George Bernard Shaw Quotes

The true policy of government is to make use of aristocracy, but under the forms and in the spirit of democracy.

Democracy is the form of government in which the free are rulers, and oligarchy in which the rich; it is only an accident that the free are the many and the rich are the few.

In an autocracy, one person has his way; in an aristocracy a few people have their way; in a democracy no one has his way.

Democracy, in a word, is meant to be an aristocracy which has broadened into a universal aristocracy.

People mistake majoritarianism for democracy.

The case for democracy is not esthetic.

Democracy will never be supplanted by a republic of experts—and that is a very good thing.

I am a firm believer in the importance of democracy, not only as the ultimate goal, but also as an essential part of the process.

For many centuries Chinese society has been free of class distinctions such as are found even in advanced democracies.

In other words, the bar should be maintained at the level of a pluralistic and participatory democracy.

The tendency of democracies is, in all things, to mediocrity.

Democracy is a process. It is never finished.

Thus our [British] democracy was from an early period the most aristocratic, and our aristocracy the most democratic.

My faith in the people governing is, on the whole, infinitesimal; my faith in the people governed is, on the whole, illimitable.

Democracy is not a form of government. It is a political philosophy that can be embodied in various systems of government.

The surface of American society is covered with a layer of democratic paint, but from time to time one can see the old aristocratic colors breaking through.

Democracy can be noisy and messy. But it works.

The voices of a billion Indians … are telling us that the course of their lives cannot be decided by a handful of people behind closed doors who are not fully accountable to them. They are telling us that India’s governmental system … robs people of their voice, a system that disempowers rather than empowering.

The beauty of democracy is that an average, random, unremarkable citizen can lead it.

I have no idea if some societies, anthropologically speaking, aren't really suited for democracy. I don't think that's true.

Democracy is a device that ensures the people shall be governed no better than they deserve.

There's not a system better than another. There are some people better than others. I'm not anti-democracy, but there's no real system yet that has proven itself to be the right one.

Tony Blair believed in a consumerist idea of democracy.

Democracy is itself, a religious faith. For some it comes close to being the only formal religion they have.

I think democracy is the most revolutionary thing in the world, because if you have power you use it to meet the needs of you and your community.