Frank Lloyd Wright Quotes

As the acceptance of democracy brings a certain life-giving power, so it has its own sanctions and comforts. Perhaps the most obvious one is the curious sense which comes to us from time to time, that we belong to the whole, that a certain basic well being can never be taken away from us whatever the turn of fortune.

Democracy is itself, a religious faith. For some it comes close to being the only formal religion they have.

In Europe, charters of liberty have been granted by power. America has set the example . . . of charters of power granted by liberty. This revolution in the practice of the world, may, with an honest praise, be pronounced the most triumphant epoch of its history, and the most consoling presage of its happiness.

No good government but what is republican... the very definition of a republic is 'an empire of laws, and not of men.'

The free system of government we have established is so congenial with reason, with common sense, and with a universal feeling, that it must produce approbation and a desire of imitation, as avenues may be found for truth to the knowledge of nations.

As freedom is the only safeguard of governments, so are order and moderation generally necessary to preserve freedom.

Liberty and democracy are eternal enemies, and every one knows it who has ever given any sober reflection to the matter.

Our great Republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here, the people rule.

The United States is a constitutional republic, and the Founding Fathers fought to ensure that the mob couldn't undermine it.

Political freedom, as the Western world has known it, is only a political reading of the Bible.

Popular and democratic government is the only constitution which suits France, and all those who are worthy of the name of men.

Let a crown be placed thereon, by which the world may know, that so far as we approve of monarcy, that in America the law is King. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be King; and there ought to be no other.

What is understood by republican government in the United States is the slow and quiet action of society upon itself.

Democracy is the superior form of government, because it is based on a respect for man as a reasonable being.

Democratic institutions form a system of quarantine for tyrannical desires.

Democracy means the belief that humanistic culture should prevail.

The purpose of democracy - supplanting old belief in the necessary absoluteness of establish'd dynastic rulership, temporal, ecclesiastical, and scholastic, as furnishing the only security against chaos, crime, and ignorance - is, through many transmigrations, and amid endless ridicules, arguments, and ostensible failures

What should be targeted is a concept of organic, and not just mechanic, democracy that preserves the rule of law, separation of powers, and that is participatory and pluralistic.

Our Founding Fathers crafted a constitutional Republic for the first time in the history of the world because they were shaping a form of government that would not have the failures of a democracy in it, but had the representation of democracy in it.

The Supreme Court, of course, has the responsibility of ensuring that our government never oversteps its proper bounds or violates the rights of individuals. But the Court must also recognize the limits on itself and respect the choices made by the American people.

The only legitimate right to govern is an express grant of power from the governed.

Constitutional government, as designed by the framers, will survive only with a righteous people.

The Founding Fathers gladly sacrificed government that could provide speedy, effective, cohesive, and internally consistent policies. They opted for one that had a maximum number of veto points and checks and balances and protections against tyranny by particular officials or tyranny by selfish majorities.

The basis of a democratic state is liberty.

For the People ... I must tell you that their Liberty and Freedom consists in having the Government of those Laws, by which their Life and their Goods may be most their own; 'tis not for having a share in Government, that is nothing pertaining to 'em. A Subject and Sovereign are clean different things.