The whole dream of democracy is to raise the proletariat to the level of bourgeois stupidity.
—Gustave Flaubert, 1871Quotes
The people are the foundation of the state. If the foundations are firm, the state will be tranquil.
—Classic of History, c. 400 BCThe only equals are those who are equally rich.
—Burundian proverbIf the people be the governors, who shall be governed?
—John Cotton, c. 1636Despotism subjects a nation to one tyrant, democracy to many.
—Marguerite Gardiner, 1839Television has made dictatorship impossible, but democracy unbearable.
—Shimon Peres, 1995All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it.
—Henry David Thoreau, 1849What touches all shall be approved by all.
—Edward I, 1295In America, everybody is, but some are more than others.
—Gertrude Stein, 1937Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people.
—Oscar Wilde, 1891Oh, democracy! Whither are you leading us?
—Aristophanes, 414 BCI have always been of the mind that in a democracy, manners are the only effective weapons against the bowie knife.
—James Russell Lowell, 1873Do you suppose it possible to know democracy without knowing the people?
—Xenophon, c. 370 BC