If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a …

If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be. ~Thomas Jefferson

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. ~Plato

People often say, with pride, “I’m not interested in politics.” They might as well say, “I’m not interested in my standard of living, my health, my job, my rights, my
freedoms, my future or any future.” ~Martha Gellhorn

Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives. ~John Stuart Mill

As mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality. ~George Washington

Of all the varieties of virtues, liberalism is the most beloved. ~Aristotle

Somebody came along and said ‘liberal’ means ’soft on crime, soft on drugs, soft on defense and we’re gonna tax you back to the Stone Age because people shouldn’t have to go to work if they don’t want to. And instead of saying, ‘Well, excuse me, you right-wing, reactionary, xenophobic, homophobic, anti-education, anti-choice, pro-gun, Leave it to Beaver trip back to the ’50s, we cowered in the corner and said, ‘Please don’t hurt me.’ ~The West Wing

Liberalism is, I think, resurgent. One reason is that more and more people are so painfully aware of the alternative. The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. ~John Kenneth Galbraith

Liberalism is trust of the people, tempered by prudence; conservatism, distrust of the people, tempered by fear. ~William Gladstone

Government is a contrivance of human wisdom to provide for human wants. People have the right to expect that these wants will be provided for by this wisdom. ~Jimmy Carter

Liberalism is the supreme form of generosity; it is the right by which the majority concedes to minorities and hence it is the noblest cry that has ever resounded on this planet. ~Jose Ortega y Gasset

A liberal is a man or a woman or a child who looks forward to a better day, a more tranquil night, and a bright, infinite future. ~Leonard Bernstein