Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes

A people morally and intellectually equal to self-government must also be equal in self-defence.

A man without a vote is in this land like a man without a hand.

If you protect a person's right to vote, then he'll protect himself better than you can.

The right to vote is the most powerful non-violent tool we have in the struggle for civil rights.

It is downright mockery to talk to women of their enjoyment of the blessings of liberty while they are denied the use of the only means of securing them provided by this democratic-republican government: the ballot.

The right to vote is one of our nation's most important civil rights.

We deserve to elect our own government.

The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy.

This right to vote is the basic right without which all others are meaningless. It gives people, people as individuals, control over their own destinies.

Should people be mere "interested spectators of action," not "participants," restricted to lending their weight periodically to one or another sector of the "responsible men," as advocates of "manufacture of consent" have recommended? Or should their rights transcend these highly restricted bounds?

It seems self-evident that we should want people to be free, to be able to play an active part in making decisions about matters of concern to them, to the largest possible extent.

Democracy is not a good that people can enjoy without trouble. It is, on the contrary, a treasure that must be daily defended and conquered anew by strenuous effort.

I never miss a vote; I think that's the power of the people. A lot of people fought and died for us to have votes, for women to have votes in particular - your vote is your one weapon.

Women waited 144 years before earning suffrage. If a mature, multiparty democracy was so darn easy, everybody would have one.

For our white members, voting is something they have done for hundreds of years. But for us, it is not such a traumatic thing, because we have never participated in an election.

When we talk about fighting for our country, we're talking about our vote, our vote is our arms.

A man without a vote is man without protection.

Suffrage is the pivotal right.

The people will save their government, if the government itself will allow them.

Every citizen has to figure out what kind of government he or she wants.

Democracy belongs to those who exercise it.

Liberal Democracy is all about extending choice. Give people the option to decide their retirement age, and you immediately extend their freedom in a very significant way.

The beauty of our democracy lies in the American value of equality: if you vote, you have a seat at the table. If you speak, you have a chance to persuade others. A billionaire and a minimum wage earner have the same power at the ballot box.

The exercise of democracy begins as exercise, as walking around, becoming familiar with the streets, comfortable with strangers, able to imagine your own body as powerful and expressive rather than a pawn.

The right to vote is the right upon which all of our rights are leveraged - and without which none can be protected.