Ulysses S. Grant Quotes

Voting is the foundational act that breathes life into the principle of the consent of the governed.

I feel that the majority of people should decide for themselves what kind of government they want.

[There is no] right of Congress ... to force a good thing upon a people who are unwilling to receive it. The great principle is the right of every community to judge and decide for itself whether a thing is right or wrong, whether it would be good or evil to adopt it.... Whenever you put a limitation upon the right of any people to decide what laws they want, you have destroyed the fundamental principle of self-government.

My government will respect the will of the people.

Democracy doesn't recognize east or west; democracy is simply people's will. Therefore, I do not acknowledge that there are various models of democracy; there is just democracy itself.

In all our associations; in all our agreements let us never lose sight of this fundamental maxim - that all power was originally lodged in, and consequently is derived from, the people.

In democracies the people seem to act as they please.

The consent of the governed" is more than a safeguard against ignorant tyrants: it is an insurance against benevolent despots as well.

The will of the people... is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object

We all know that in democracies, some of these [necessary] reforms are unpopular.

If we believe in a democratic system, we have to accept the will of the people.

We don't go against the will of the people.

The important matter is freedom. When the people choose what they want, it is good for them and for us.

I raise this objection to debate the process, and protect the integrity of the true will of the people.

Let the people think they govern and they will be governed.

Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time.

No Province shall be transferred from one Government to another without the consent by plebiscite or otherwise of the population of such Province.

Certainly the people have the right to say that they do not want to do something.

The will of the people makes governments legitimate.

How few of the human race have ever enjoyed an opportunity of making an election of government for themselves and their children.

In a democracy the People are entitled to determine the Ends or general aims of foreign policy.

[Describing America:] Public opinion, which is there omnipotent, is generally right in its aims ...

If any ask me what a free government is, I answer, that for any practical purpose, it is what the people think so, and that they, and not I, are the natural, lawful, and competent judges of the matter.

If you ever doubt that the people are the boss in a democracy, run for office. Even the President is a hired hand.

As the legislature of my state has thought proper to bring my name forward without consulting me, I mean to be silent, and let the people do as seemeth unto them.