Shashi Tharoor Quotes
We Indians … are so good at respecting outward forms while ignoring the substance. We took the forms of parliamentary democracy, preserved them, put them on pedestal and paid them due obeisance. But we ignored the basic fact that parliamentary democracy can only work if those who run it are constantly responsive to needs of the people and if parliamentarians are qualified enough to legislate. Neither condition was fulfilled in India for long.
Shashi Tharoor, Indian Politician, Journalist & Author, UN Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information, The Great Indian Novel
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
In most legislatures, the leader of the majority party can usually prevent any proposed legislation from coming to a vote. Many will use that individual power to block any legislation that they do not support. Others like Skelos believes that democracy requires that the entire legislature have the opportunity to vote on an issue and that a single individual or even a majority of the majority should not be able to block a vote as this would disenfranchise the legislators. In this case, the bill was to legalize Gay Marriage—a very controversial proposal. When the vote was taken, 4 Republicans and all but one Democrat voted in favor. The other Republicans and the one Democrat voted against. The bill passed and New York became the first large state to legalize Gay Marriage. Skelos, who opposed the bill, was castigated by conservatives of his own party for not using his power to prevent the vote from ever happening, and putting principle above party.
The Spanish colonization had been so exploitative that there was little of no infrastructure established in the Spanish colonies. Almost no institutions, no local government, existed, and there was no system of law or tolerance of minority views. Power controlled all and the Spanish (and Portuguese) were the power. When they were defeated, it was a bitter free for all in most cases unless there was a strong man and even they did not last long.
1st Viscount Milner
This quotation had a close proximity to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (see linked quote). Although this was probably Lincoln's most famous line, it was not totally original. John Adams came close in a 1774 proclamation (see linked quote). As did John Marshall in his McCulloch v. Maryland decision (see linked quote). There was also Thomas Cooper in 1795 (see linked quote). But the earliest close phrase use appears to be the English cleric, John Wycliffe, in 1382 (see linked quote). It is not known with which of these Lincoln was familiar.
Shashi Tharoor is an Indian politician, writer and former international diplomat who has been serving as Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, since 2009. He was formerly Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and contested for the post of Secretary-General in 2006.
