Bill Clinton Quotes

Democracy does not have to be a blood sport …

I have nothing but contempt for the kind of governor who is afraid, for whatever reason, to follow the course that he knows is best for the State; and as for the man who sets private friendship above the public welfare - I have no use for him, either.

Our civilization is locked in the grip of an ideology - corporatism. An ideology that denies and undermines the legitimacy of individuals as the citizen in a democracy. The particular imbalance of this ideology leads to a worship of self-interest and a denial of the public good. The practical effects on the individual are passivity and conformism in the areas that matter, and non-conformism in the areas that don't

Dialogue between people of differing views is critical for fostering understanding in a democracy.

Universities are some of the few places left where a struggle for the commons, for public life, if not democracy itself, can be made visible through the medium of collective voices and social movements energized by the need for a politics and way of life counter to authoritarian capitalism.

You should go to the polls, organize yourself. But once lawmakers are chosen, they must be respected.

Anyone who wants to be part of the political process should adopt values that are compatible with democracy.

America is a country ready to be taken, in fact, longing to be taken by political leaders ready to restore democracy and trust to the political process.

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

Anybody who asks for democracy to be introduced should respect the results of democracy.

Good government is good politics.

The happiness of society is the end of government.

Having principled men and women in office is how you protect yourself from tyranny, and that was something I learned from when I was 2, 3, 5 years old.

In this film George presents issues that are important, essential and vital, whoever you are, about constitutional rights and the bedrock of a democracy. I am drawn to those kinds of stories because they inspire me - they are responsible to a populace and responsible to man.

I have tremendous admiration for everyone who enters the political arena so long as their goal is to do what they believe is right for the people of New York.

Politics is about the improvement of people's lives. It's about advancing the cause of peace and justice in our country and the world. Politics is about doing well for the people.

I don't think politics has anything to do with left, right, or center. It has to do with trying to do right by people.

As the happiness of the people is the sole end of government, so the consent of the people is the only foundation of it ...

In a democracy, government is a means by which we can act together to protect what is important to us and to promote our common values.

Healthy skepticism is necessary to the continuation of our democracy. When it turns to paranoia, it becomes destructive. American history has alternated between the two .... A nation where cynicism toward government prevails cannot function effectively.

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.

No people ever learned how to vote except by voting.

Democracy cannot be created out of thin air

When people fought for a democratic life, they were insisting that the common man had the capacity to engage in deliberation about how the community ought to run its life, not that you could let him squeak for what he wanted. And that ideal was that you could educate the common man to develop a certain amount of wisdom and that he could marshal the objectivity to deliberate and decide about what the public would require without always thinking that the political action was an opportunity to further his private interests…

My retirement will make no difference in [the newspaper’s] cardinal principles, that it will always fight for progress and reform, never tolerate injustice or corruption, always fight demagogues of all parties, never belong to any party, always oppose privileged classes and public plunderers, never lack sympathy with the poor, always remain devoted to the public welfare, never be satisfied with merely printing news, always be drastically independent, never be afraid to attack wrong, whether by predatory plutocracy or predatory poverty.