Franklin D. Roosevelt Quotes

Of course, the aim of a constitutional democracy is to safeguard the rights of the minority and avoid the tyranny of the majority. (p. 102)

The right of a minority is so important in a democracy.

And that is my definition of democracy, the right to be in a minority and not be suppressed.

The democratic aspiration is no mere recent phase in human history ... It was written in Magna Carta..

There can be no democratic society where the interests of any minority … are not protected.

Minority rights are just as important as majority decisions.

I believe in defending democracy by preserving democracy, not by descending to the use of the same weapons used in dictatorships, whether of the Nazi or Communist stripe.

If, in this country, a simple majority of people can start stripping away the rights of a protected class in the minority, that's a pretty alarming thing.

My grandfather wanted to remind us that freedom of expression is the fundamental ingredient for democracy, and all the rest is detail. It is the scaffolding around which every other freedom is based.

If you give up on democracy, you might as well give up on everything.

We must now, in the 21st century, protect democracy, one which rests on fundamental rights for all, regardless of skin color, gender, race or religion. Nothing less than that is at stake.

Democracy is based on the majority principle. This is especially true in a country such as ours where the vast majority have been systematically denied their rights. At the same time, democracy also requires that the rights of political and other minorities be safeguarded.

Democracy is not the law of the majority but the protection of the minority.

You can't have a people's democracy as long as corporations are considered people.

Being democratic is not enough, a majority cannot turn what is wrong into right. In order to be considered truly free, countries must also have a deep love of liberty and an abiding respect for the rule of law.

We are here to advance the cause of women and to advance the cause of democracy and to make it absolutely clear that the two are inseparable.

I regard freedom of expression as the primary right without which one can not have a proper functioning democracy.

To say that majorities, as such, have a right to rule minorities, is equivalent to saying that minorities have, and ought to have, no rights, except such as majorities please to allow them.

I think, as a general matter, clearly, the United States globally supports the development of democracy and the democratic yearnings of all people.

For us democracy is a question of human dignity. And human dignity is political freedom.

You can not possibly have a broader basis for government than that which includes all the people, with all their rights in their hands, and with an equal power to maintain their rights.

So long as we have enough people in this country willing to fight for their rights, we'll be called a democracy.

Majority rule only works if you're also considering individual rights. Because you can't have five wolves and one sheep voting on what to have for supper.

Establish democracy ... based on human rights as superior to property rights.

In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society…. These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.