Paul Ryan Quotes

In America, we had a totally divided country for eight years and long before that. In all fairness to President Obama, long before President Obama we have had a very divided - I didn't come along and divide this country. This country was seriously divided before I got here.

In our own country, we take democratic values seriously - and so we always have a vigorous debate on the issues. That's part of the greatness of America, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

In America, we're in a divided country.

You know, we do a lot of complaining here in America. And that itself is something they can't do in a lot of other countries.

Partisanship is not a symptom of weakness in democracy. It is a symptom of strength.

In America you've got a one party state except that you've got two of them.

Donald Trump:President of the Divided States of America

Politics has become the great spectator sport of the United States.

My view is instead of political discussions, persuasions, which dominate democracy, in our country we have taken our democracy to the other extreme. There is no debate, sufficient debate. There is court debate.

Part of what's great about America, and Canada as well, is that we can talk about our political leaders in public.

It's so deeply disturbing to me that half of the eligible voters don't vote in this country. We talk about how divided the country is. The truth is, we don't even know. We just know what the half that voted thought.

Democracy is stronger, is better, is more robust when people participate. We should want to encourage that.

We live in a representative democracy, characterized by free and fair elections and peaceful transfers of power. After most elections, roughly half of Americans are thrilled with the results; the other half are profoundly disappointed.

I want my kids to grow up in a country where, you know, we can still shout questions at the president.

We need to be constantly reminded that this is a representative democracy, and we need to be in tune to what people are talking about.

The Democrats want to destroy the country immediately.

Even when we're not talking about Trump, we're talking about Trump.

The more insanity that comes from Washington, D.C., the stronger the loyal opposition becomes.

Getting a lot more Americans interested in politics is not the same as getting a lot more Americans knowledgeable about the workings of democracy or government. It has brought the worldview associated with sports-talk radio to politics; you’ve got a team and you want that team to win, and the other team is always the worst, and the refs are always unfairly treating your side. Heaven forbid you concede that the other team played a better game.

Obama is a radical communist and I think it is becoming clear. That is what I told people in Illinois and now everybody realizes it is coming true. He is going to destroy this country and we are either going to stop him or the United States of America is going to cease to exist.

What is polarizing in America is the Democrat Party agenda. What is polarizing and divisive is the Democrat Party agenda and the things they have been trying to do.

This is an election year, and I think we're in desperate trouble and it's time for people to speak up and not pipe down. It's a real conflict for me when I go to a concert and find out somebody in the audience is a Republican or fundamental Christian. It can cloud my enjoyment. I'd rather not know.

Such a small percentage of our population carry the burden of knowing what's really going on in our country's name, and I think that unless that's out in the open and people are discussing it, then our healthy democracy is not so healthy.

We are on the precipice of being so ignorant that our democracy is threatened.

The truth is that America has been closely divided politically for quite some time. That was reflected in some of the challenges I had with the Republican Congress.