Richard Dreyfuss Quotes

It is an obvious and blatant stupidity beyond my ability to articulate how dumb it is for us not to teach our children how to run the government.

You can study government and politics in school, but the best way to really understand the process is to volunteer your time.

It is absolutely the case that much needs to be done to invigorate and elevate the quality of civic learning in America

Democracy depends on well educated and engaged citizens.

But, you know, I'm sorry, I think democracy requires participation. I mean, I don't want to proselytize but I do feel some sort of duty to participate in the process in some way other than just blindly getting behind a political party.

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

An educated people can be easily governed.

I had become increasingly concerned in recent years about the lack of civics education in our nation's schools. In recent years, the schools have stopped teaching it. And it's unfortunate.

You can't be a full participant in our democracy if you don't know our history.

We have a complex system of government. You have to teach it to every generation.

In a democracy there are only two types of power: there's organized people and organized money, and organized money only wins when people aren't organized.

Without an educated populace, democracy cannot sustain itself.

We are not educated well enough to perform the necessary act of intelligently selecting our leaders.

Young people need to vote. They need to get out there. Every vote counts. Educate yourself too. Don't just vote. Know what you're voting for, and stand by that.

I feel a real responsibility to my community and so right now there has been this bizarre myth in our community how our vote doesn't count. I'm trying to get out there and re-educate on how the government works and break that myth and talk about the importance of being involved.

If they had taught a class on how to be the kind of citizen Dick Cheney worries about, I would have finished high school.

Government, in the last analysis, is organized opinion. Where there is little or no public opinion, there is likely to be bad government.

As a businessperson, I don't have the power to change the government. That is in the hands of the political leaders. However, as a taxpayer, we have the right to be critical of the government and demand change.

I always preach that you have to be active as a citizen no matter what, and some people just voting as an excuse not to do anything.

As a citizen, you need to know how to be a part of it, how to express yourself - and not just by voting.

I don't see how anybody cannot be political in this day and age. There's so much going on and you have to be aware and you have to vote. Our lives are political.

Reading builds the educated and informed electorate so vital to our democracy.

Democracy is something that you must learn each generation. It has to be taught.

Civic education and civic responsibility should be taught in elementary school.

Half the states have stopped making civics and government a requirement for high school. Half.