We offer peace and neighborliness to all the neighboring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Hebrew nation for the common good of all.
David Ben-GurionRead
The test of democracy is freedom of criticism.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Democracy is validated through the ability to freely express criticism.
David Ben-Gurion's quote highlights that a true democratic society allows its citizens to voice their criticisms freely without fear of repercussions. This freedom of expression is essential for the health of democracy, as it encourages open dialogue and accountability among leaders and institutions.
Themes
DemocracyFreedomCriticismExpressionAccountability
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote during a debate on the importance of free speech in political discussions.
More from David Ben-Gurion
All quotes βWithout moral and intellectual independence, there is no anchor for national independence.
David Ben-GurionRead
Anyone who believes you can't change history has never tried to write his memoirs.
David Ben-GurionRead
Those who today murdered our people in an ambush not only plotted to murder some Jews but intended to provoke us... The Arabs stand to gain from such a development. They want the country to be in a state of perpetual pogrom.... Any further bloodshed [by the Jews] will only bring political advantage to the Arabs and harm us... Our strength is in the defense... and this strength will give us political victory if England and the world will know that we are defending ourselves rather than attacking.
David Ben-GurionRead
After eighty, there are no enemies, only survivors.
David Ben-GurionRead
We do not want to create a situation like that which exists in South Africa, where the whites are the owners and rulers, and the blacks are the workers. If we do not do all kinds of work, easy and hard, skilled and unskilled, if we become merely landlords, then this will not be our homeland
David Ben-GurionRead
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I had the same sensation as when we watch someone sleep. When asleep we all become children again. Perhaps because in the state of slumber we can do no wrong and are unconscious of life, the greatest criminal and most self- absorbed egotist are holy, by a natural magic, as long as they're sleeping. For me there's no discernible difference between killing a child and killing a sleeping man.
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Avoid flatterers, for they are thieves in disguise.
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We can know a person by observing his behaviour, understanding the reasons for his actions and ascertaining his intentions. If we do this, how can we not know him?
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Psychedelics are illegal not because a loving government is concerned that you may jump out of a third story window. Psychedelics are illegal because they dissolve opinion structures and culturally laid down models of behaviour and information processing. They open you up to the possibility that everything you know is wrong.
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At times to be silent is to lie. You will win because you have enough brute force. But you will not convince. For to convince you need to persuade. And in order to persuade you would need what you lack: Reason and Right
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If a traveller does not meet with one who is his better, or his equal, let him firmly keep to his solitary journey; there is no companionship with a fool.
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