Abdurrahman Wahid Quotes

Among the foremost benefits of free government is that education of the intelligence and of the sentiments which is carried down to the very lowest ranks of the people when they are called to take a part in acts which directly affect the great interests of their country.

Democracy in the contemporary world demands, among other things, an educated and informed people.

My message is that Democracy is not an alien invention. It is a way of solving problems in our society.

Democracy is a process. It is never finished.

Democracy is not a result. Democracy is a process.

We need to restore our democracy to a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

We cannot imagine democracies without a vibrant civil society.

Our whole system of government is based on "We the people," but if we the people don't pay attention to what's going on, we have no right to bellyache or squawk when things go wrong.

If in a democratic country nothing can be permanently achieved save through the masses of the people, it will be impossible to establish a higher political life than the people themselves crave.

Democracy, in its best state, is but the politics of Bedlam; while kept chained, its thoughts are frantic, but when it breaks loose, it kills the keeper, fires the building, and perishes.

But are we even capable of maintaining a Republic anymore? Are there enough citizens willing to do the hard work that self-rule requires, or have we become a people who would rather be cared for, fed, clothed, housed, and told what's best for us by a parentlike state? Unfortunately, the evidence suggests the latter.

The practice of our democracy depends on a sense of, and knowledge of, history in the same way that playing in the World Series requires a bat and a ball.

Democracy disciplined and enlightened is the finest thing in the world. A democracy prejudiced, ignorant, superstitious, will land itself in chaos and may be self-destroyed.

But, Jefferson worried that the people - and the argument goes back to Thucydides and Aristotle - are easily misled. He also stressed, passionately and repeatedly, that it was essential for the people to understand the risks and benefits of government, to educate themselves, and to involve themselves in the political process. Without that, he said, the wolves will take over.

What is really needed to make democracy function is not knowledge of facts, but right education.

I am a firm believer in the importance of democracy, not only as the ultimate goal, but also as an essential part of the process.

The act of voting is one opportunity for us to remember that our whole way of life is predicated on the capacity of ordinary people to judge carefully and well.

Democracy is a difficult art of government, demanding of its citizens high ratios of courage and literacy, and at the moment we lack both the necessary habits of mind and a sphere of common reference.

Democracy is not just voting for your leaders; it's really premised upon ordinary citizens understanding the issues.

In other words, the bar should be maintained at the level of a pluralistic and participatory democracy.

The way people in democracies think of the government as something different from themselves is a real handicap. And, of course, sometimes the government confirms their opinion.

Democracy is about voting and it's about a majority vote. And it's time that we started exercising the Democratic process.

Of course democracy is good, but it is a process, not a prescription.

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

Democracy has always been in crisis: democracy is all about practicing the art of bearable dissatisfaction. In democratic societies, people often complain about their leaders and their institutions. The gap between the ideal democracy and the existing one cannot be bridged.