Chinua Achebe Quotes

We should never take democracy for granted. Democracy can emerge and develop, but it can also decay.

Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.

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

If you don't have a democracy in which most people feel engaged, you don't have a democracy very long.

Let The People Rule

In democracies the people seem to act as they please.

Democracy is much too important to be left to public opinion.

It is not suffrage that gives life to democracy; it is our democratic society that gives life to suffrage.

Our democracy is predicated on the belief that our government should be accessible by the people. We cannot allow ourselves to give in to fear or shy away from interacting with the public.

Democracy must learn to defend itself.

I want people to learn what democracy means.

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.

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

A government of, for and by the people, requires much from the people.

The whole idea of a democracy is that we ourselves, the people, are supposed to make a path of our politics, and it is we who with our feet and our vote and our labors and our vigilance are supposed to shape our country.

And that is my definition of democracy, the right to be in a minority and not be suppressed.

Democracy literally means the power of people. Democracy is not about politics, it is about the people.

Democracy should be home grown.

Government of the people and for the people.

The great postulate of our democracy is confidence in the common sense of the people and in their maturity of judgment, even on great issues—once they know the facts.

We are not perfect. Democracy is a messy business … Democracy depends on people getting and keeping involved … In our democracy, the government is not them; it is us.

The most profound argument for democracy is its faith in man.

Give all of the governed a voice in their government; that and that alone is self government.

Democracy, of course, requires strong demands from the public.

This is democracy: the citizens can vote anyone to power.