#Representation Quotes

“But also the constituency determines the vote of the representative. He is not only representative, but participant. Like can onlybe known by like. The reason why he knows about them is, that he is of them; he has just come out of nature, or from being a part of the thing.”

“The people know that they need in their representative much more than talent, namely, the power to make his talent trusted.”

“Our ancient laws expressly declare that those who are but delegates themselves shall not delegate to others powers which require judgment and integrity in their exercise.”

“Green in nature is one thing, green in literature another. Nature and letters seem to have a natural antipathy; bring them together and they tear each other to pieces.”

“When the representative body have lost the confidence of their constituents, when they have notoriously made sale of their most valuable rights, when they have assumed to themselves powers which the people never put into their hands, then indeed their continuing in office becomes dangerous to the state”

“I'm a reflection of the community.”

“The right of voting for representatives is the primary right by which other rights are protected. To take away this right is to reduce a man to slavery, for slavery consists in being subject to the will of another, and he that has not a vote in the election of representatives is in this case.”

“All men can understand what representation is; and that it must necessarily include a variety of knowledge and talents.”

“The party belongs to the millions of the rank and file. It does not belong to the handful of politicians who have assumed fraudulently to upset the will of the rank and file. The action of these men is in no sense "regular," as they claim it to be.... theft and dishonesty cannot give and never shall give a title to regularity.”

“It is not because a part of the government is elective, that makes it less a despotism, if the persons so elected, possess afterwards, as a parliament, unlimited powers. Election, in this case, becomes separated from representation, and the candidates are candidates for despotism.”

“The representative system of government is calculated to produce the wisest laws, by collecting wisdom where it can be found.”

“In the legislature, the House of Representatives is chosen by less than half the people, and not at all in proportion to those who do choose. The Senate are still more disproportionate, and for long terms of irresponsibility. In the Executive, the Governor is entirely independent of the choice of the people, and of their control; his Council equally so, and at best but a fifth wheel to a wagon. In the Judiciary, the judges of the highest courts are dependent on none but themselves.”

“My power vanishes into thin air the instant that my fellow citizens, who are straight and honest, cease to believe that I represent them and fight for what is straight and honest. That is all the strength that I have.”

“I, for one, resent it when a representative of the people refers to you and me, the free men and women of this country, as 'the masses.'”

“True democracy is not inconsistent with a few persons representing the spirit, the hope and the aspirations of those whom they claim to represent.”

“The men who carry their points do not need to inquire of their constituents what they should say, but are themselves the country which they represent: nowhere are its emotions or opinions so instant and so true as in them; nowhere so pure from a selfish infusion.”

“When real independence comes to India, the Congress and the League will be nowhere unless they represent the real opinion of the country.”

“I had to prove you could be a new kind of black man. I had to show the world.”

“I want to be representative of my race-the human race. I have a chance to show how kind we can be, how intelligent and generous we can be.”

“I was always curious. I always wondered why Tarzan is the King of the Jungle in Africa, he was white.”

“Shakespeare must be a black girl.”

“We have to hear the stories of women at all ages of their lives in order to really present a picture of what it felt like to be alive in our time. That's what our job is as writers is to present that and create it. Our job as writers isn't to make as much money as we can. Our job is to create a record of this time. That's why if you leave out women and the stories of women, we failed at our mission. All of us. Men and women.”

“Democracy can only represent the average if not less than the average.”

“The very essence of democracy is that every person represents all the varied interests which compose the nation.”

“[ Negro leaders] never let the white man know exactly what black people are thinking.”

“A good painter is to paint two main things, men and the working of man's mind.”

“I refer to a negro politician as a negro who is selected by Negroes and who is backed by Negroes.”

“Sometimes I wish the public were equally aware of the men of our race in the cultural fields. You, for instance, have you ever bought a book by a Negro writer?”

“One of the great needs of Negro children is to have books about themselves and their lives that can help them be proud.”

“Even the 'Negro' shows like 'Amos and Andy' and 'Beulah' are written largely by white writers - the better to preserve the stereotypes, I imagine.”

“Isn't the basis of a democracy to send somebody to Washington to bring something back for you? ... It isn't?”

“There is a lot of work to be done to make sure our leaders reflect the people they are supposed to represent. The more diverse a group of decision makers is, the more informed the decision will be. Until we achieve full representation, we all should understand we are falling short of the ideals of our country.”

“Direct elections on the spot to all representative organs, up to the supreme organ, are a better guarantee of the interests of the working population of our boundless country.”

“So geographers, in Africa maps, With savage pictures fill their gaps, And o'er uninhabitable downs Place elephants for want of towns”

“Completely true to nature!' - what a lie: / How could nature ever be constrained into a picture? / The smallest bit of nature is infinite! / And so he paints what he likes about it. / And what does he like? He likes what he can paint!”

“I think Dr. King would be pleased to see the number of elected officials of color - African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and progressive whites.”

“Until today the rights of people have always been put forward by a few individuals acting in the name of the masses. Today instead of people no longer want to be represented; each wants to speak for himself and participate directly - it's the same for the Negroes, for the Jews, for women.”

“As an elected official who comes from the African-American community, there are some similarities. You are always trying to reconcile your own personal biography and affiliations with the demands of the broader democracy. And you need to make sure you are representing everybody.”

“So I think it's important to understand that your duly elected representatives have been consistently informed about exactly what we're doing.”

“What we would be committed to would be a representative government where all the Iraqi people decide who should lead their nation, and lead it in a way that keeps it together as a single nation and where all parts of the nation - Shia, Sunni and Kurds - are able to live free and in peace and believe that their interests are represented by the government.”

“My job is not to represent Washington to you, but to represent you to Washington.”

“When I do a picture and it's 90% black, like 'Bird,' I use 90% black people.”

“Our model of politics is one that it is inclusive of all members of the society; all should be represented. That is the nature of our democracy.”

“The stronger the participation of the female characters, the better the movie. They knew that in the old days, when women stars were equally as important as men.”

“In recent times it just seems that women have been relegated to either romantic roles or fluff pieces. So the appeal, for me, is to make a picture about a real woman.”

“In a certain sense, and to a certain extent, he [the president] is the representative of the people. He is elected by them, as well as congress is. But can he, in the nature [of] things, know the wants of the people, as well as three hundred other men, coming from all the various localities of the nation? If so, where is the propriety of having a congress?”

“If they don't have the guts to come up here in front of you and say, 'I don't want to represent you, I want to represent those special interests, the unions, the trial lawyers ... if they don't have the guts, I call them girlie men.”