Citizenry Quotes - Page 2

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  It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union.... Men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less

  Susan B. Anthony

  Strong Women, Equality, White

  Motto of The Revolution (newspaper), 8 Jan. 1868

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• A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.

  Edward R. Murrow

  Sheep, Government, Political

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• A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country.

  Texas Guinan

  Funny, Life, Country

  Biography/Personal Quotes, www.imdb.com.

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• The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all; it is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed a standard citizenry, to put down dissent and originality.

  H. L. Mencken

  Education, Learning, Liberty

  The American Mercury Magazine, April 24, 1924.

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• No country can possibly move ahead, no free society can possibly be sustained, unless it has an educated citizenry whose qualities of mind and heart permit it to take part in the complicated and increasingly sophisticated decisions that pour not only upon the President and upon the Congress, but upon all the citizens who exercise the ultimate power.

  John F. Kennedy

  Country, Moving, Heart

  Kennedy, John F. (1964). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1963”, p.446, Best Books on

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• The police of a state should never be stronger or better armed than the citizenry. An armed citizenry, willing to fight, is the foundation of civil freedom. That's a personal evaluation, of course.

  Robert A. Heinlein

  Fighting, Police, Stronger

  Robert A. Heinlein (1960). “Beyond This Horizon”, Roc

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• Since an informed citizenry is the basis for a healthy democracy, independent, non-corporate media are more crucial today than ever before

  Dahr Jamail

  Independent, Media, Healthy

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• In this time when a citizenry applauds the liberation of a country as it lives in fear of its own freedom, when people all over the country fear reprisal if they use their right to free speech, it is time to get angry. It is time to get fierce.

  Tim Robbins

  Country, People, Speech

  "A Chill Wind is Blowing in This Nation". Tim Robbins' speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., archive.commondreams.org. April 15, 2003.

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• History shows that the mere existence of a mass surveillance apparatus, regardless of how it is used, is in itself sufficient to stifle dissent. A citizenry that is aware of always being watched quickly becomes a compliant and fearful one.

  Glenn Greenwald

  Political, Surveillance, Used

  Glenn Greenwald (2014). “No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA and the Surveillance State”, p.10, Penguin UK

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• One reason the United States finds itself at the edge of a foreign policy disaster is its underinformed citizenry, a key weakness in democracy.

  Stefan Halper

  Peace, War, Keys

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• Rome tolerated every abominable practice, embraced every foul idea in the name of freedom and the rights of the common man. Citizens no longer carried on deviant behavior in private, but pridefully displayed it in public. It was those with moral values who could no longer freely walk in a public park without having to witness a revolting display. What happened to the public censors who protected the majority of citizenry from moral decadence? Did freedom have to mean abolishing common decency? Did freedom mean anyone could do anything they wanted anytime they wanted, without consequences?

  Francine Rivers

  Mean, Men, Rights

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• The aspirations of democracy are based on the notion of an informed citizenry, capable of making wise decisions. The choices we are asked to make become increasingly complex. They require the longer-term thinking and greater tolerance for ambiguity that science fosters. The new economy is predicated on a continuous pipeline of scientific and technological innovation. It can not exist without workers and consumers who are mathematically and scientifically literate.

  Ann Druyan

  Wise, Thinking, Decision

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• I stayed only two days in the capital. I was welcomed by a cheering citizenry, who threw flowers at my head. It was disconcerting to think I could have put almost any young man in my retinue on a white horse and they would have thrown flowers at him instead. It was not me they cared about, only what I meant to them: a cessation of hostilities, a chance for prosperity, food on the table.

  Megan Whalen Turner

  Horse, Cheer, Flower

  Megan Whalen Turner (2010). “A Conspiracy of Kings”, Greenwillow

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• No matter the specific techniques involved, historically mass surveillance has had several constant attributes. Initially, it is always the country’s dissidents and marginalized who bear the brunt of the surveillance, leading those who support the government or are merely apathetic to mistakenly believe they are immune. And history shows that the mere existence of a mass surveillance apparatus, regardless of how it is used, is in itself sufficient to stifle dissent. A citizenry that is aware of always being watched quickly becomes a compliant and fearful one.

  Glenn Greenwald

  Country, Believe, Government

  Glenn Greenwald (2014). “No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA and the Surveillance State”, p.10, Penguin UK

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• Where utopianism is advanced through gradualism rather than revolution, albeit steady and persistent as in democratic societies, it can deceive and disarm an unsuspecting population, which is largely content and passive. It is sold as reforming and improving the existing society's imperfections and weaknesses without imperiling its basic nature. Under these conditions, it is mostly ignored, dismissed, or tolerated by much of the citizenry and celebrated by some. Transformation is deemed innocuous, well-intentioned, and perhaps constructive but not a dangerous trespass on fundamental liberties.

  Mark Levin

  Imperfection, Liberty, Weakness

  Mark R. Levin (2012). “Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America”, p.7, Simon and Schuster

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• The fact throughout history is that whenever government dominates the economic affairs of its citizenry, a free society is eroded, then destroyed, and a minority government ensues. Personal liberty without economic liberty is an absolute contradiction; the one cannot exist without the other.

  William E. Simon

  Government, Liberty, Minorities

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• [The] erroneous assumption is to the effect that the aim of public education is to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence, and so make them fit to discharge the duties of citizenship in an enlightened and independent manner. Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all; it is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardised citizenry, to put down dissent and originality.

  H. L. Mencken

  Knowledge, Independent, Science

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• Widespread public access to knowledge, like public education, is one of the pillars of our democracy, a guarantee that we can maintain a well-informed citizenry.

  Scott Turow

  Guarantees That, Democracy, Pillars

  "Let-Them-Eat-Cake-Attitude Threatens to Destroy a Network of Public Assets" by Scott Turow, www.huffingtonpost.com. February 15, 2011.

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• Communicated in the right way, Judeo-Christian philosophy and the religions that uphold it bind a citizenry together in pursuit of a just and generous society.

  Bill O'Reilly

  Christian, Philosophy, Together

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• Democracy is not about trust; it is about distrust. It is about accountability, exposure, open debate, critical challenge, and popular input and feedback from the citizenry. It is about responsible government. We have to get our fellow Americans to trust their leaders less and themselves more, trust their own questions and suspicions, and their own desire to know what is going on.

  Michael Parenti

  Responsible Government, Leader, Accountability

  Michael Parenti (2004). “Superpatriotism”, p.81, City Lights Books

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• The 'well-informed citizenry is in danger of becoming the 'well-amused audience'.

  Al Gore

  Becoming, Danger, Wells

  Al Gore (2012). “The Assault on Reason: How the Politics of Blind Faith Subvert Wise Decision-Making”, p.16, A&C Black

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• We're developing a new citizenry. One that will be very selective about cereals and automobiles, but won't be able to think.

  Rod Serling

  Thinking, Cereal, Able

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• In order to cultivate a set of leaders with legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry, it is necessary that the path to leadership be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity.

  Sandra Day O'Connor

  Leadership, Eye, Race

  "High court to hear key school race cases" by Bill Mears, www.cnn.com. June 5, 2006.

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• What in fact takes place in an election is that two hand picked candidates are propped up before the citizenry, each candidate having been selected by a very small group of politically active people. A minority of the people... then elects one of these hand picked people to rule itself and the majority.

  Robert Ringer

  Hands, Two, People

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• An informed citizenry is at the heart of a dynamic democracy.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Heart, Democracy, Informed Citizenry

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