George Will Quotes

Politics in a democracy is transactional: Politicians seek votes by promising to do things for voters, who seek promises in exchange for their votes.

George Will

• Democracy
• Promise
• Politician

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Quotes to Explore

• Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.

  

  H. L. Mencken
  • Wisdom
  • Democracy
  • Ignorance

• The two million or so residents who live beneath the Heathrow flight path are accustomed to the noise. However, they are right to feel that any expansion would represent an unacceptable broken promise.

  

  Zac Goldsmith
  • Live
  • Path
  • Broken

• Is America truly a democracy? Has America ever been a democracy with the institution of slavery?

  

  Tatyana Ali
  • America
  • Democracy
  • Slavery

• From my intimate discussions with President Obama, it is evident that India figures significantly in American geo-political, economic and strategic thinking. India is the largest democracy in the world.

  

  Narendra Modi
  • World
  • Thinking
  • American

• Democracy is the road to socialism.

  

  Karl Marx
  • Democracy
  • Road
  • Socialism

• Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East.

  

  Jack Schwartz
  • Democracy
  • Israel
  • Middle

• We are a people trying not only to solve the problems of the present: unemployment, inflation... but we are attempting on a larger scale to fulfill the promise of America.

  

  Barbara Jordan
  • People
  • Trying
  • America

• Our brand of democracy is hard. But I can promise that a year from now, when I no longer hold this office, I'll be right there with you as a citizen - inspired by those voices of fairness and vision, of grit and good humor and kindness that have helped America travel so far.

  

  Barack Obama
  • Good
  • America
  • Democracy

• Too many people expect wonders from democracy, when the most wonderful thing of all is just having it.

  

  Walter Winchell
  • People
  • Democracy
  • Wonderful

• Our right to disagree is precious but fragile. The best way to protect and preserve it is to let the other side speak without demonizing them or destroying their right to be heard. Such civil exchanges are the heart beat of democracy - essential to keeping it alive.

  

  Madeleine M. Kunin
  • Heart
  • Best
  • Democracy

• Promise, large promise, is the soul of an advertisement.

  

  Samuel Johnson
  • Soul
  • Promise
  • Advertisement

• In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed - they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love and five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock!

  

  Orson Welles
  • Peace
  • Democracy

• Our democracy has been around far longer than European democracy.

  

  Hillary Clinton
  • Democracy

• I think God asks us to promise to replenish the planet and to pay 100% attention to our young so that they will develop character and a good conscience.

  

  Louis Gossett, Jr.
  • Good
  • God
  • Character

• If you are writing a thriller with violence in it, the ending must be violent. You are delivering a promise to your reader.

  

  Gayle Lynds
  • Writing
  • Violence
  • Promise

• The problem is there is no such thing as a viable democracy made up of experts, zealots, politicians and spectators.

  

  Elizabeth Coleman
  • Up
  • Democracy

• While we enjoy the benefits of living in the greatest democracy in the world, we must be ever conscious of the fact that none of the achievements or freedoms enjoyed in America would be possible without the price that has been paid for by our servicemen and women.

  

  Mark Kennedy
  • World
  • Women
  • America

• Be the guy that delivers the goods and consistently promise things that you can deliver. Even if you under-promise, it's better than over-promising and not delivering, because you don't get a lot of tries.

  

  Adam Neumann
  • Guy
  • Promise

• Democracy still has a real hope and chance in Iraq, and true freedom in this country would be the greatest testament to those who gave their lives for it.

  

  Mary Landrieu
  • Country
  • Real
  • True

• Having women in office is vital to the health of our democracy because women play a unique role in our society. By and large, women are still the primary caregivers in families, even as we have taken our place in the workforce.

  

  Ellen Malcolm
  • Women
  • Society
  • Health

• Lots of girls marry at 16 in Tennessee.

  

  Carlene Carter
  • Marry
  • Tennessee
  • Lots

• I am sickened by the idea that anyone would think of me in racist terms.

  

  Steve Clevenger
  • Think
  • Idea
  • Racist

• I really had to come to the conclusion, the sort of humbling conclusion that, guess what, I'm no different than anybody else: I've got to sort of ask for help - not something I ever did, ever. And then part two of that is, like, accept it when it comes, and, you know, believe what people tell me.

  

  Chris Cornell Soundgarden
  • People
  • Believe
  • Different

• Politics in a democracy is transactional: Politicians seek votes by promising to do things for voters, who seek promises in exchange for their votes.

  

  George Will
  • Democracy
  • Promise
  • Politician