Abraham Lincoln Quotes

Democracy is when the people keep a government in check.

Democracy, loudly upheld as a cure for much of the ailing world, has proved no guarantor of political wisdom, even if it remains the least bad form of government.

Democracy is the form of government in which the free are rulers.

The true principle of a republic is that the people should choose whom they please to govern them. Representation is imperfect, in proportion as the current of popular favor is checked. The great source of free government, popular election, should be perfectly pure, and the most unbounded liberty allowed.

Unlike any other nation, here the people rule, and their will is the supreme law. It is sometimes sneeringly said by those who do not like free government, that here we count heads. True, heads are counted, but brains also . . .

I call government that works the best for people open society, which is basically just another more general term for a democracy that is - you call it maybe a liberal democracy. It's not only majority rule but also respect for minorities and minority opinions and the rule of law. So it's really a sort of institutional democracy.

There is but one element of government, and that is THE PEOPLE. From this element spring all governments. "For a nation to be free, it is only necessary that she wills it." For a nation to be slave, it is only necessary that she wills it.

Good government could never be a substitute for government by the people themselves.

I'm enormously interested in freedom and retaining the right to have whatever economy we want and to shape it as we want and a having sufficient Democracy so that the people actually hold their Government in their own hands.

There is too much government today. We've got to remember the government should be by the people, of the people, and for the people.

Well, you know, too much democracy is a sort of sad thing.

It is an essential tenet of our whole representative form of government, the idea that there should not be some tyranny which makes it so nobody can even have a chance to vote.

Were there no contrariety of interests, nothing would be more simple and easy than to form and preserve free institutions. The right of suffrage alone would be a sufficient guarantee. It is the conflict of opposing interests which renders it the most difficult work of man.

A marvel that has nothing to offer, democracy is at once a nation's paradise and its tomb.

Charles Miller cannot bring down my government.

While democracy in the long run is the most stable form of government, in the short run, it is among the most fragile.

Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.

Cuba ought to be free and independent, and the government should be turned over to the Cuban people.

Democracy means government by discussion, but it is only effective if you can stop people talking.

A government of, by and for the people is obligated to conduct the nation's business in a manner that respects dissent.

Democracy gives every man the right to be his own oppressor.

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

If a democracy is to remain real and stable, the majority must be humane and farsighted enough to take care of minorities who have serious objections to the majorities point of view and who, because of lack of numbers, do not have the political strength to impose their own policy solutions through their own political power.

Minority rights are just as important as majority decisions.

If any ask me what a free government is, I answer, that for any practical purpose, it is what the people think so, and that they, and not I, are the natural, lawful, and competent judges of the matter.