Meles Zenawi Quotes

Democracy is a process that doesn't march in lock step.

The Egyptian people have their own free will and the Army and the police are there to implement that will.

While democracy must have its organization and controls, its vital breath is individual liberty.

The right of a minority is so important in a democracy.

Democracy matters because it reflects an idea of equality and an idea of liberty. It reflects an idea of dignity, the dignity of the individual, the idea that each individual should have an equal vote, an equal say, in the formation of their government.

I feel that the majority of people should decide for themselves what kind of government they want.

Democracy should be home grown.

Freedom is when the people can speak, democracy is when the government listens.

Sovereignty belongs unconditionally to the people.

In a democracy the People are entitled to determine the Ends or general aims of foreign policy.

We cannot impose democracy where it has no constituency.

In democracies the people seem to act as they please.

The present generation has the same right of self-government which the past one has exercised for itself.

It is not suffrage that gives life to democracy; it is our democratic society that gives life to suffrage.

The United States supports the idea that every people should have the right to make a free choice as to the kind of government they want.

Popular sovereignty is relatively easy to establish; the other component of democracy, liberty, is far more difficulty to secure.

The people living in this land, its inhabitants, its citizens, rich and poor, great and humble… these are all the true lords and masters, who have the right to say how and through whom they are to be governed.

To me, being a Democrat means we can't let 'We the People' turn into 'We the Few.'

I believe that sovereignty is the twin sister of democracy. If there's no sovereignty, there's no democracy.

We need to restore our democracy to a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

We deserve to elect our own government.

Democracy, by its very nature, can't be imposed on people. Democracy has to be the people deciding for themselves.

Democracy is not something you put away for ten years, and then in the 11th year you wake up and start practicing again. We have to begin to learn to rule ourselves again.

I've been reading this little book. It's called the Russian constitution. And it says that the only source of power in Russia is the people. So I don't want to hear those who say we're appealing to the authorities. Who's the power here?

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