It Can’t Happen Here<\/i> (1935)
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¶ Democracy requires both discipline and hard work. It is not easy for individuals to govern themselves. … It is one thing to gain freedom, but no one can give you the right to self-government. This you must earn for yourself by long discipline.<\/p>\n
— Eleanor Roosevelt<\/b> (1884-1962) First Lady of the US (1933-45), politician, diplomat, activist ¶ Monarchy is like a sleek craft, it sails along well until some bumbling captain runs it into the rocks. Democracy, on the other hand, is like a raft. It never goes down but, dammit, your feet are always wet.<\/p>\n — Fisher Ames<\/b> (1758-1808) American politician, orator ¶ While democracy must have its organization and controls, its vital breath is individual liberty.<\/p>\n — Charles Evans Hughes, Sr.<\/b> (1862-1948) American statesman, politician, Supreme Court Justice (1910-1916, 1930-1941) ¶ The democracy is a ready victim to shibboleths and catchwords, as all demagogues know too well.<\/p>\n — William Ralph Inge<\/b> (1860-1954) English prelate [Dean Inge] ¶ Let us not be afraid to help each other — 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.<\/p>\n — Franklin Delano Roosevelt<\/b> (1882-1945) US President (1933-1945) ¶ In no country is there so much devolving upon the people relating to government as in ours. Unlike any other nation, here the people rule, and their will is the supreme law. It is sometimes sneeringly said by those who do not like free government, that here we count heads. True, heads are counted, but brains also.<\/p>\n — William McKinley<\/b> (1843-1901) US President (1897-1901) ¶ Democracy is a form of government which may be rationally defended, not as being good, but as being less bad than any other.<\/p>\n — William Ralph Inge<\/b> (1860-1954) English prelate [Dean Inge] ¶ Public virtue cannot exist in a nation without private, and public virtue is the only foundation of republics. There must be a positive passion for the public good, the public interest, honour, power and glory, established in the minds of the people, or there can be no republican government, nor any real liberty: and this public passion must be superior to all private passions.<\/p>\n — John Adams<\/b> (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801) ¶ Finally, I believe in an America with a government of men devoted solely to the public interests — men of ability and dedication, free from conflict or corruption or other commitment — a responsible government that is efficient and economical, with a balanced budget over the years of the cycle, reducing its debt in prosperous times — a government willing to entrust the people with the facts that they have — not a businessman’s government, with business in the saddle, as the late Secretary McKay described this administration of which he was a member — not a labor government, not a farmer’s government, not a government of one section of the country or another, but a government of, for and by the people.<\/p>\n — John F. Kennedy<\/b> (1917-1963) US President (1961-63) ¶ The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections.<\/p>\n — John Dalberg, Lord Acton<\/b> (1834-1902) British historian ¶ It’d be nice if we’d now stop hearing political appointees and MBA candidates crowing about their private sector successes, their nose for accountability and the perils of broken government. Whatever. All I hear in that is the sneering of reformers who actually don’t much like democracy. I don’t want politicians who are “above politics,” anymore then I want a plumber who’s “above toilets.”<\/p>\n — Ta-Nehisi Coates<\/b> (b. 1975) American writer, journalist, educator ¶ The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment.<\/p>\n — Robert Maynard Hutchins<\/b> (1899-1977) American educator, educational philosopher, administrator ¶ All lawful authority, legislative, and executive, originates from the people. Power in the people is like light in the sun: native, original, inherent, and unlimited by anything human. In governors it may be compared to the reflected light of the moon, for it is only borrowed, delegated, and limited by the intention of the people; whose it is, and to whom governors are to consider themselves as responsible, while the people are answerable only to God; — themselves being the losers, if they pursue a false scheme of politics.<\/p>\n — James Burgh<\/b> (1714-1775) British politician and writer ¶ The system isn’t about ideals. The country doesn’t elect great leaders. It elects fucked-up people who for reasons of ego want to run the world. Then the citizenry makes them become great.<\/p>\n — Tony Kushner<\/b> (b. 1956) American playwright and screenwriter ¶ The true democracy, living and growing and inspiring, puts its faith in the people — faith that the people will not simply elect men who will represent their views ably and faithfully, but will also elect men who will exercise their conscientious judgment — faith that the people will not condemn those whose devotion to principle leads them to unpopular courses, but will reward courage, respect honor, and ultimately recognize right.<\/p>\n — John F. Kennedy<\/b> (1917-1963) US President (1961-63) ¶ One thing I believe profoundly: We make our own history. The course of history is directed by the choices we make and our choices grow out of the ideas, the beliefs, the values, the dreams of the people. It is not so much the powerful leaders that determine our destiny as the much more powerful influence of the combined voices of the people themselves.<\/p>\n — Eleanor Roosevelt<\/b> (1884-1962) First Lady of the US (1933-45), politician, diplomat, activist ¶ DENNIS: Listen, strange women lyin’ in ponds distributin’ swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.<\/p>\n — Monty Python<\/b> (contemp.) British comedy troupe
Tomorrow Is Now<\/i> (1963)
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(Attributed) [More information …]
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Speech (4 Mar 1939)
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“Our Present Discontents,” Outspoken Essays: First Series<\/i> (1919)
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Speech, Marietta, Ohio (8 Jul 1938)
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Speech, Woodstock, Connecticut (4 July 1891)
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“Our Present Discontents,” Outspoken Essays: First Series<\/i> (1919)
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Letter to Mercy Warren (16 Apr 1776)
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Speech, Philadelphia (31 Oct 1960)
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“The History of Freedom in Antiquity,” Speech, Bridgenorth Institute (28 Feb 1877)
http:\/\/wist.info\/acton-lord\/23899\/<\/a> <\/p>\n
“Hubris,” Atlantic<\/i> (7 Apr 2011)
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Great Books of Western World,<\/i> vol. 1, ch. 10 (1952)
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Political Disquisitions,<\/i> Book 1 “Of Government, briefly” (1774)
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Interview with Ben Greenman, “Tony Kushner, Radical Pragmatist,” Mother Jones<\/i> (Nov\/Dec 2003)
http:\/\/wist.info\/kushner-tony\/26596\/<\/a> <\/p>\n
Profiles in Courage<\/i> (1956; 1964 ed.)
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Tomorrow Is Now<\/i> (1963)
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Monty Python and the Holy Grail<\/i> (1975)
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