Tao Te Ching
Democracy
For a true and workable democracy, the voters need to be able to think for themselves instead of accepting in true-believer fashion any kind of political dogma, slogan, or philosophy. When news becomes primarily entertainment, the priority of news organization inevitably strays from honoring the true to promoting what captures the most viewers—the sensational, the most outrageous, the most entetainingly addictive. And common voters, addicted more and more to entertainment, value less and less what’s true over what gives the pleasurable fix of entertainment. Representative rule becomes mob rule, freedom becomes slavery.
Quotes (95)
“We are a free democracy, but we are obedient. We obey the laws, especially those which protect the oppressed. We do not allow absorption in our own affairs to interfere with participation in the city's. We differ from other states in regarding the man who holds aloof from public life as useless, yet we yield to none in independence of spirit and complete self-reliance.”
“This city is not ruled by one man, but is free. The people rule in succession year by year, allowing no preference to wealth, but the poor man shares equally with the rich.”
“We sit around in our shops denouncing the present order but we perceive that even badly constituted democracies are responsible for fewer disasters than oligarchies. But Athens ruined itself by carrying to excess the principles of liberty and equality, by training the citizens in such fashion that they looked upon insolence as democracy, lawlessness as liberty, impudence of speech as equality, and license to do what they pleased as happiness.”
“The worst of all lawful governments and the best of all lawless ones, democracy is weak and unable to do any great good or any great evil.”
“The excessive increase of anything causes a reaction in the opposite direction;… dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme form of liberty.”
“Democracy arose from men's thinking that if they are equal in any respect, they are equal absolutely.”
“The end of democracy is freedom; of oligarchy, wealth; of aristocracy, the maintenance of education and national institutions; of tyranny, the protection of the tyrant.”
“Only in states in which the power of the people is supreme has liberty any home.”
“If the many don't offer up their opinions, the learned will not come to resolution.”
“Monarchies quickly becomes Tyrannies, Aristocracies Oligarchies, Democracies degenerate into Anarchy… no precaution can prevent them from sliding into their opposites because of how closely the virtue resembles the vice.”
“Reducing democracy to ‘government by the best orator,’ political rallies and popular assemblies are as subject to evil counsel and the seduction by orators as a monarch by flatters.”
“all government without the consent of the governed is the very definition of slavery”
“The best form of government? The rich will tell you an aristocracy, the people will reply a democracy; kings along prefer royalty. Why then is almost all the world governed by monarchs? Men are rarely worthy of governing themselves.”
“A constitution of the greatest possible human freedom must place at its foundation and for all its laws, the liberty of every individual co-existing with the liberty of every other.”
“In all our associations; in all our agreements let us never lose sight of this fundamental maxim - that all power was originally lodged in, and consequently is derived from, the people.”
“The perfect equality of men is the point at which the extremes of democracy and despotism are confounded”
“I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education.”
“There is nothing more odious than the majority. It consists of a few powerful men who lead the way; of accommodating rascals and submissive weaklings; and of a mass of men who trot after them without in the least knowing their own minds.”
“Democracy restores to man a consciousness of his value, teaches him by the removal of authority and oppression to listen to the dictates of reason, gives him confidence to treat all other men as his fellow human beings, and induces him to regard them no loner as enemies against whom to be upon his guard, but as brethren whom it comes him to assist.”
“Democracy stimulates literature and retards art; aristocracies impose taste but frown upon enthusiasm and originality; absolute government stifles freedom, innovation, and thought.”
“America has proved that it is practicable to elevate the mass of mankind... She holds out an example 1000 times more encouraging than ever was presented before, to those 9/10ths of the human race who are born without hereditary fortune or hereditary rank.”
“The continuation of authority in the same person has frequently proved the undoing of democratic governments. Repeated elections are essential to the system of popular governments, because there is nothing so dangerous as to suffer Power to be vested for a long time in one citizen. The people become accustomed to obeying him, and he becomes accustomed to commanding, hence the origin of usurpation and tyranny.”
“In politics, there is no honor... The world is weary of statesmen whom democracy has degraded into politicians.”
“Democracy extends the sphere of individual freedom, socialism restricts it. Democracy attaches all possible value to each man; socialism makes each man a mere agent, a mere number. Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word: equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.”
“Not only a right but a duty, voting should not have any more to do with personal wishes than when making a decision on a jury. If not able to rise above self-interest, a person is unfit to vote.”
“The ideally best form of government is that in which the sovereignty or supreme controlling power is vested in the entire aggregate of the community.”
“We are firmly convinced that the most imperfect republic is a thousand times better than the most enlightened monarchy. In a republic, there are at least brief periods when the people, while continually exploited, is not oppressed; in the monarchies, oppression is constant.”
“A government in which the majority rule in all cases cannot be based on justice... Can there not be a government in which majorities to not virtually decide right and wrong, but conscience?”
“The battle for democracy will not be won until the working class raises the proletariat to the position of the ruling class. Otherwise, 'democracy' will permit, condone, or even promote social and economic inequalities.”
“democracy is only of use [when] it may pass on and come to its power and fruit in the highest forms of interaction between men, and their beliefs... democracy in all public and private life”
“that democratic dignity which, on all hands, radiates without end from God; Himself! The center and circumference of all democracy! His omnipresence, our divine equality!”
“The majority never had right on its side... The stupid people are an overwhelming majority all over the world. The majority has might on its side—unfortunately; but right it has not... The minority is always in the right.”
“Government by consent superseded government by compulsion, and the pyramid which had stood on a point was made to stand upon its base. By making every citizen the guardian of his own interest, Solon admitted the element of Democracy into the State.”
“Democracy is still upon its trial. The civic genius of our people is its only bulwark and neither laws... monuments.. battleships... libraries... mechanical invention... churches... universities... nor political adroitness can save us from degeneration if the inner mystery be lost.”
“Never be deceived that the rich will allow you to vote away their wealth.”
“We can have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.”
“Democracy substitutes selection by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few.”
“Perhaps our national ambition to standardize ourselves has behind it the notion that democracy means standardization. But standardization is the surest way to destroy the initiative, to de-numb the creative impulse above all else essential to the vitality and growth of democratic ideals.”
“Democracy and the one, ultimate, ethical ideal of humanity are to my mind synonymous.”
“The very real spirit of democracy (using the word in its modern sense) pervades the essential teaching of Islam but Mohammad left no effective form to express this and his own rule was unlimited autocracy, and autocratic Islam has remained.”
“The creed of democracy—spiritual and political liberty for all—and each man a willing servant of the the state, was the conception which underlay the highest reach of Greek genius. It was fatally weakened by the race for money and power, war destroyed it, and Greece lost it forever. Nevertheless, the ideal of free individuals unified by a spontaneous service to the common life was left as a possession to the world, never to be forgotten.”
“criticism of writers by readers, of government by those governed, of leaders by those led, - this is the soul of democracy and the safeguard of modern society”
“Dogmatism is an enemy to peace and an insuperable barrier to democracy... the greatest of the mental obstacles to human happiness.”
“In every important war since 1700, the more democratic side has been victorious.”
“If it is decided that every man's voice is to count equally in the councils of the nation, it follows naturally that the voice of those who think must be drowned by that of those who do not think and have no leisure.”
“Some men remain irresponsible, self-assertive, uncontrolled, inept to their last day; others from their youth are serious, self-controlled, talented, and friendly... it is this variation of temperament or inheritance which constitutes the natural inequality of men, an inequality that is too often ignored in the theories of Western democracy.”
“The majority of the stupid is invincible and guaranteed for all time. The terror of their tyranny, however, is alleviated by their lack of consistency.”
“No democracy can long survive which does not accept as fundamental to its very existence the recognition of the rights of its minorities.”
“A democratic form of government, a democratic way of life, presupposes free public education over a long period”
“If equality of educational opportunity can be established, democracy will be real and justified.”
“Democracy is the most difficult of all forms of government since it requires the widest spread of intelligence.”
“All deductions having been made, democracy has done less harm, and more good, than any other form of government.”
“By the time of Plato's death, his hostile analysis of Athenian democracy was approaching apparent confirmation by history... the gap between rich and poor widened... the rich organized themselves for protection against the poor... debtors massacred their creditors en masse... the middle classes, as well as the rich began to distrust democracy as empowered envy and the poor distrusted it as a sham... the class war left Greece internally as well as internationally divided”
“Since inequality grows in an expanding economy... internal barbarization by the majority is part of the price that the minority pays for its control”
“A democracy smugly disdainful of new ideas would be a sick democracy. A democracy chronologically fearful of new ideas would be a dying democracy.”
“"Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible; but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary."”
“when we speak of democracy as a way of life and talk of the spirit of democracy, we can talk about 'Chinese democracy'—the idea of government for the people and by the consent of the people, but not government by the people and of the people. While parliamentary government is based on distrust of the ruler, Confucian ideals emphasized moral harmony as the basis of political harmony, laissez faire as the key policy and only one that has ever worked; the Great Chinese empire was always ruled without police depending—not on government or soldiers—but on the self-government of the people.”
“As an American, I want to see our nation recapture the strength and unity it once had when we fought the enemy instead of ourselves.”
“The democratic ideal is equal opportunity for full human development, and, since the liberal arts are the basic means of such development, devotion to democracy naturally results from devotion to them.”
“I once wrote that democracy is the abuse of statistics...On October 30, 1983, Argentine democracy refuted me splendidly. Splendidly and resoundingly.”
“I think the true discovery of America is before us, the true fulfillment of our spirit, of our people, of our mighty and immortal land, is yet to come; the true discovery of our own democracy is still before us... not only our living hope, but our dream to be accomplished.”
“I swear to the Lord I still can't see
Why Democracy means Everybody but me.
Oh, yes, I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!”
“Men have always found it easy to be governed. What is hard for them is to govern themselves.”
“Democracy does not ensure that anything is accomplished — certainly not an economic miracle... How someone fares in life is largely a matter of luck or grace, and to a comparatively small degree perhaps also of competence, diligence, and other virtues. The most we can say of democracy or freedom is that they give our personal abilities a little more influence on our well-being.”
“What is true is that the idea of power corrupts. Power corrupts most rapidly those who believe in it, and it is they who will want it most. Obviously, our democratic system tends to give power to those who hunger for it and gives every opportunity to those who don’t want power to avoid getting it. Not a very satisfactory arrangement if power corrupts those who believe in it and want it.”
“The very wonders of American democracy, which aimed to bring everything to everybody, brought new complications and confusions. The vast majority had more things, ate better, had an opportunity for more education, the chance for a better life. But were these benefits less enjoyed? Less appreciated?”
“The true democracy, living and growing and inspiring, puts its faith in the people—faith that the people will not simply elect men who will represent their views ably and faithfully, but will also elect men who will exercise their conscientious judgment—faith that the people will not condemn those whose devotion to principle leads them to unpopular courses, but will reward courage, respect honor, and ultimately recognize right.”
“histories of this country... suggest that in times of crisis we must look to someone to save us... teach us that the supreme act of citizenship is to choose among saviors by going into a voting booth every 4 years to choose between two white and well-off males of inoffensive personality and orthodox opinions.”
“The democratic principle, enunciated in the words of the Declaration of Independence, declared that government was secondary, that the people who established it were primary. Thus, the future of democracy depended on the people, and their growing consciousness of what was the decent way to relate to their fellow human beings all over the world.”
“In this possibly terminal phase of human existence, democracy and freedom are more than just ideals to be valued - they may be essential to survival.”
“Lao Tzu sees rightful power as earned and wrongful power as usurped. He does not see power as virtue, but as the result of virtue. The democracies are founded on that view.”
“If there was one decision I would overrule, it would be Citizens United. I think the notion that we have all the democracy that money can buy strays so far from what our democracy is supposed to be.”
“The reality of American democracy became government by the people but not as much for the people. Traditional Chinese democracy manifested as government for the people but not by the people.”
“The great enemy of freedom is the alignment of political power with wealth. This alignment destroys the commonwealth - and so destroys democracy.”
“The best approach is a long-term approach,,, trying to develop some trend of continuity in a different direction rather than believing there will be tremendous good news if the right person is elected. It takes the work of centuries.”
“Democracy is built on the attitude that I speak out for myself, the invincible me… but that approach doesn’t work.”
“Two centuries ago a handful of countries, embracing 1% of the world’s people, were democratic; today, more than half of the world’s countries, embracing 55% of its people, are… Secular liberal democracies are the happiest and healthiest places on earth, and the favorite destinations of people who vote with their feet.”
“Despotism has persisted through history because the alternative was often worse... democracy is a form of government that threads the needle—a course between the violence of anarchy and the violence of tyranny—exerting just enough force to prevent people from preying on each other without preying on the people themselves.”
“the promise of democracy, America's constant ability to remake itself, to perfect this Union”
“I lived in countries that had no democracy... so I don't find myself in the same luxury as you do. You grew up in freedom, and you can spit on freedom because you don't know what it is not to have freedom.”
“In a functioning democracy, the chief job of a politician is to be a teacher.”
“How do you cause people to believe in an imagined order such as Christianity, democracy, or capitalism? First, you never admit that the order is imagined. You always insist that the order sustaining society is an objective reality created by the great gods or by the laws of nature.”
“No government is perfect. One of the chief virtues of a democracy, however, is that its defects are always visible and under democratic processes can be pointed out and corrected.”
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