Michael Novak Quotes

One of the first things we must get rid of is the idea that democracy is tantamount to capitalism.

Let me say again that the relationship is asymmetrical: there's no democracy without a market economy, but you can have a market economy without democracy.

A free economy and strong communities honor the dignity of every person, rewarding effort with justice, promoting upward mobility, and building solidarity among citizens.

Like the government, Arab businessmen fear democracy and the possibility that their workers might be transformed into responsible citizens who might demand their rights.

Citizens everywhere should be able to choose their leaders in climates free of fear.

The tensions between order and liberty, between opportunity and social justice will always be there, but that’s freedom.

It is easy to protect the rights to responsible citizens; only a democracy will protect the rights of those who are deemed irresponsible.

Capitalism is very undemocratic. Capitalism gives you power according to your wealth while democracy gives you power according to your existence.

Political democracy cannot last unless there lies at the base of it social democracy. What does social democracy mean? It means a way of life which recognizes liberty, equality and fraternity as the principles of life.

.. becoming attached to a country involves pressing, uncomfortable questions about justice and opportunity for its least powerful citizens.

Democracy does not require perfect equality, but it does require that citizens share a common life. What matters is that people of different backgrounds and social positions encounter one another, and bump up against one another, in the course of ordinary life.

A community is democratic only when the humblest and weakest person can enjoy the highest civil, economic, and social rights that the biggest and most powerful possess.

I think the government has a role in protecting the fundamental rights of its citizens.

When you take out individual initiative, individual responsibility, and the hope that every individual is born with, to better their lives, to climb the economic ladder, to pursue happiness, that is, in fact, a neoslavery.

History suggests that capitalism is a necessary condition for political freedom. Clearly it is not a sufficient condition.

Liberal democracy - as you know, in the old days, we were saying we want socialism with a human face. Today's left effectively offers global capitalism with a human face, more tolerance, more rights and so on. So the question is, is this enough or not? Here I remain a Marxist: I think not.

The economic, social and cultural progress of a nation depends on citizens counting for more and having more rights.

The biggest lie of all is that capitalism is democracy. We have no way of understanding democracy outside of the market, just as we have no understanding of how to understand freedom outside of market values.

It has been true in Western societies and it seems to be true elsewhere that you do not find democratic systems apart from capitalism, or apart from a market economy, if you prefer that term.

The American economic, political, and social organization has given to its citizens the benefits of material prosperity, political liberty, and a wholesome natural equality; and this achievement is a gain, not only to Americans, but to the world and to civilization.

So long as we have enough people in this country willing to fight for their rights, we'll be called a democracy.

Open political and economic systems have been gaining ground and there's a good reason for it. They work better.

The democratic aspiration is no mere recent phase in human history ... It was written in Magna Carta..

If you believe in democracy, you must believe in it unconditionally. If you believe that men should be free, then, they should have the right of free association, of free speech, of free publication. Then, no law should permit those democratic processes to be set at nought.

Economic freedom is an end in itself …. Economic freedom is an indispensable means towards the achievement of political freedom.