If freedom makes social progress possible, so social progress strengthens and enlarges freedom. The two are inseparable partners in the great adventure of humanity.
Robert KennedyRead
Elections remind us not only of the rights but the responsibilities of citizenship in a democracy.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Elections highlight both the privileges and duties of being a citizen in a democratic society.
This quote by Robert Kennedy emphasizes the dual role of citizens in a democracy. While they enjoy the right to vote and influence their government through elections, they also bear the responsibility to actively participate in the democratic process and uphold democratic values. It reminds us that citizenship is not just about rights but also about contributing to the greater good of society.
Themes
ElectionsCitizenshipDemocracyResponsibilityRights
In practice
Example use cases
During a town hall meeting, I quoted this to encourage community engagement.
More from Robert Kennedy
All quotes βWithin the United States, we have put great emphasis upon political freedoms. Because it has been our experience that these freedoms can lead to others.
Robert KennedyRead
It is one thing to open job opportunities. It is another to train people to fill them, or to persuade American enterprise to seek Negro as well as white applicants.
Robert KennedyRead
Our attitude towards immigration reflects our faith in the American ideal. We have always believed it possible for men and women who start at the bottom to rise as far as the talent and energy allow. Neither race nor place of birth should affect their chances.
Robert KennedyRead
The Gross National Product measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile, and it can tell us everything about America - except whether we are proud to be Americans.
Robert KennedyRead
The United States was born in revolution and nurtured by struggle. Throughout our history, the American people have befriended and supported all those who seek independence and a better way of life.
Robert KennedyRead
Similar quotes
Democracies have been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their death.
James MadisonRead
The mystery of government is not how Washington works but how to make it stop.
P. J. O'RourkeRead
A constitution, as important as it is, will mean nothing unless the people are yearning for liberty and freedom.
Ruth Bader GinsburgRead
If, then, the control of the people over the organs of their government be the measure of its republicanism, and I confess I know no other measure, it must be agreed that our governments have much less of republicanism than ought to have been expected; in other words, that the people have less regular control over their agents, than their rights and their interests require.
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Nobody should have any illusions. The United States has essentially a one-party system and the ruling party is the business party.
Noam ChomskyRead
Two kinds of men generally best succeed in political life; men of no principle, but of great talent; and men of no talent, but of one principle - that of obedience to their superiors.
Wendell PhillipsRead