Norman Mailer Quotes

We are Americans and we have a right to debate and disagree with any administration!

Dissent is what rescues democracy from a quiet death behind closed doors.

The U.S. affirms freedom of speech.[Vladimir] Putin is no friend of freedom of speech.

Europe is a democracy and differences of opinion are part of it.

In a democracy, everyone has the right to criticise the Government.

Everybody has the right to speak up in a democracy. We would be in trouble as a society if there wasn't a constant pressure to make reforms and to be just. Sometimes as prime minister, when i was caught up in a really loud demonstration, I used to say to myself that I deserved it because of all the demonstrations I myself had organized as a student against Duplessis.

Democracy necessarily means a conflict of will and ideas, involving sometimes a war of the knife between different ideas.

Discussion in America means dissent.

During President George W. Bush's two terms, you couldn't drive far without seeing a particular bumper sticker: 'Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.'

Riot is the voice of the unheard.

The cry has been that when war is declared, all opposition should therefore be hushed. A sentiment more unworthy of a free country should hardly be propagated. If the doctrine be admitted, rulers have only to declare war and they are screened at once from scrutiny.

If there is liberty, if there is democracy, in this country, it will stand or fall with the right of the minority to express to the full force of language its opposition in public to the policies of the government. And it will stand or fall with the courage of the minority so to express itself.

I am not an American who believes that questioning or criticizing my government is unpatriotic.

People have the right to protest - that's what democracy is all about. I have no problem with people exercising their democratic rights.

All have the right to speak, do whatever they want in democracy, but no one will be allowed to destabilise the country or create violence.

One thing that is great about India is the freedom to speak and the spaces available in our democracy to protest which doesn't exist in many places in the world.

To view the opposition as dangerous is to misunderstand the basic concepts of democracy. To oppress the opposition is to assault the very foundation of democracy.

Democracy is not what we hate the most and what we fear the most. We need to stand up.

In a democratic society, the only treason is silence.

The price of liberty is, in addition to eternal vigilance, eternal patience with the vacuous blather occasionally expressed from behind the shield of free speech.

Just as war is freedom's cost, disagreement is freedom's privilege.

I'm sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and disagree with this administration, somehow you're not patriotic, and we should stand up and say, "We are Americans and we have the right to debate and disagree with any administration!"

My mother always said democracy is the best revenge.

We [in USA] have people honestly believing that, if a president calls a war, you have to shut up and sing. That is not the nation my mother raised me to pledge my allegiance to. We should speak out. We sent thousands of Americans to foreign battlefields to protect our way of life, which includes free speech. If you're not going to use it, it's already lost. We'll find a Mussolini who will tell us what's good for us.

Opinion and protest are the life breath of democracy—even when it blows heavy.