This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
Arthur Meier Schlesinger, Jr., born Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger
The first rule of democracy is to distrust all leaders who begin to believe their own publicity.
Bertrand Russell, fully Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell
A fanatical belief in democracy makes democratic institutions impossible.
Bertrand Russell, fully Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell
If one man offers you democracy and another offers you a bag of grain, at what stage of starvation will you prefer the grain to the vote?
He that has no government of himself has no enjoyment of himself.
Enjoyment | Government | Government |
Time lost is time when we have not lived a full human life, time unenriched by experience, creative endeavor, enjoyment and suffering.
David Ben-Gurion, born David Grün
The test of democracy is freedom of criticism.
Dwight Eisenhower, fully Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower
Human dignity, economic freedom, individual responsibility, these are the characteristics that distinguish democracy from all other forms devised by man.
Democracy | Dignity | Distinguish | Freedom | Individual | Man | Responsibility |
Freedom is obtained not by the enjoyment of what is desired but by controlling desire itself.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, fully Franklin Delano Roosevelt, aka FDR
Freedom of conscience, of education, of speech, of assembly are among the very fundamentals of democracy and all of them would be nullified should freedom of the press ever be successfully challenged.
Conscience | Democracy | Education | Freedom of conscience | Freedom | Speech |
Franklin D. Roosevelt, fully Franklin Delano Roosevelt, aka FDR
Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.
Democracy | Government | Power | Government |
There is no divine right of property. Nothing is so completely a man’s own that he may do what he likes with it... Nevertheless, as it is obviously well that each man should labor without fear of being deprived of the use and enjoyment of the product of their labor - as in the nature of things he would not labor at all without some such incentive, it may be said that a man has natural right to own the product of his labor... By this natural right of the individual is still subject to all the limitations imposed by the rights of his fellows.
Enjoyment | Fear | Individual | Labor | Man | Nature | Nothing | Property | Right | Rights |
Who are the really disloyal? Those who inflame racial hatreds, who sow religious and class dissensions. those who subvert the Constitution by violating the freedom of the ballot box. Those who make a mockery of majority rule by the use of the filibuster. Those who impair democracy by denying equal educational facilities. Those who frustrate justice by lynch law or by making a farce of jury trials. Those who deny freedom of speech and of the press and of assembly. Those who demand special favors against the interest of the commonwealth. Those who regard public office as a source of private gain. Those who exalt the military over the civil. Those who for selfish and private purposes stir up national antagonisms and expose the world to the ruin of war.
Democracy | Freedom of speech | Freedom | Justice | Law | Majority | Mockery | Office | Public | Regard | Rule | Speech | Trials | War | World |
If our democracy is to flourish, it must have criticism; if our government is to function it must have dissent.
Criticism | Democracy | Dissent | Government | Government |
Education alone can conduct us to that enjoyment which is at once best in quality and infinite in quantity.
Democracy is not just a counting up of votes – it is a counting up of actions. Without those on the bottom acting out there desires for justice – as the government acts out its needs, and those with power and privilege act out theirs – the scales of democracy will be off. That is why civil disobedience is not just to be tolerated – if we are to have a truly democratic society it is a necessity.
Civil disobedience | Democracy | Disobedience | Government | Justice | Necessity | Power | Society | Will | Society | Government | Privilege |