Clay Shirky Quotes

And I think that every American - this is an all-hands-on-deck moment for America. And I think it is good and important that every American is informed, understands the issues and whether I agree with them or not, comes into the public forum and we hear from them.

I don't really troll the Internet; I'm not young enough.

The relationship between citizens and government is increasingly mediated through the Internet.

I believe in the critical importance of participating in the political system - from voting to standing for election. It's both rewarding and necessary that men and women of good will and clear thinking engage in honest, open debate.

Democracy is stronger, is better, is more robust when people participate. We should want to encourage that.

I feel - and this goes back to social media and freedom of speech - when you're on a public platform, and you put something out there in front of people who don't know you, they might just perceive it in a very different way altogether.

I think people are really talking about it. Having conversations about how to make change.

If you make the Internet, live on the internet.

On the internet nobody can hear you being subtle.

Active people to revitalize what is really the root of democracy: citizens communicating with each other. Democracy is not just about voting, it's about citizens talking with each other about the issues which concern them. We've lost a great deal of that in the age of the mass media.

It's too easy to trivialize people. The Internet does it all the time.

Political questions are far too serious to be left to the politicians.

I looked back, but Bast and Sadie seemed fine. They were still staring at the water as if it were some amazing Internet video.

It's crazy... without the Internet I would never be in this place... without YouTube and stuff. But also I wouldn't be here without any of my fans who supported me.

An informed public democracy means rule of the people. A media system is absolutely essential to that process, if people are going to be political equals, they to have to have the information and tools so they can actually be participants. That's liberal democracy 101.

I've been a jerk on the internet since the internet started.

In the age of the internet, with all of its problems, over time, the very fact that individuals can join the conversation creates the opportunity for the emergence of - for the re-emergence of a genuine conversation of democracy.

The Internet...has become the voice of the people in the first genuine experiment in democracy yet conducted in America. It stands ready to serve every facet, every faction.

Democracy needs to start with an open Presidential debate. So come on out and let's take back the promise of our democracy.

People don't talk to each other. You're alone with your television set or internet. But you can't have a functioning democracy without what sociologists call "secondary organizations," places where people can get together, plan, talk and develop ideas. You don't do it alone.

YouTube is a new experience for me-someone threw a laptop in front of me and showed me Nic Cage going mad, which has got to be the funniest thing on YouTube. He's so courageous.

With many readers, brilliancy of style passes for affluence of thought; they mistake buttercups in the grass for immeasurable gold mines under ground.

Those who won our independence believed that the final end of the state was to make men free to develop their faculties... They valued liberty both as an end and as a means. They believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty... that public discussion is a political duty; and that this should be a fundamental principle of the American government.

The Internet is accelerating the speed of acceptance and social justice.

Democracy is not just a question of having a vote. It consists of strengthening each citizen's possibility and capacity to participate in the deliberations involved in life in society.