Wen Jiabao Quotes

Criticism, any amount, we welcome it. Come, let's have a discussion - in Parliament, all the better.

We as a government are entitled to be criticised.

The duty of an Opposition is to oppose.

If Truman wins, by God I'll make sure the President of the United States can speak to the country whenever he wishes.

The public has to have a head, and if the President takes the heads away, the public will have his.

Democratic government consists of listening, deciding, persuading.

Criticism in a free man's country is made on certain assumptions, one of which is the assumption that the government belongs to the people and is at all times subject to the people's correction and criticism.

I have never found, in a long experience in politics, that criticism is ever inhibited by ignorance.

The majority voice should be controlling ... after a full, fair, and candid expression.

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.

In all questions between a government and an individual the presumption in every Englishman's mind is that the government is in the wrong.

In most of the countries where the people don’t like their government, we are now allowed to ask whether people like their government.

With any bureaucracy, an accountable bureaucracy, we need the press and we need critics to keep us on our toes…. we do wish the press to continue to report and continue to criticize because it is only in that way that the government can continue to improve and meet the aspirations of an increasingly affluent society.

The most patriotic and American thing you can do is to distrust your government

A free press stands as one of the great interpreters between the government and the people. To allow it to be fettered is to fetter ourselves.

Nations should live in an atmosphere of self-criticism because it is healthy, but always with one heart and one mind.

[There exists a] profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.

I enjoy repartee and frequently engage in devil's advocacy. In short, when I talk to friends, I do not guard every word that I say because I think that I know they know that my commitment to equality and justice is real, and they would not twist my words or misinterpret what I am saying to them.

I'm sure that President Trump will do plenty of things that people don't like, plenty of things people do like, and the people who don't like it, at that point, certainly take advantage of your rights and protest it - and try to seek change or do whatever you want.

American democracy depends on the public's ability to remain accurately informed on our state of affairs.

A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.

I think it's important to have conversation about things instead of shutting things down.

I think there's a difference between calling people out and understanding the role that the press plays in a free society.

In democratic republics such as ours, citizens rely on public criticism of ideas and people to determine national policy.

We should not live in fear, we should all enjoy being able to express our views freely and openly, challenge each other on issues.