Richard A. Clarke Quotes

Citizenship is a tough occupation which obliges the citizen to make his own informed opinion and stand by it.

The first duty of an American citizen, then is that he shall work in politics.

The very right to vote imposes on me the duty to instruct myself in public affairs however little influence my voice may have in them.

Only a knowledgeable, empowered and vocal citizenry can perform well in democracy.

And you don't want to always write about politics just for the sake of writing about politics.

Democracy doesn't require a whole lot of work of its citizens, but it requires some: It requires taking a good look outside once in a while, and considering the bad news and what it might mean, and making the occasional tough choice, and soberly taking stock of what your real interests are.

We gain by intelligent discussion of public questions carried on, … not from a standpoint of partisanship, but of good citizenship.

We do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business; we say that he has no business here at all.

Music must awaken people to do their duty as citizens and act.

Bernard Shaw remains the only model we have of what the citizen of a democracy should be: an informed participant in all things we deem important to the society and the individual.

The job of a citizen is to keep his mouth open.

I don't think there was really a time when I have not been politically aware.

Democracy is interactive... It's a constant job of information, education, explanation, listening, and interactive communication.

There is no patriotic obligation to help advance the career of a politician who is otherwise pursuing interests that are fundamentally antithetical to your values. That's not the call of patriotism.

As citizens of a free society, we have a duty to look critically at our world. But if we think we know what is wrong, we must act upon that knowledge.

But we must create in each person a sense of responsibility in order that each one of us can have the right to enjoy all his rights.

I certainly think it's very important that writers as citizens - not necessarily as writers, but just as ordinary citizens - should talk about things that matter to them.

What do I owe to my times, to my country, to my neighbors, to my friends? Such are the questions which a virtuous man ought often to ask himself.

I feel it's a person's duty to participate in the governing of the country in which he lives.

If you rely on the media for your information, to educate yourself about the candidates and what issues are facing the country, then you get just part of the equation. I think it's important that we as citizens of this democracy take the responsibility to get as much information as possible before we go into the voting booth.

Well, I couldn't do the day-to-day stuff of being a politician or anything, but I just think everybody should have an opinion and everybody should vote, and that's what we're built on.

Politics isn't just a game of clashing parties and competing interests. The right reason is to challenge the status quo, to serve the common good, and to leave this nation better than we found it.

I think politics is important. It's how we run our society. I think it should be natural to have an interest in the subject, and I almost don't understand why some people don't.

My dream of politics all my life has been that it is the common business, that it is something we owe to each other to understand and discuss with absolute frankness.

When moral principles, rather than persons, are candidates for power, to vote is to perform a moral duty, and not to vote is to neglect a duty