Mario Cuomo Quotes

Democracy is good for everybody.

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.

Democracy is indispensable to socialism.

All deductions having been made, democracy has done less harm, and more good, than any other form of government. It gave to human existence a zest and camaraderie that outweighed its pitfalls and defects. It gave to thought and science and enterprise the freedom essential to their operation and growth. It broke down the walls of privilege and class, and in each generation it raised up ability from every rank and place.

Education and justice are democracy's only life insurance.

Democracy is a device that insures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.

The tendency of democracies is, in all things, to mediocrity.

Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.

Democracy is a process.

Real equality is the soul of the state in a democracy

Democracy is a value in itself. It doesn't have to be defended [justified] any more than freedom has to be defended.

There can be no socialism without democracy.

People mistake majoritarianism for democracy.

Here everyone is his own master. Civil liberty places all inhabitants on an equal footing. The humble cannot be oppressed by the mighty, nor the poor by the rich.

I think, at the heart of the idea of American democracy, there is something tender.

To say a democracy prospers only if one set of voices is heard would be untrue.

There are a couple of ways to use the word democracy, and the way that I think is productive is to think about democracy as not a state that can actually be achieved, but as an ideal.

I have always believed that genuine democracy is fairness.

There is no better form of government than democracy.

Democracy must be conceived as a process, not a goal.

I think democracy is the most revolutionary thing in the world, because if you have power you use it to meet the needs of you and your community.

The best revenge is democracy.

democracy is that which affords a rule of living as well as a test of faith.

Democracy is not tolerance. Democracy is a prescribed way of life erected on the premise that all men are created equal.

Democracy is a gleaming Excalibur - let's not use it just to mend the toaster.