Andrew Young Quotes

The American way is to criticize and debate openly, not to accept unthinkingly the doings of government officials of this or any other country.

The true test of liberty is the right to test it, the right to question it, the right to speak to my neighbors, to grab them by the shoulders and look into their eyes and ask, “Are we free?” I have thought that if we are free, the answer cannot hurt us. And if we are not free, must we not hear the answer?

The better the information it has, the better democracy works. Silence and secrecy are never good for it.

I tell you, in my opinion, the cornerstone of democracy is free press - that's the cornerstone.

But despite this breathtaking pace, I believe in the capacity of our democracy to meet these challenges.

I always say the strength of democracy lies in criticism. If there is no criticism, that means there is no democracy. And if you want to grow, you must invite criticism. And I want to grow; I want to invite criticism.

The People have a right to the Truth as they have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

It takes a long time to build democracy, to build freedom.

In contrast to totalitarianism, democracy can face and live with the truth about itself.

Free and open communications is the best guarantee of democracy.

Democracy relies on free speech. Yes, say anything you want, but it relies even more on the speech being truthful. It is the truth, after all, that sets us free.

Transparency is key to reciprocal accountability, which we use to be both free and smart. It is the miracle tool that enables us to question the lies of monsters.

Freedom of opinion is a valuable asset in a democracy.

A basic tenet of a healthy democracy is open dialogue and transparency.

We're not going back anywhere, we're going forward, we're going forward in democracy, we're going forward in participation, we're going forward with ideas.

The real truth is, I just want to keep the voice of dissent alive in all of our elections. I don't really want to hang out with politicians.

I regard freedom of expression as the primary right without which one can not have a proper functioning democracy.

We've seen over time that countries that have the best economic growth are those that have good governance, and good governance comes from freedom of communication. It comes from ending corruption. It comes from a populace that can go online and say, 'This politician is corrupt, this administrator, or this public official is corrupt.'

If we are to take for the criterion of truth the majority of suffrages, they ought to be gotten from those philosophic and patriotic citizens who cultivate their reason.

Journalism is what maintains democracy. It's the force for progressive social change.

The most enduring legacy of President Barack Obama is going to be a new generation of leaders standing up for liberty.

The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy, but the best weapon of a democracy should be the weapon of openness.

A mature society understands that at the heart of democracy is argument.

The merit of a democratic regime rests on one's continual willingness to exchange views, and to compete on the basis of individual merit and capacities.

We are a nation in which freedom is alive in the squares and streets, in the daily work of the communications media, in the open relationship between the governing and the governed.