A democracy is a state in which the government rests directly with the majority of the citizens. [ John Ruskin ]

Freedom in a democracy is the glory of the state, and, therefore, in a democracy only will the freeman of nature deign to dwell. [ Plato ]

Eloquence is an engine invented to manage and wield at will the fierce democracy, and, like medicine to the sick, is only employed in the paroxysms of a disordered state. [ Montaigne ]

Talent and worth are the only eternal grounds of distinction. To these the Almighty has affixed His everlasting patent of nobility. Knowledge and goodness, - these make degrees in heaven, and they must be the graduating scale of a true democracy. [ Miss Sedgwick ]