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"When you practice reporting for as long as I have, you keep yourself at a distance from True Believers. Either conservatives or liberals or Democrats or Republicans."
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"Our nations (India and USA) may have been shaped by differing histories, cultures, and faiths. Yet, our belief in democracy for our nations and liberty for our countrymen is common. The idea that all citizens are created equal is a central pillar of the American constitution. Our founding fathers too shared the same belief and sought individual liberty for every citizen of India."
"Democracy is only a dream: it should be put in the same category as Arcadia, Santa Claus, and Heaven."
"Another tendency, which is extremely natural to democratic nations and extremely dangerous, is that which leads them to despise and undervalue the rights of private persons. The attachment which men feel to a right, and the respect which they display for it, is generally proportioned to its importance, or to the length of time during which they have enjoyed it. The rights of private persons amongst democratic nations are commonly of small importance, of recent growth, and extremely precarious; the consequence is that they are often sacrificed without regret, and almost always violated without remorse."
"Even voting for the right is doing nothing for it. It is only expressing to men feebly your desire that it should prevail. A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority. There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men."
"Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question."
"The problem of finding a collection of "wise men and leaving the government to them is thus an insoluble one. That is the ultimate reason for democracy."
Explore more quotes by Bob Woodward
"Clinton... believes that the Washington Press Corps is so out of touch that it is absolutely inconceivable that reporters would understand the issues that people are really dealing with in their lives."
"Nixon's grand mistake was his failure to understand that Americans are forgiving, and if he had admitted error early and apologized to the country, he would have escaped."
"Using these unnamed sources, if done properly, carefully and fairly, provides more accountability in government."
"If you interviewed 1,000 politicians and asked about whether the media's too soft or too hard, about 999 would say too hard."
"When you see how the President makes political or policy decisions, you see who he is. The essence of the Presidency is decision-making."
"The number of illegal activities were so large that one was bound to come out and lead to the uncovering of the others. Nixon was too willing to use the power of government to settle scores and get even with enemies."
"People like to pigeonhole and say, Well, I'm a Washington insider, and you know, that's quite silly. What does that even mean?"
"Deep Throat did serve the public interest by providing the guidance and information to us."
"I don't think there will ever be a permanent truce, but I believe the media needs to be more careful and be willing to count to 10 before rushing on the air or into print."
"It would seem that the Watergate story from beginning to end could be used as a primer on the American political system."
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