No written law has ever been more binding than unwritten custom supported by popular opinion.
Carrie Chapman CattRead
Everybody counts in applying democracy. And there will never be a true democracy until every responsible and law-abiding adult in it, without regard to race, sex, color or creed has his or her own inalienable and unpurchasable voice in government.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True democracy requires equal participation from all citizens, regardless of their background.
Carrie Chapman Catt emphasizes that democracy is only genuine when every law-abiding citizen can participate equally in the political process. This means that all adults, irrespective of race, gender, or beliefs, must be afforded an unassailable right to voice their opinions and influence governance to achieve a truly representative democracy.
Themes
DemocracyParticipationEqualityVoiceGovernmentRights
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about civic engagement and the importance of voting rights.
More from Carrie Chapman Catt
All quotes →Parliaments have stopped laughing at woman suffrage, and politicians have begun to dodge! It is the inevitable premonition of coming victory.
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Roll up your sleeves, set your mind to making history, and wage such a fight for liberty that the whole world will respect our sex.
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The answer to one is the answer to all. Government by 'the people' is expedient or it is not. If it is expedient, then obviously all the people must be included.
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Just as the world war is no white man's war, but every man's war, so is the struggle for woman suffrage no white woman's struggle, but every woman's struggle.
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