In a democracy, dissent is an act of faith.
Interpretation
Dissent in a democratic society shows confidence in the system's ability to improve.
This quote emphasizes the vital role of dissent within a democracy, suggesting that questioning and opposing governmental actions is not only permitted but essential for fostering improvement and accountability. It highlights the belief that engaging in open dialogue and criticism is a reflection of trust in the democratic process, indicating a commitment to the ideals of democracy rather than mere acceptance of the status quo.
In practice
During a town hall meeting, a citizen might quote this to stress the importance of voicing concerns about local government actions.
International educational exchange is the most significant current project designed to continue the process of humanizing mankind to the point, we would hope, that men can learn to live in peace-eventually even to cooperate in constructive activities rather than compete in a mindless contest of mutual destruction....We must try to expand the boundaries of human wisdom, empathy and perception, and there is no way of doing that except through education.
The price of empire is America's soul, and that price is too high.
Maturity requires a final accommodation between our aspirations and our limitations.
Finally, the Program aims, through these means, to bring a little more knowledge, a little more reason, and a little more compassion into world affairs and thereby to increase the chance that nations will learn at last to live in peace and friendship.
We have the power to do any damn fool thing we want to do, and we seem to do it about every ten minutes.
The biggest lesson I learned from Vietnam is not to trust [our own] government statements.
Social democracy does not represent an ideal future; it does not even represent the ideal past.
The government, which was designed for the people, has got into the hands of the bosses and their employers, the special interests. An invisible empire has been set up above the forms of democracy.
Political institutions, no matter how well or badly designed, depend for continued existence upon acting men; their conservation is achieved by the same means that brought them into being. Independent existence marks the work of art as a product of making; utter dependence upon further acts to keep it in existence marks the state as a product of action.
Conservatives define themselves in terms of what they oppose.
It's really a pity that there are observers who view political events like comic strips. There has to be a Zorro, there has to be a star. No, the problem of Upper Volta is more serious than that. It was a grave mistake to have looked for a man, a star, at all costs, to the point of creating one, that is, to the point of attributing the ownership of the event to captain Sankara, who must have been the brains, etc.
All military regimes use security as the reason why they should remain in power. It's nothing original.
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