Fascism says what you and I experience as facts or what reporters experience as facts are irrelevant. All that matters are impressions and emotions and myths.
Timothy D. SnyderRead
The 20th century shows that the form of government that we take for granted, a constitutional democratic republic with checks and balances and a rule of law - that form of government is usually temporary.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Governments that we believe to be stable and enduring can be transient and fragile.
Timothy D. Snyder's quote highlights the precariousness of democratic institutions, suggesting that what may seem like a permanent and stable government structure—specifically a constitutional democratic republic—can actually be temporary. It serves as a cautionary reminder of the need for vigilance and active participation in governance to maintain the rule of law and prevent the decline of democracy.
Themes
GovernmentDemocracyTemporaryRule Of LawRepublic
In practice
Example use cases
In a political debate about the importance of safeguarding democratic institutions.
More from Timothy D. Snyder
All quotes →Defend an institution. Follow the courts or the media, or a court or a newspaper. Do not speak of 'our institutions' unless you are making them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions don't protect themselves. They go down like dominoes unless each is defended from the beginning.
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Brittle masculinity, in the right setting, becomes political atrocity. Strength brings problems; weakness brings others, but weakness posing as strength is the most dangerous of all.
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If we don't have access to facts, we can't trust each other. Without trust, there's no law. Without law, there's no democracy.
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Totalitarianism is not about some state that appears out of nowhere and suddenly is all-powerful. There can't be any such thing. Totalitarianism starts when the difference between your public life and your private life is effaced.
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Most Americans are exceptionalists; we think we live outside of history.
Timothy D. SnyderRead
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