Civic Involvement Quotes

I have my own political views and ideologies, but will not enter politics for sure.

Volunteering is a way to quickly become part of your new community, make connections, and start to feel at home. That doesn't just benefit the individual. It benefits the company, too.

I try not to spend too much time on partisan politics. Life's too short for that. I don't really believe that there have been many human problems solved by politics.

When I was very young, I took no interest in party politics. My line of interest was how can you be part of an influence to the society that you live in.

I don't know why, but I've had an interest and passion for politics.

Politics is a contest among people of diverse backgrounds and philosophies, advocating different solutions to common problems. The system only works when principled, energetic people participate.

My appetite for public policy and changing it, and not only being a part of the conversation, but affecting it in a positive way, never diminished after 10 years in Congress.

The question for me is not are we political, but how are we political? We need to be politically engaged, but peculiar in how we engage.

Scepticism and cynicism about politics is so great that one of the best counters to it is what you can do at a local level.

Before I was elected to Congress, I had the honor of serving as the president of the Congregation Ner Tamid in Henderson, the largest Reform Synagogue in Southern Nevada. During my tenure, I witnessed firsthand the beauty in our country's religious diversity and how community engagement strengthens America.

Without publicity there can be no public support, and without public support every nation must decay.

I had parents who were attentive to what was going on politically. There was the Greek connection, a sense of a larger world. People coming in from abroad. There was a sense of community around ideas: a discourse and an adhesiveness which is my favorite word from [Walt] Whitman.

Literacy unlocks the door to learning throughout life, is essential to development and health, and opens the way for democratic participation and active citizenship.

I think public life for me has a slightly didactic role, OK.

Citizens are refined, cultivated, and very political. I believe in the legitimacy of their participation.

I think that [Barack] Obama was elected because young people are starting to get interested in their country and I think that's a very healthy thing.

Democracy is a daring concept - a hope that we'll be best governed if all of us participate in the act of government. It is meant to be a conversation, a place where the intelligence and local knowledge of the electorate sums together to arrive at actions that reflect the participation of the largest possible number of people.

Part of what makes Minneapolis such a vibrant place to live and work is that we have active residents of all ages.

Government has got to open up and engage citizenry as partners.

The Tea Party I have huge disagreements with, obviously. But I give them credit for having activated themselves. And they made a difference in terms of moving the Republican Party, in terms of moving the country in a particular direction. It's a direction I disagreed with. But it showed that, in fact, you get involved, if your voice is heard it has an impact.

Don't underestimate questions from the crowd; technology has made voters more informed than ever.

Parishes can help lift up the moral and human dimension of public issues, calling people to informed participation in the political process.

That's always been the case in America; there's been a big spectrum in how much people are interested in American politics.

I wanted to be what my high-school civics and history teacher thought of as a good American. That automatically involved taking an interest in government.

I had become increasingly concerned in recent years about the lack of civics education in our nation's schools. In recent years, the schools have stopped teaching it. And it's unfortunate.