Politics Quotes

"The state should remain neutral regarding different conceptions of human flourishing."

"Redistributive schemes treat earnings and talents as common property."

"Democracy rests on the principle that power must be limited."

"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation."

"We are the only animals that can engage in deliberate self-destruction through ideology."

"Democracy is not perfect, but it is the least bad system we have devised."

"A conception of justice must specify how the basic rights and liberties are to be distributed among citizens."

"Political power in a democracy must be exercised in accordance with a constitution that all citizens might reasonably endorse."

"Political legitimacy requires that laws be justified not merely by their consequences but by their conformity to justice."

"Political justice cannot depend on any particular comprehensive moral, religious, or philosophical doctrine."

"Political power must be exercised according to a constitution that could be justified by appeal to political reasons accessible to all."

"Political liberalism separates questions of justice from questions about the ultimate worth of different ways of life."

"Political legitimacy in a democracy depends on public justification that appeals to reasons all citizens could reasonably accept."

"Political justice requires that power be distributed and exercised in ways that respect the status of all as political equals."

"Political legitimacy requires that the exercise of governmental power be justifiable to citizens as free and equal persons."

"Justice in a democratic society requires that political decision-making procedures respect the equal standing of all citizens."

"I have always believed that the open society is the best society."

"Utopian thinking often leads to dystopian results."

"Politics should be guided by ethics, not power."

"The keynote of American democracy is not the superhuman capacity of the average citizen for self-government."

"The idea of a democracy of economic relations is a most startling and strange idea."

"To be radical, an idealist must be very reactionary."

"The function of liberalism is that of adjusting freedom to social order."

"The best politics is no politics."

"The great tradition of democratic idealism has inspired reforms throughout our history."

"The roots of genuine democracy run deep in our nation's past."

"Democracy is not just a form of government, but a way of life."

"Politics must be grounded in understanding of human nature, not abstract principles alone."

"Politics without ethics is mere scheming; ethics without political understanding is impotent idealism."

"The function of liberalism in the past was that of putting a limit on the powers of kings."