Yuri A. Levada Quotes

People who feel alienated have little trust in the institutions of our society. This adds to the wider sense of disaffection and makes it more difficult for our politics to work.

I see the whole concept of Generation X implies that everyone has lost hope.

We have for the past year and undoubtedly will be for the next year, dealing with an electorate that is more alienated and more cynical than at any point in modern time.

I don't know whether I'm misanthropic. It seems to me I'm constantly disappointed. I'm very easily disappointed.

Disaffection stalks around us.

The crisis of democracy in the West is not the result of falling in love with another system. In Europe and America people who are disillusioned with democracy do not dream about the Chinese model or any other form of authoritarian rule. They do not dream about government that controls Internet and puts in prison those daring to disagree.

Authoritarian leadership and therefore a lack of democracy have led to a certain apathy among the people, to a sort of civil nihilism, a skepticism.

An alienated and indecisive electorate is destructive to our democracy.

Feinstein doesn't interact with the people at all, and I think it breeds cynicism.

None of this seems to affect the leadership, that people don't go out to vote, that they don't feel the need to go vote, that they already feel disenfranchised. It's not just Obama's fault or Clinton's or whomever's, it's all of them, the whole collection of clowns I've had to sit through.

It's the relationship I have with the world: always trying to escape from reality. I'm a daydreamer; I don't feel in harmony with my epoch or the societies I live in.

I think that the worst form of naivete can be extreme cynicism. If you think that nobody comes to Washington to do any good whatsoever, that is almost as bad as being starry-eyed and thinking that they are all here to advance democracy.

To those who have exhausted politics, nothing remains but abstract thought.

Another cause for the increase in alienation and cynicism is a feeling that too many policy decisions that affect individuals have been taken out of any system that has accountability or that they can influence.

I feel like sometimes that I was not meant for this society.

Every year in my life, I trust fewer and fewer people.

I think the degree of alienation and despair is more universal.

I'm not involved in politics any more and they're quite right.

Many young Muslims see no opportunities for themselves and do not feel they have control over their lives or a stake in their nation's future. Such pessimism leads to disengagement. We risk losing a generation of young Muslims to apathy and extremism.

I never loved the world around me as it was.

The worst thing that can happen in a democracy - as well as in an individual's life - is to become cynical about the future and lose hope.

When I was young, I had a favorite movie star. One day, I saw one of his movies, and it was bad, and he was bad in it. I could tell he didn't care and only did it for the money. I felt betrayed. I never watched another one of his movies again.

[Describing "political alienation:" The feeling that politics is a racket for a few insiders and is meaningless to the rest of the people.

The age of virtuous politics is past.

If the Gods Wanted Us to Vote, They Would Have Given Us Better Candidates