David Blunkett Quotes

Political freedom is rare enough in the world, but the kind of social and cultural freedom which is the hallmark of Canada is even less common.

We are a country based on democracy, tolerance, and openness to the world.

And we should be a welcoming nation. Our identity is not based on race or ethnicity, it's based on a set of shared values. That's American citizenship.

The very moment you understand that being a Muslim and being American or European are not mutually exclusive, you enrich your society. Promote the universal principles of justice and freedom, and leave the societies elsewhere to find their model of democracy based on their collective psychology and cultural heritage.

I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

Canada is the homeland of equality, justice and tolerance.

I love America, it's a much more permissive place.

A free society means that you might have to put up with a lot of things you despise.

America remains an open society in which opposing forces can surface and clash, a necessary precondition for their solution.

America is great precisely because it is an open society, and an open society recognizes that nobody is the ultimate arbiter — and that we may be wrong at times, even if we are powerful. We must be open to criticism and respect divergent and different views and interests.

There can be no fanatics in the cause of genuine liberty.

We live in a liberal country. If you came here from Iraq or Iran, you really would think that we are quite a liberal country.

Britain is an open and tolerant country, and I will fight with everything I have to keep it so.

Secular societies establish tolerance by being equally non-accommodating toward all religious demands within the public sphere.

Those fundamentally liberal values - openness, inclusion, internationalism - are what truly represent the best of Britain, and it's those values that I'm determined to fight for as leader of the Liberal Democrats.

Based on what our country stands for. We can't fail to stand for democracy.

Tolerance is carved into the rostrum of the U.S. House of Representatives and intolerance should not be carved into the U.S. Constitution.

Democracy is not simply a question of structures. It is a state of mind. It is an activity. And part of that activity is honesty.

I urge calm and sensitivity to the fundamental civil liberties of our country.

The Republic is open and tolerant but also knows how and when to be firm and make its values respected.

We respect opposition to any position or policy. But we believe that the opinion that should prevail and be respected is that of the majority.

The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities.

Ultimately, America's answer to the intolerant man is diversity, the very diversity which our heritage of religious freedom has inspired.

I was born in Europe... and I've traveled all over the world. I can tell you that there is no place, no country, that is more compassionate, more generous, more accepting, and more welcoming than the United States of America.

Britain is characterized not just by its independence but, above all, by its openness.