Mignon McLaughlin Quotes

The spirit of democracy cannot be established in the midst of terrorism, whether governmental or popular.

The army is a poor school for democracy.

Anti-democracy...is a virus that exists, and pro-democracy is the antibody to that virus, and I think we have to become vigilant, and we have to stay on top of the issues of democracy and freedom.

Democracy is an insecure landscape.

If you give up on democracy, you might as well give up on everything.

If Bangladesh succumbs to the rule of one family, it would be a major step backward for the region.

My experience and what scant understanding of politics I possess have convinced me that our peoples will only find well-being under compulsion; but my repugnance for compulsion is so great that I am loath to employ it even to achieve their well-being.

No truly sophisticated proponent of repression would be stupid enough to shatter the facade of democratic institutions.

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 a fragile flower; still it needs cultivating.

The nightmare in every democracy, the very nightmare, is if it gets worse and worse and worse, we could end up totalitarian.

You cannot have democracy without the institutions. You cannot have a democracy that is built on the moods of self-interested people.

I have great confidence in Taiwan's democracy.

It has been observed that a pure democracy if it were practicable would be the most perfect government. Experience has proved that no position is more false than this. The ancient democracies in which the people themselves deliberated never possessed one good feature of government. Their very character was tyranny; their figure deformity.

The Russian people deserve free and fair elections. They deserve to have a democracy.

I mean, I'm not a, you know, a fraidy cat. I mean, I am truly concerned in this country that we are moving towards fascism.

Will Iraq be a democracy? The question is, 'Will America be a democracy?'

Democracy is good for world peace.

It's hard in all countries. Democracy is hard, but it's better than the alternatives.

All the more reason we need to stand up for our democracy now. If we're going to solve the crises that are barreling down on us, we need democracy, and our democracy needs to start with an open and inclusive debate. That doesn't mean 20 candidates. There are four candidates who are on the ballot for just about every voter in America.

I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.

Our aim is a democratic peace.

Aspiring dictators sometimes win elections, and elected leaders sometimes govern badly and threaten their neighbors.History demonstrates that democracy usually follows good governance, not the reverse.

Without democracy freedom is a chimera

From literature to ecology, from the escape velocity of galaxies to the greenhouse effect, from garbage disposal methods to traffic jams, everything is discussed in our world. But the democratic system, as if it were a given fact, untouchable by nature until the end of time, we don't discuss that.