Abraham Lincoln Quotes

Do we sufficiently appreciate how omnipotent is opinion in the matter of all government? Do we consider especially in how true a sense it is the creator, must be the upholder, and may be the destroyer of our united government?

I shall on all subjects have a policy to recommend, but none to enforce against the will of the people.

No power in the country can dissolve the government.

I am sure that in Canada the people appreciate this principle, and the general intelligence which prevails over that country is such that I am sure there is no danger of a reactionary policy ever finding a response in the hearts of any considerable number of our people.

Public opinion is the thermometer a monarch should constantly consult.

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

I will, based on the existing ROC constitutional system, based on democratic principles, on the basis of the largest public opinion, promote cross-strait policy.

The new Constitution should be ratified in the most unexceptional form, and by the supreme authority of the people themselves.

If certain selected bodies of men, deputed on these principles, determine contrary to the wishes and expectations of their constituents, the people have an undoubted right to reject their decisions, to call for a revision of their conduct, to depute others in their room, or if they think proper, to demand further time for deliberation on matters of the greatest moment: …

It is extremely difficult to rescind entitlements to which people think they are legally entitled. Taxes can easily go up and down. There isn’t the same political pressure.

You don't determine what is good policy by polling.

I doubt the people of North Carolina will be content to allow the governor to decide or even unduly influence selecting their senator.

What is the government? Nothing, unless supported by opinion.

Hillary Clinton did not represent, on a lot of policy matters, what the American public perceived to be as a change.

Those who govern must see how the people react to administration. Ultimately, the people are the final arbiters.

The political terms 'will' and 'popular will' have a long track record in Western history going back to Rousseau. That record is profoundly anti-democratic, essentially inviting elites to interpret what the common people believe and want. In litigious modern America, that would be a judicial elite telling us how we meant to vote or should have voted.

The sovereign power of all civil authority is founded in the consent of the people.

You're always as good as your last movie and that's the same with politics. If you are successful with a certain policy, then you're hot; if you're successful with the economy, or bringing down the unemployment rate, then you're hot. But if you're not successful, then things go south very quickly.

We need not fear any isms if our democracy is achieving the ends for which it was established.

Opinion, whether well or ill-founded, is the governing principle of human affairs

Whether they love me or don't love me, they think I know what I'm doing and that people aren't gonna be taking advantage of the country. So if I had my choice, I'd love to keep doing what I'm doing. The country is in serious, serious trouble, like it's never been before. And that's why I'm saying: Would I rather stay in Trump Tower? Would I rather stay and lead the life I'm leading - and you know something about my life. It's very good.

The sovereignty of the people is inalienable.

You cannot have democracy without the institutions. You cannot have a democracy that is built on the moods of self-interested people.

This leads to a question - if a great many people are for a certain project, is it necessarily right? If the vast majority is for it, is it even more certainly right? This, to be sure, is one of the tricky points of democracy. The minority often turns out to be right, and though one believes in the efficacy of the democratic process, one has also to recognize that the demand of the many for a particular project at a particular time may mean only disaster.

President tends to feel that he cannot go beyond what the public will support him in doing. So he tries not to decide what is the best course so much as to decide what the people will support.