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"I tell you, in my opinion, the cornerstone of democracy is free press - that's the cornerstone."
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Explore more quotes by Milos Forman

"Well, listen, you know, the Czech saying is, you know, when you are drowning you are grabbing even a little twig. That's what all Czechs were doing, grabbing for... with the hope for this little twig."

"Now, after the communist take-over in 1948, the amount of feature films produced dwindled to three a year, while the school was, you know, every year another three, four, five students."

"So I left with Jean Claude and went to Paris, so when the Russians came to Prague, I was in Paris."

"People must not think that all bad in man which is unleashed, the moment you impose censorship disappears from man."

"I remember in 1968 when we were in Cannes, in the festival, and we were supposed to be there 10 days, and the second day the festival collapsed because the French, you know, film-makers raised the red flag in the festival and ended the festival."

"The worst evil is - and that's the product of censorship - is the self-censorship, because that twists spines, that destroys my character because I have to think something else and say something else, I have to always control myself."

"First of all, to defend my work, I had to believe that I am doing a totally silly, stupid, innocent comedy."

"You know what happened, you know, in 1938: France, England, you know, just sold out Czechoslovakia to Hitler."

"Well, I wouldn't say that this experience had any influence on my decision to do this film about Andy, because Andy was apolitical. Andy was never political."

"First of all, whoever didn't want to be a member of this association or the other association, was branded, you know, like a dangerous individualist, you know, infected by the Western decadence, you know. So everybody joined."
Exlpore more Democracy quotes

"Democracy is government by the people, for the people. Without the responsibility of the people, and without the involvement of the people - all you have left is GOVERNMENT."

"Change represents the real spirit of democracy and the real America."

"The ballot is stronger than the bullet."

"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."

"Self-government is in inverse ratio to numbers. The larger the constituency, the less the value of any particular vote. When he is merely one of millions, the individual elector feels himself to be impotent, a negligible quantity. The candidates he has voted into office are far away, at the top of the pyramid of power. Theoretically they are the servants of the people; but in fact it is the servants who give orders and the people, far off at the base of the great pyramid, who must obey."

"It will take years to bring Iraq the democracy it deserves."

"Propaganda is to a democracy what violence is to a dictatorship."

"In Ethiopia, democracy is in its infancy and it must be nurtured along by its leaders."

"But despite this breathtaking pace, I believe in the capacity of our democracy to meet these challenges."
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