John Dewey Quotes

I do feel, in a sense, the rules of engagement for citizenship has changed, and we must encourage other people to speak up and to take action.

I want Americans to realize that we are the owners of this country, and that one person can make a difference.

I'm a big fan of the vigor of civil society, political engagement, and public life in many parts of Latin America.

It is important to show up. Showing up at marches and rallies and town halls and protests. I remember I was really quite sad from Election Night last year until Jan. 20. And then I remember waking up Jan. 21 and seeing these amazing Women's Marches across America, and I thought to myself, That's the country that I know. And that's a larger populist movement that I'm seeing than Donald Trump's relatively small populist movement. And that gave me a lot of hope and energy, and from that day forward, I've taken a view that we'll flip the House next year.

I became active in politics because I saw the possibility, if we all sat back and did nothing, of a world in which there would no longer be any stages for actors to act on.

If in a democratic country nothing can be permanently achieved save through the masses of the people, it will be impossible to establish a higher political life than the people themselves crave.

This is essential that we have a resurgence in democratic participation. And I don't mean big-D Democrat, I mean small-D democrat. I mean getting involved in your neighborhood, your community. This is no time to say, "I'm not into politics." This is a time to go headlong into the welfare of this nation.

I think it's very important for everyone in America to realize right now the state of our country, not just on this issue but on a lot of issues, that it is time to get active again. People have just sat back and just sort of said, oh, let somebody else do it for a long time, and we're seeing what's happening to the country, even freedom of speech. It's not going well. So I think this is a real opportunity for people to see, yes, if you do get out and you do get active, there are other people there. You just have to seek them out.

There are enough people who are starting to be actively involved that we can turn things around. And we need to encourage others to become involved.

Silence is not an effective political strategy, and what we do if we silence the public interest, which is so hard to hear anyway, is that we silence ourselves and then we do not have a democracy.

Democracy depends on people speaking out, and in times of great crisis, on people creating a commotion.

Being politically active is "more about doing things, not just standing for some platform or being involved in some political party."

During the 1960s, large groups of people who are normally passive and apathetic began to try to enter the political arena to press their demands.... The naive might call that democracy, but that's because they don't understand. The sophisticated understand that that's the crisis of democracy.

You could really belong to a group of people and with other people, you could really make some significant changes - through the electoral process, of course, by registering people to vote, and by supporting good people who were running for office. For me, it was like I had found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Voting is easy and marginally useful, but it is a poor substitute for democracy, which requires direct action by concerned citizens.

'Unlikely Brothers' talks about the importance of citizen action and shows why and how we can make a difference.

By voting, we add our voice to the chorus that forms opinions and the basis for actions.

I just want people to know that if they want to change the direction of the country, they can do it, but only if they're active, informed, and engaged.

Party action should follow, not precede the creation of a dominant popular sentiment.

If people take the film and screen it whenever possible for their social and professional networks, we can continue to make a difference. It is one more element we have to use in the ongoing effort to take back our country.

You need to remind people that you vote, you matter, and that they can't succeed without your help.

The people will save their government, if the government itself will allow them.

I learnt that if I want to make any difference, or changes to my world, then I've got to be involved. We need passion - that's how things change.

I think everybody's political. The act of being alive is political. Unless you choose to be a hermit, you're automatically political because you're part of a community.

Journalism still, in a democracy, is the essential force to get the public educated and mobilized to take action on behalf of our ancient ideals.