Garry Kasparov Quotes

We are no longer facing a contest betweenDemocracy and Communism. The conflict today is between Democracy and authoritarianism.

When Bush says democracy, I often wonder what he's referring to.

Democracy cannot be created out of thin air

The Americans' position is clear: we promote democracy.

I don't know whether it's age or maturity, but I certainly find myself committed more and more to the looser forms of Western democracy at any price.

We have to implant democracies where there are now dictatorships.

Russia does not and cannot have any political choice but democracy. I want to say, and even stress, that we share those universal democratic principles taken around the whole world.

I think, as a general matter, clearly, the United States globally supports the development of democracy and the democratic yearnings of all people.

I always assume that democracy is the only good form of government, quite frankly, and democracy is always to be preferred.

Democracy is good. I say this because other systems are worse.

The Islamists became aware of democracy only recently, when the West implemented it and began urging other countries to implement it too, in order to protect the people of the earth from annihilation at the hands of despotic and repressive rulers. Although the Islamic jurisprudents have recently become aware of democracy, they have not acknowledged it, and have continued to believe in the limited Sura of the Righteous Caliphs, which does not meet the needs of 21st century peoples.

We cannot impose democracy where it has no constituency.

If any country wants to develop, it must practice democracy. If I look around the world, I see that the prosperous countries practice democracy.

If you have an election no mater how free, if you do not have a government that respects people’s rights, you don’t have a democracy.

Once confined to a handful of wealthy countries, it [democracy] became, in a short period of time, the most popular political system in the world. In 1900, only 10 countries were democracies. By mid-century, the number had increased to 30…. By 2005 fully 119 of the world’s 190 countries had become democracies.

Democracies are much better at adapting to modernization than other systems.

No democracy pretends to be a tyranny. Most tyrannies pretend they are democracies. Democracy remains the definition of political legitimacy.

South Korea is a vigorous democracy, with strong judicial institutions and a commitment to the rule of law.

Undoubtedly, a democratic state without an alternative is a danger to democracy itself.

I recognize that in some cases it's more important to have freedom and justice than to have peace.

I do think the Cubans have to change some of the political structures there and allow critical voices, for their own sakes, because unless there is accountability the revolution will totally atrophy.

America must remain freedom's staunchest friend, for freedom is our best ally and it is the world's only hope to conquer poverty and preserve peace.

The best way to defeat an ideology is with a better ideology. And I believe democracy is a better ideology.

We have free elections. Everybody can vote, we fought for that, we brag about that and we know we're going to have a winner and we're going to have a loser.

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