Civic Engagement Quotes

• Civic engagement means working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes.

  Thomas Ehrlich

  Motivation, Mean, Skills

  Thomas Ehrlich (2000). “Civic Responsibility and Higher Education”, p.6, Greenwood Publishing Group

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• What really matters from the point of view of social capital and civic engagement is not merely nominal membership, but active and involved membership.

  Robert D. Putnam

  Views, Engagement, Membership

  Robert D. Putnam (2001). “Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community”, p.58, Simon and Schuster

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• In our democratic society, the library stands for hope, for learning, for progress, for literacy, for self-improvement and for civic engagement. The library is a symbol of opportunity, citizenship, equality, freedom of speech and freedom of thought, and hence, is a symbol for democracy itself.

  Vartan Gregorian

  Opportunity, Self, Freedom Of Speech

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• A society that relies on generalized reciprocity is more efficient than a distrustful society, for the same reason that money is more efficient than barter. Trust lubricates social life. Networks of civic engagement also facilitate coordination and communication and amplify information about the trustworthiness of other individuals.

  Robert D. Putnam

  Communication, Amplify, Information

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• I've rarely kept my distance from kind of - I don't know if we can call it politics, but kind of, civic engagement and that kind of thing, except I tended to think, 'Well, do it yourself before you start telling other people what they should be doing.'

  David Byrne

  Distance, Thinking, People

  "Conversation: David Byrne Rides and Writes". "PBS Newshour", www.pbs.org. December 11, 2009.

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• If adolescent pregnancy prevention is to become a priority, then our strategy, as advocates, must contain two key elements: civic engagement and education.

  Jane Fonda

  Pregnancy, Keys, Two

  "Time For New Ideas In Prevention of Teen Pregnancy" by Jane Fonda, www.huffingtonpost.com. May 6, 2009.

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• What must be addressed in the most immediate sense is the threat that the emerging police state in the United States poses not to just the young protesters occupying a number of American cities, but also the threat it poses to democracy itself. This threat is being exacerbated as a result of the merging of a war-like mentality and neoliberal mode of discipline and education in which it becomes difficult to reclaim the language of obligation, social responsibility and civic engagement.

  Henry Giroux

  War, Responsibility, Cities

  Source: www.truth-out.org

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• The practice of architecture not only requires participation in the profession but it also requires civic engagement.

  Samuel

  Practice, Engagement, Architecture

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• I think the Tea Party monicker has kind of outlived its use. I think this is just an America movement, I mean, and you and others are really, you know, responsible for igniting this new civic engagement that's very positive.

  Laura Ingraham

  Party, Mean, Thinking

  Source: www.glennbeck.com

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• I grew up in Minnesota, where we treasure our tradition of civic engagement - and our record of having the nation's highest voter participation.

  Al Franken

  Engagement, Records, Treasure

  "Putting an End to Secret Campaign Contributions" by Al Franken, www.huffingtonpost.com. July 16, 2012.

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