Dictators fall when they're overconfident; they stay in power when they're paranoid.
Masha GessenRead
Any country is either becoming more democratic or less democratic. I think the United States hasn't tended to its journey toward democracy in a long time.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the ongoing struggle for democracy within a nation, suggesting that neglect can lead to a decline in democratic values.
Masha Gessen’s quote highlights the notion that countries are constantly evolving in their democratic processes, indicating that they are either progressing towards greater democracy or regressing towards authoritarianism. By stating that the United States has not properly attended to its democratic journey, Gessen underscores the importance of continual vigilance and effort in maintaining and improving democratic systems, warning against complacency that can threaten the foundational principles of democracy.
Themes
DemocracyPoliticsGovernmentChangeComplacency
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of civic engagement.
More from Masha Gessen
All quotes →When you lose your freedom, you lose, first and foremost, the opportunity to choose the company you keep.
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There's the hypothesis that things just keep happening to Russians, things that keep turning them into the same kind of subjects, as opposed to citizens. The more credible hypothesis, I think, is that there is a kind of trauma, a social trauma that is passed on from generation to generation.
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We learn to think of history as something that has already happened, to other people. Our own moment, filled as it is with minutiae destined to be forgotten, always looks smaller in comparison.
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Russia, at the start of the 21st century, at least in its larger cities, very much resembled the United States of the early 1990s: being gay was no longer criminal or shameful, but it was still not a topic for polite conversation or public discussion.
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... fighting for gay marriage generally involves lying about what we are going to do with marriage when we get there-because we lie that the institution of marriage is not going to change, and that is a lie. The institution of marriage is going to change, and it should change. And again, I don't think it should exist.
Masha GessenRead
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