“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone.”

— John Quincy Adams

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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John Quincy Adams 52

American politician, 6th president of the United States (in… 1767–1848

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“If you are part of a society that votes, then do so. There may be no candidates and no measures you want to vote for… but there are certain to be ones you want to vote against. In case of doubt, vote against. By this rule you will rarely go wrong.”

Robert A. Heinlein Time Enough for Love

Source: Time Enough for Love

“I never voted for anybody. I always voted against.”

W.C. Fields (1880–1946) actor

As recounted by Robert Lewis Taylor in W.C. Fields: His Follies and Fortunes
Variant: I never vote for anyone; I always vote against.

“In reality, there is no such thing as not voting: you either vote by voting, or you vote by staying home and tacitly doubling the value of some Diehard's vote.”

David Foster Wallace (1962–2008) American fiction writer and essayist

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Essays
Variant: There is no such thing as not voting: you either vote by voting, or you vote by staying home and tacitly doubling the value of some Diehard's vote.
Source: Consider the Lobster and Other Essays
Context: If you are bored and disgusted by politics and don't bother to vote, you are in effect voting for the entrenched Establishments of the two major parties, who please rest assured are not dumb, and who are keenly aware that it is in their interests to keep you disgusted and bored and cynical and to give you every possible psychological reason to stay at home doing one-hitters and watching MTV on primary day. By all means stay home if you want, but don't bullshit yourself that you're not voting. In reality, there is no such thing as not voting: you either vote by voting, or you vote by staying home and tacitly doubling the value of some Diehard's vote.

“If he votes against, that's the only principled position. If he abstains, it's a cop-out; if he votes for, it's a sell-out.”

Harriet Harman (1950) British politician

On Nick Clegg and his vote to increase tuition fees http://www.postchronicle.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=234&num=335499, 30 November 2010.

“Eat that money without compromising with them. If they come to bribe you, accept the money but don’t vote for them because you will be alone while voting. Do not fear because you will have committed no sin and God cannot be angry with you.”

Matthias Ssekamaanya (1936) Ugandan Roman Catholic bishop

Source: ‘Eat’ the money, but vote development, says bishop https://observer.ug/news-headlines/36415-eat-the-money-but-vote-development-says-bishop (February 18, 2015)

“Unlike what neo-liberals say, market and democracy clash at a fundamental level. Democracy runs on the principle of 'one man (one person), one vote'. The market runs on the principle of 'one dollar, one vote'.”

Ha-Joon Chang book Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism

Source: Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism (2008), Ch. 8, Democracy and the free market, p. 172
Context: Unlike what neo-liberals say, market and democracy clash at a fundamental level. Democracy runs on the principle of 'one man (one person), one vote'. The market runs on the principle of 'one dollar, one vote'. Naturally, the former gives equal weight to each person, regardless of the money she/he has. The latter give greater weight to richer people. Therefore, democratic decisions usually subvert the logic of market.

“Lord Palmerston: Then you did not vote for me, friend Rowcliffe; you preferred voting for a Tory.
William Rowcliffe: I did not vote for you, my Lord, for if I had, I should have voted for a Tory.”

Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (1784–1865) British politician

During the general election of July 1865 where the Chartist Rowcliffe voted for a Conservative and another Liberal in order to oust Palmerston from the two-member constituency; quoted in F. J. Snell, Palmerston's Borough (Tiverton, 1894), pp. 107-112.
1860s