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Quote#Politics & Power

We are slow to realize that democracy is a life; and involves…

Quote byRobert M. La Follette · 1855–1925

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: As quoted in Rothschild, Matthew. “Fighting Bob La Follette: Visionary American Leftist.” The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era10, no. 3 (2011): 362–68. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537781411000090.

English (original)

We are slow to realize that democracy is a life; and involves continual struggle. It is only as those of every generation who love democracy resist with all their might the encroachments of its enemies that the ideals of representative government can even be nearly approximated.

— Robert M. La Follette

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