at the BBC, but I suspect that South Africa's democracy will not be imperilled by a mass-produced plastic horn.” - Richard Calland

23. “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits with the result the democracy collapses because of the loose fiscal policy ensuing, always to be followed by a dictatorship, then a monarchy.” - Elmer T Peterson

24. “If there were a nation of Gods, it would govern itself democratically. A government so perfect is not suited to men.” - Jean Jacques Rousseau

25. “To view the opposition as dangerous is to misunderstand the basic concepts of democracy. To oppress the opposition is to assault the very foundation of democracy.” - Aung San Suu Kyi

26. “Government leaders are amazing. So often it seems they are the last to know what the people want.” - Aung San Suu Kyi

27. “It was not man who implanted in himself what is infinite and the love of what is immortal: those lofty instincts are not the offspring of his capricious will; their steadfast foundation is fixed in human nature, and they exist in spite of his efforts. He may cross and distort them – destroy them he cannot. The soul wants which must be satisfied; and whatever pains be taken to divert it from itself, it soon grows weary, restless, and disquieted amidst the enjoyments of sense.” - Alexis de Tocqueville

28. “Anarchism? You bet your sweet betsy. The only cure for the ills of democracy is more democracy. Much more.” - Edward Abbey

29. “[T]he success of democracy depends, in the end, on the reliability of the judgments we citizens make, and hence upon our capacity and determination to weigh arguments and evidence rationally.” - Irving Copi

30. “Politicians tend only to like democracy when it is to their personal advantage(From LONE WOLF, p.50)” - Len Webster

31. “...they say if you don't vote, you get the government you deserve, and if you do, you never get the results you expected.” - E.A. Bucchianeri

32. “One of the arguments that authoritarian governments use to ward off the call for greater political freedom is to argue that American-style democracy is no guarantee of good policy.... Over the years, I’ve grown used to these arguments, and my response has rarely wavered: Sure, we might make dumb choices sometimes, but we will defend, to the end, the right to make choices at all, because we believe that our collective conscience, freely expressed, will eventually lead us in the right direction. When it comes to guns, it is getting harder to muster that argument abroad. Every new shooting, every new failure of will and citizenship, slashes another hole in our credibility as a way of life.” - Evan Osnos

33. “For a quarter-century British governments had tried and failed to combine economic growth, increased social service provision and a high level of employment. The second depended ultimately on the first, but when difficulty arose, the first had always been sacrificed to the other two. The United Kingdom was, after all, a democracy whose votes, greedy and gullible, had to be placated.” - John Morris Roberts

34. “Better to live under one tyrant a thousand miles away, than a thousand tyrants one mile away.” - Daniel Bliss

35. “The seventeenth century is everywhere a time in which the state's power over everything individual increases, whether that power be in absolutist hands or may be considered the result of a contract, etc. People begin to dispute the sacred right of the individual ruler or authority without being aware that at the same time they are playing into the hands of a colossal state power.” - Jacob Burckhardt

36. “By creating a society in which all people, of all colors, were granted freedom and citizenship, the Haitian Revolution forever transformed the world. It was a central part of the destruction of slavery in the Americas, and therefore a crucial moment in the history of democracy, one that laid the foundation for the continuing struggles for human rights everywhere. In this sense we are all descendents of the Haitain Revolution, and responsible to these ancestors.” - Laurent Dubois

37. “We must face the ultimate contradiction that our free and democratic society was made possible by massive slave labor.” - David Brion Davis

38. “Time is the ultimate democracy. Rich and poor, young and old, male and female: all have 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week.” - Elizabeth Grace Saunders