--- title: "1 Reality Democracy Quotes By Niall Ferguson" description: "1 Reality Democracy quotes by Niall Ferguson. Plus more from Niall Ferguson and more Reality Democracy sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da7/niall-ferguson-3627_america_it-was-an-idea-that-made-the-crucial-dif_1015671.jpg" --- > [“It was an idea that made the crucial difference between British and Iberian America – an idea about the way people should govern themselves. Some people make the mistake of calling that idea ‘democracy’ and imagining that any country can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/it-was-an-idea-that-made-the-crucial-difference-between-british-and/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da7/niall-ferguson-3627_america_it-was-an-idea-that-made-the-crucial-dif_1015671.jpg) ## More by Niall Ferguson > [“I wrote this book because I had formed a strong impression that the people currently living were paying insufficient attention to the dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/i-wrote-this-book-because-i-had-formed-a-strong-impression-that-the/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“Consider this: the US economy created 2.4 million jobs in the three years beginning in June 2009. In the same period, 3.3 million Americans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/consider-this-the-us-economy-created-2-4-million-jobs-in-the-three/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [I think the rise of quantitative econometrics and a highly mathematical approach to risk management was the obverse of a decline in interest in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/i-think-the-rise-of-quantitative-econometrics-and-a-highly/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“Is it better today to be in a network, which gives you influence, than in a hierarchy, which gives you power?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/is-it-better-today-to-be-in-a-network-which-gives-you-influence-than/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [As a teacher, my strategy is to encourage questioning. I'm the least authoritarian professor you'll ever meet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/as-a-teacher-my-strategy-is-to-encourage-questioning-i-m-the-least/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [Ask me not, 'Are you rightwing,' but ask me 'Are you a committed believer in individual freedom, the values of the enlightenment?' Then, yeah,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/ask-me-not-are-you-rightwing-but-ask-me-are-you-a-committed-believer/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“Many historians still tend to assume that the spread of an idea or an ideology is a function of its inherent content in relation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/many-historians-still-tend-to-assume-that-the-spread-of-an-idea-or-an/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“the twentieth century ran a series of experiments, imposing quite different institutions on two sets of Germans (in West and East), two sets of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/the-twentieth-century-ran-a-series-of-experiments-imposing-quite/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“Historians are not scientists. They cannot (and should not even trying to) establish universal laws of social or political "physics" with reliable predictive powers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/historians-are-not-scientists-they-cannot-and-should-not-even-trying/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [You really struggle to be a successful empire if you are also the world's biggest debtor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/you-really-struggle-to-be-a-successful-empire-if-you-are-also-the/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“One difficulty is that we cannot always reconstruct the past thoughts of these non-Western peoples, for not all of them existed in civilizations with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/one-difficulty-is-that-we-cannot-always-reconstruct-the-past-thoughts/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [If young men have jobs - or the prospects of jobs - they are less likely to take up arms, they are less likely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/if-young-men-have-jobs-or-the-prospects-of-jobs-they-are-less-likely/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [I think that it is important to be gregarious, and that friendships are not just a leisure pursuit, that they are an integral part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/i-think-that-it-is-important-to-be-gregarious-and-that-friendships/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“The question was simply this: Would the world be French or British?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/the-question-was-simply-this-would-the-world-be-french-or-british/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“it is not ‘Eurocentrism’ or (anti-)‘Orientalism’ to say that the rise of Western civilization is the single most important historical phenomenon of the second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/it-is-not-eurocentrism-or-anti-orientalism-to-say-that-the-rise-of/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality-democracy/niall-ferguson/#itemlist", "name": "1 Reality Democracy Quotes By Niall Ferguson", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It was an idea that made the crucial difference between British and Iberian America – an idea about the way people should govern themselves. 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