Civil Society Quotes - Page 3

• A 'civilization' that makes such a ridiculous fuss about alleged 'war crimes' - acts of violence against the actual or potential enemies of one's cause - and tolerates slaughterhouses and vivisection laboratories, and circuses and the fur industry (infliction of pain upon creatures that can never be for or against any cause), does not deserve to live.

  Savitri Devi

  Life, Pain, War

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• Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

  Cory Doctorow

  Happiness, Men, Power

  Cory Doctorow (2010). “Little Brother”, p.235, Tor Teen

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• The civil rights movement didn't begin in Montgomery and it didn't end in the 1960s. It continues on to this very minute.

  Julian Bond

  Freedom, Equality, Rights

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  Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

  John Adams

  Bible, God, Religious

  John Adams, Charles Francis Adams (1854). “Works: with a life of the author”, p.229

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• The whole country wants civility. Why don't we have it? It doesn't cost anything. No federal funding, no legislation is involved. One answer is the unwillingness to restrain oneself. Everybody wants other people to be polite to them, but they want the freedom of not having to be polite to others.

  Judith Martin

  Country, Freedom, Equality

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• Every society, all government, and every kind of civil compact therefore, is or ought to be, calculated for the general good and safety of the community.

  George Mason

  Government, Safety, Community

  George Mason's remarks on Annual Elections for the Fairfax Independent Company, circa April 1775.

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• You either have a civil society or you dont.

  Mohamed ElBaradei

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• A new sense of shared international responsibility is unmistakable in the voices of the United Nations and its agencies, and in the civil society of thousands of supra-national NGOs.

  John Charles Polanyi

  Responsibility, Agency, Voice

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• I don't think that developing countries gained from a two-stage process. A single phase summit (which is, after all, a two year process, not a three day event) would have built awareness, and would probably have led to more substantive conclusions at the end of the first summit meeting. Civil society may have gained a bit more from the networking experience, but it was less effective at networking in the second phase.

  David Souter

  Country, Thinking, Years

  "Interview with David Souter: Learning from the WSIS Experience". Interview with Kat Walraven, www.apc.org. September 12, 2007.

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• Technology and television didn't dictate one path or the other - it was civil society and public policy intervening in creating alternative funding models. So I think that's one of the questions for our time: do we want to intervene in this model or completely acquiesce and leave it to the unfettered, not-actually-that-free market? Neither path is inevitable.

  Astra Taylor

  Technology, Thinking, Creating

  Source: therumpus.net

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• A vibrant civil society can challenge those in power by documenting corruption or uncovering activities like the murder of political enemies. In democracies, this function is mostly performed by the media, NGOs or opposition parties.

  Evgeny Morozov

  Party, Media, Political

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• Civil liberty is only natural liberty, modified and secured by the sanctions of civil society. It is not a thing, in its own nature, precarious and dependent on human will and caprice; but it is conformable to the constitution of man, as well as necessary to the well-being of society.

  Alexander Hamilton

  Men, Liberty, Constitution

  Alexander Hamilton, John Church Hamilton (1850). “The Works of Alexander Hamilton: Miscellanies, 1774-1789: A full vindication; The farmer refuted; Quebec bill; Resolutions in Congress; Letters from Phocion; New-York Legislature, etc”, p.61

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• Respect for human rights requires transparent and accountable institutions and governance as well as the effective participation of all individuals and civil society, who are an essential part of realizing social and people-centred sustainable development.

  Alfred-Maurice de Zayas

  Rights, People, Essentials

  "India: Urgent Call to Halt Odisha Mega-Steel Project Amid Serious Human Rights Concerns". "Alfred de Zayas' Human Rights Corner" blog, dezayasalfred.wordpress.com. October 01, 2013.

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• For achieving good governance political will is necessary. Good governance is a political process. Though role of civil society is critical, without political will and political process, sustainable good governance cannot be achieved.

  Narendra Modi

  Political Will, India, Roles

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• Think of civil society and the state as joined in a marriage of necessity. You already know who the wife is, the one who is supposed to love, cherish and obey: that's civil society. Think of the state as the domineering husband who expects to have a monopoly on power, on violence, on planning and policymaking.

  Rebecca Solnit

  Husband, Thinking, Wife

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• Civil society must be strengthened to help raise awareness among people living with HIV, and those at risk, of their rights, and to ensure they have access to legal services and redress through the courts.

  Shereen El Feki

  Rights, People, Risk

  "A Legal Remedy?" by Shereen El Feki, www.huffingtonpost.com. July 24, 2012.

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• Man cannot be exempted from his divinely-imposed obligations toward civil society, and the representatives of authority have the right to coerce him when he refuses without reason to do his duty. Society, on the other hand, cannot defraud man of his God-granted right... Nor can society systematically void these rights by making their use impossible.

  Pope Pius XI

  Wisdom, Men, Hands

  Catholic Church. Pope (1922-1939 : Pius XI), Pope Pius XI (1980*). “Encyclical letter of Pope Pius XI on atheistic communism: official Vatican text”

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• Every democracy must involve civil society in the process of establishing budgets, and all sectors of society must be consulted to determine what the real priorities of the population are. Lobbies, including military contractors and other representatives of the military-industrial complex, must not be allowed to hijack these priorities to the detriment of the population's real needs.

  Alfred-Maurice de Zayas

  Military, Real, Priorities

  "UN Expert Urges States to Cut Military Spending and Invest More in Human Development". www.ohchr.org. April 14, 2014.

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• All depend upon the engagement of as many people as possible on all levels, from civil society to national leaders, to advocate for the kind of national and international commitments, legislation, and public/ private partnerships that can make the difference.

  Queen Noor of Jordan

  Commitment, Differences, People

  "Her Majesty Queen Noor: Yogi & Devoted Warrior for Peace". Interview with Gina Murdock, www.marandapleasantmedia.com.

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• Civil liberty is only natural liberty, modified and secured by the sanctions of civil society.

  Alexander Hamilton

  Liberty, Natural, Sanctions

  Alexander Hamilton, John Church Hamilton (1850). “The Works of Alexander Hamilton: Miscellanies, 1774-1789: A full vindication; The farmer refuted; Quebec bill; Resolutions in Congress; Letters from Phocion; New-York Legislature, etc”, p.61

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• The American Founding Fathers gave us courts, independent jurists. They left room for civil society, which meant that citizens could directly associate in order to bring pressure on their governments. And they gave us a free press. They understood that you might have in the presidency someone who wanted to arrogate power into themselves. And they believed that was dangerous, having just experienced King George. And so they built a balanced system.

  Condoleezza Rice

  Father, Independent, Dangerous

  Source: www.npr.org

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• The first man to fence in a piece of land, saying "this is mine" and who found people simple enough to believe him, was the real founder of civil society.

  Henri Rousseau

  Real, Believe, Simple

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• You can't be halfhearted in a revolution. Values that serve well in a civil society don't work in a state of nature.

  Glenn Reynolds

  Revolution, States, Wells

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• I've come to realize that protecting freedom of choice in our everyday lives is essential to maintaining a healthy civil society.

  George McGovern

  Choices, Healthy, Everyday

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• Religion is the basis of civil society, and the source of all good and of all comfort.

  Edmund Burke

  Religion, Comfort, Source

  Edmund Burke (1963). “Edmund Burke: Selected Writings and Speeches”, p.560, Transaction Publishers

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