--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Dictatorships are one-way streets…" description: "\"Dictatorships are one-way streets. Democracy boasts two-way traffic.\" — Alberto Moravia" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/696/alberto-moravia-15553_boast_dictatorships-are-one-way-streets-democr_1461228.png" --- # Dictatorships are one-way streets. Democracy boasts… ![“Dictatorships are one-way streets. Democracy boasts two-way traffic.” quote by Alberto Moravia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/696/alberto-moravia-15553_boast_dictatorships-are-one-way-streets-democr_1461228.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/696/alberto-moravia-15553_boast_dictatorships-are-one-way-streets-democr_1461228.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/696/alberto-moravia-15553_boast_dictatorships-are-one-way-streets-democr_1461228.png) > “Dictatorships are one-way streets. Democracy boasts two-way traffic.” [Alberto Moravia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-moravia/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Democracy allows reciprocal dialogue; dictatorships suppress dissent and limit participation. **In simple terms:** Democracy is two‑way, dictatorships are one‑way. Key Takeaway Promote open exchange in governance. Themes politics freedom dialogue authority Mood critical hopeful Type political philosophical When to use this quote - elections - public forums - media - community meetings Key Concepts participatory governance authoritarianism civil rights Questions to Reflect On - What barriers prevent two‑way traffic in democracy? - How can citizens strengthen dialogue? A Different Perspective Democracy can still be limited by inequality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boast/) [Democracies have](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracies-have/) [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [Democracy Boasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy-boasts-5279555/) [Dictatorship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dictatorship/) [Dictatorships](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dictatorships/) [Dictatorships Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dictatorships-way-5279553/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Motivational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivational/) [One way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-way/) [Streets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/streets/) [Streets Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/streets-democracy-5279554/) [Traffic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/traffic/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) [Two ways](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two-ways/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Way Traffic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way-traffic-3002765/) ## Related quotes > [The most effective way to restrict democracy is to transfer decision-making from the public arena to unaccountable institutions: kings and princes, priestly castes, military…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-most-effective-way-to-restrict-democracy-is-to-transfer-decision/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“Take your own route, not the route everyone is using or taking. Create your own way; there is always traffic on the common route.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/take-your-own-route-not-the-route-everyone-is-using-or-taking-create/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [They say no one knows if we all see red the same way. Except traffic cops.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-fitzsimmons/they-say-no-one-knows-if-we-all-see-red-the-same-way-except-traffic/) [Greg Fitzsimmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-fitzsimmons/) > [Dictatorships don't always die when the dictator leaves office](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohamed-nasheed/dictatorships-don-t-always-die-when-the-dictator-leaves-office/) [Mohamed Nasheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohamed-nasheed/) > [In our modern age - in the age of free information - I don't think there is any place for dictatorships.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rashid-al-ghannushi/in-our-modern-age-in-the-age-of-free-information-i-don-t-think-there/) [Rashid al-Ghannushi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rashid-al-ghannushi/) > [“attained democracy, as brutal dictatorships took over, led to the cynical phrase: "One man, one vote-one time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/attained-democracy-as-brutal-dictatorships-took-over-led-to-the/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [The reason that democracies always defeat dictatorships is because they're open to debate. We should never allow Washington to say, 'Shut up, get in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/the-reason-that-democracies-always-defeat-dictatorships-is-because/) [Ralph Nader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/) > [I am the product of living in dictatorships. And someone who's lived in dictatorships and not being allowed to be themselves, it cherishes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-heinz/i-am-the-product-of-living-in-dictatorships-and-someone-who-s-lived/) [Teresa Heinz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-heinz/) > [Dictatorships start wars because they need external enemies to exert internal control over their own people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-perle/dictatorships-start-wars-because-they-need-external-enemies-to-exert/) [Richard Perle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-perle/) > [History proves that dictatorships do not grow out of strong and successful governments, but out of weak and helpless ones. If by democratic methods…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/history-proves-that-dictatorships-do-not-grow-out-of-strong-and/) [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [“What naive garbage. People don't want freedom anymore--even those to whom freedom is a kind of religion are afraid of it, like trembling acolytes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-willow-wilson/what-naive-garbage-people-don-t-want-freedom-anymore-even-those-to/) [G. Willow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-willow-wilson/) > [Famine and unemployment are the raw material for dictatorships.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-tsipras/famine-and-unemployment-are-the-raw-material-for-dictatorships/) [Alexis Tsipras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-tsipras/) > [The all but unanimous judgment seems to be that we, the democracies, are just as responsible for the rise of the dictators as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-emerson-fosdick/the-all-but-unanimous-judgment-seems-to-be-that-we-the-democracies/) [Harry Emerson Fosdick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-emerson-fosdick/) > [All democracies turn into dictatorships - but not by coup. The people give their democracy to a dictator, whether it's Julius Caesar or Napoleon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lucas/all-democracies-turn-into-dictatorships-but-not-by-coup-the-people/) [George Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lucas/) > [I'm not a prophet, but I always thought it was natural for dictatorships to fall. I remember in 1989, two months before the fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-m-not-a-prophet-but-i-always-thought-it-was-natural-for/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) ## More by Alberto Moravia > [When I sit at my table to write, I never know what it's going to be until I'm under way. I trust in inspiration,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-moravia/when-i-sit-at-my-table-to-write-i-never-know-what-it-s-going-to-be/) [Alberto Moravia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-moravia/) > [This thought strengthened in me my belief that all men, without exception, deserve to be pitied, if only because they are alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-moravia/this-thought-strengthened-in-me-my-belief-that-all-men-without/) [Alberto Moravia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-moravia/) > [Every true writer is like a bird; he repeats the same song, the same theme, all his life. For me, this theme as always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-moravia/every-true-writer-is-like-a-bird-he-repeats-the-same-song-the-same/) [Alberto Moravia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-moravia/) > [And we all know love is a glass which makes even a monster appear fascinating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-moravia/and-we-all-know-love-is-a-glass-which-makes-even-a-monster-appear/) [Alberto Moravia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-moravia/) > [...my boredom might be described as a malady affecting external objects and consisting of a withering process; an almost instantaneous loss of vitality--just as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-moravia/my-boredom-might-be-described-as-a-malady-affecting-external-objects/) [Alberto Moravia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-moravia/) > [A writer survives in spite of his beliefs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-moravia/a-writer-survives-in-spite-of-his-beliefs/) [Alberto Moravia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-moravia/) > [Good writers are monotonous, like good composers. They keep trying to perfect the one problem they were born to understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-moravia/good-writers-are-monotonous-like-good-composers-they-keep-trying-to/) [Alberto Moravia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-moravia/) > [The novel as we knew it in the nineteenth century was killed off by Proust and Joyce.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-moravia/the-novel-as-we-knew-it-in-the-nineteenth-century-was-killed-off-by/) [Alberto Moravia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-moravia/) > [You can't think on purpose about somebody or something. Either you think about them naturally or you don't think at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-moravia/you-can-t-think-on-purpose-about-somebody-or-something-either-you/) [Alberto Moravia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-moravia/) > [I do not foresee a time when I shall feel that I have nothing to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-moravia/i-do-not-foresee-a-time-when-i-shall-feel-that-i-have-nothing-to-say/) [Alberto Moravia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-moravia/) > [“I gave up the unequal struggle against what appeared to be in my fate, indeed, I welcomed it with more affection. As one embraces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-moravia/i-gave-up-the-unequal-struggle-against-what-appeared-to-be-in-my-fate/) [Alberto Moravia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-moravia/) > [Yes, one uses what one knows, but autobiography means something else. I should never be able to write a real autobiography; I always end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-moravia/yes-one-uses-what-one-knows-but-autobiography-means-something-else-i/) [Alberto Moravia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-moravia/) > [Modern man-whether in the womb of the masses, or with his workmates, or with his family, or alone-can never for one moment forget that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-moravia/modern-man-whether-in-the-womb-of-the-masses-or-with-his-workmates-or/) [Alberto Moravia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-moravia/) > [An uncertain evil causes anxiety because, at the bottom of one's heart, one goes on hoping till the last moment that it may not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-moravia/an-uncertain-evil-causes-anxiety-because-at-the-bottom-of-one-s-heart/) [Alberto Moravia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-moravia/) > [It is what we are forced to do that forms our character, not what we do of our own free will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-moravia/it-is-what-we-are-forced-to-do-that-forms-our-character-not-what-we/) [Alberto Moravia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-moravia/) [Explore all 31 Alberto Moravia quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-moravia/) ## More Boast quotes > [It would be a piece of ingenuousness to accuse the man of today of his lack of moral code. The accusation would leave him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/it-would-be-a-piece-of-ingenuousness-to-accuse-the-man-of-today-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Win without boasting. Lose without excuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-payson-terhune/win-without-boasting-lose-without-excuse/) [Albert Payson Terhune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-payson-terhune/) > [Further conceive, I beg, that a stone, while continuing in motion, should be capable of thinking and knowing, that it is endeavoring, as far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/further-conceive-i-beg-that-a-stone-while-continuing-in-motion-should/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Boasting and bravado may exist in the breast even of the coward, if he is successful through a mere lucky hit; but a just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/boasting-and-bravado-may-exist-in-the-breast-even-of-the-coward-if-he/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [“In general, poor is polite and rich is rude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/in-general-poor-is-polite-and-rich-is-rude/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [“in other words, his story was part boast, part confession.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-mezrich/in-other-words-his-story-was-part-boast-part-confession/) [Ben Mezrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-mezrich/) > [We are not saints, but we have kept our appointment. How many people can boast as much?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/we-are-not-saints-but-we-have-kept-our-appointment-how-many-people/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Boast is always a cry of despair, except in the young it is a cry of hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-berenson/boast-is-always-a-cry-of-despair-except-in-the-young-it-is-a-cry-of/) [Bernard Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-berenson/) > [“A classic is read not to enjoy but only to be boast about it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aman-jassal/a-classic-is-read-not-to-enjoy-but-only-to-be-boast-about-it/) [Aman Jassal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aman-jassal/) > [Buonaparte has often made his boast that our fleet would be worn out by keeping the sea and that his was kept in order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/buonaparte-has-often-made-his-boast-that-our-fleet-would-be-worn-out/) [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) > [Wisdom can boast no higher attainment than happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-radcliffe/wisdom-can-boast-no-higher-attainment-than-happiness/) [Ann Radcliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-radcliffe/) > [But thou art fair, and at thy birth, dear boy, Nature and Fortune join'd to make thee great: Of Nature's gifts thou mayst with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/but-thou-art-fair-and-at-thy-birth-dear-boy-nature-and-fortune-join-d/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Science appears but what in truth she is, Not as our glory and our absolute boast, But as a succedaneum, and a prop To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/science-appears-but-what-in-truth-she-is-not-as-our-glory-and-our/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [It has, therefore, been a favorite boast of the people of Wales and Cornwall, that the original British stock flourishes in its unmixed purity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bulfinch/it-has-therefore-been-a-favorite-boast-of-the-people-of-wales-and/) [Thomas Bulfinch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bulfinch/) > [Boasting is only a masked shame; it does not truly believe in itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/boasting-is-only-a-masked-shame-it-does-not-truly-believe-in-itself/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) [Browse all 567 Boast quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boast/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Dictatorships are one-way streets. 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