Eugene McCarthy Quotes

I'm an extreme libertarian, but I realize we're in a democracy, and in a democracy, people can have views of all stripes, and there's no reason to argue about it.

Differences of opinion are healthy and they're a part of what makes our democracy great. We grow by understanding each other's differences.

Europe is a democracy and differences of opinion are part of it.

We live in a world where there is a need for pluralistic institutions and for recognizing different types of freedom, economic, social, cultural, and political, which are interrelated.

Our right to disagree is precious but fragile. The best way to protect and preserve it is to let the other side speak without demonizing them or destroying their right to be heard. Such civil exchanges are the heart beat of democracy - essential to keeping it alive.

A free society means that you might have to put up with a lot of things you despise.

We will have differences. Even in our own country we do not see everything alike. If we did, we would all want the same wife—and that would be a problem, wouldn't it!

We cannot make the world safe for democracy unless we also make the world safe for diversity.

That's the beauty of democracy — you believe what you believe, I believe what I believe, and as long as we're not hurting each other, that's fine. Placing a value judgment on a person's beliefs has no place in a democracy.

The condition of our survival in any but the meagerest existence is our willingness to accommodate ourselves to the conflicting interests of others, to learn to live in a social world.

If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.

A free and open society is an on-going conflict, interrupted periodically by compromises.

Democracy depends on the idea that we hold each others’ right to express ourselves and be heard above our own desire to always get the outcomes we want. You can’t impose tolerance top-down.

The American experiment has always depended on a measure of tolerance and good sense.

We are made stronger by differences of opinion on faith and conscience.

When Saddam Hussein was overthrown, Iraqis resolved never to allow one man, one political party, or one segment of society to dominate our diverse nation. Now we have the opportunity to build an Iraq worthy of what we are: a pluralist people, steeped in history, striving to build one nation in peace and mutual respect.

We're all not going to agree on the same things, but that's what makes this country so great.

The fabric of our Constitution and our civilisational culture is based on tolerance.

Those who know my stance on Israeli democracy also know that there is nothing more foreign to me than the rejection of a position different to my own.

I have been in dialogue with my family about what can actually be done. We've come up with this philosophy that in a truly multicultural society, the only way to have liberty and justice for everybody is to have multiple parties. And by multiple parties, I mean 50 parties, not one or two.

Yet we can maintain a free society only if we recognize that in a free society no one can win all the time. No one can have his own way all the time, and no one is right all the time.

Jews are no longer pressed and obliged to fight, hide or deny their Jewishness. What for? No one actually requires today to abandon the idiosyncrasy of some other culture or ethnic tradition. The great achievement of this last period is that we have been slowly, sometimes reluctantly, yet steadily, learning the art of living with differences.

Agreeing to disagree is a prerogative only of those who live under a democratic system.

I believe in an India of pluralism and diversity, not of religious bigotry and caste politics. I believe in an India that is secure in itself and confident of its place in the world, an India that is a proud example of tolerance, freedom and hope for the downtrodden.

The magic of America is that we're a free and open society with a mixed population. Part of our security is our freedom.