“In a democracy, the people get the government they deserve.”
It was Joseph de Maistre who wrote in 1811 "Every nation gets the government it deserves."
Misattributed
“In a democracy, the people get the government they deserve.”
It was Joseph de Maistre who wrote in 1811 "Every nation gets the government it deserves."
Misattributed
What I Believe (1938)
Context: Democracy is not a beloved Republic really, and never will be. But it is less hateful than other contemporary forms of government, and to that extent it deserves our support. It does start from the assumption that the individual is important, and that all types are needed to make a civilization. It does not divide its citizens into the bossers and the bossed — as an efficiency-regime tends to do. The people I admire most are those who are sensitive and want to create something or discover something, and do not see life in terms of power, and such people get more of a chance under a democracy than elsewhere. They found religions, great or small, or they produce literature and art, or they do disinterested scientific research, or they may be what is called "ordinary people", who are creative in their private lives, bring up their children decently, for instance, or help their neighbours. All these people need to express themselves; they cannot do so unless society allows them liberty to do so, and the society which allows them most liberty is a democracy.
Speech at the Democratic Convention (28 August 2008) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/28/martin-luther-king-iii-dn_n_122258.html
26 June 1787 per page 105 of "The Debates, Resolutions, and Other Proceedings, in Convention, on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution: Supplementary to the state Conventions" by Johnathan Elliot, published 1830 https://books.google.ca/books?id=-gtAAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA105
Debates of the Federal Convention (1787)
19 April 1971 in Havana, according to 20 April 1971 New York Times article https://www.nytimes.com/1971/04/20/archives/castro-rejects-new-ties-to-us-premier-in-havana-speech-also.html
2010s, 2017, Speech at "Spirit of Liberty: At Home, In the World" event (2017)
Open Letter to the Committee Hearing Re: FBI Director James Comey and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers
1964 Memorial Edition, p. 265 http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/Ready-Reference/JFK-Quotations/Profiles-in-Courage-quotations.aspx
Pre-1960, Profiles in Courage (1956)