--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The nightmare in every democracy, the…" description: "\"The nightmare in every democracy, the very nightmare, is if it gets worse and worse and worse, we could end up totalitarian.\" — Norman Mailer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/109/norman-mailer-839_democracy_the-nightmare-in-every-democracy-the-ver_1278697.png" --- # The nightmare in every democracy, the very nightmare, is… ![“The nightmare in every democracy, the very nightmare, is if it gets worse and worse and worse, we could end up totalitarian.” quote by Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/109/norman-mailer-839_democracy_the-nightmare-in-every-democracy-the-ver_1278697.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/109/norman-mailer-839_democracy_the-nightmare-in-every-democracy-the-ver_1278697.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/109/norman-mailer-839_democracy_the-nightmare-in-every-democracy-the-ver_1278697.png) > “The nightmare in every democracy, the very nightmare, is if it gets worse and worse and worse, we could end up totalitarian.” [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Democracies risk slipping into authoritarianism if they continually erode freedoms. **In simple terms:** Freedom can decay into oppression. Key Takeaway Guard democratic freedoms vigilantly. Themes politics freedom authoritarianism Mood cautious urgent Type political warning When to use this quote - elections - media scrutiny - civil protests - policy debates Key Concepts civic responsibility checks and balances Questions to Reflect On - How can societies strengthen liberty without panic? - What safeguards best prevent authoritarian drift? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on fear can stifle constructive dialogue. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [Nightmare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightmare/) [Totalitarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/totalitarian/) ## Related quotes > [The fundamental basis of this nation’s laws was given to Moses on the Mount…If we don’t have a proper fundamental moral background, we will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/the-fundamental-basis-of-this-nation-s-laws-was-given-to-moses-on-the/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [Culture's worth huge, huge risks. Without culture we're all totalitarian beasts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/culture-s-worth-huge-huge-risks-without-culture-we-re-all/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [“Cult (totalistic type): a group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea, or thing and employing unethically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-jolyon-west/cult-totalistic-type-a-group-or-movement-exhibiting-a-great-or/) Louis Jolyon West > [“I have never seen a more sublime demonstration of the totalitarian mind, a mind which might be likened unto a system of gears whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut-jr/i-have-never-seen-a-more-sublime-demonstration-of-the-totalitarian/) [Kurt Vonnegut Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut-jr/) > [In a society that restricts individual freedoms and violates human rights, anything that calls itself creative or independent is a pretence. 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Language gets turned on its head. Serfdom is freedom. Repression is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/this-was-laughable-of-course-but-that-s-always-the-way-with/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) > [People who live in the post-totalitarian system know only too well that the question of whether one or several political parties are in power,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-havel/people-who-live-in-the-post-totalitarian-system-know-only-too-well/) [Vaclav Havel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-havel/) > [Dominion is a spy novel, a love story, and also I hope gives some sense of the difficulties faced by dissidents under any totalitarian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-sansom/dominion-is-a-spy-novel-a-love-story-and-also-i-hope-gives-some-sense/) [C.J. Sansom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-j-sansom/) ## More by Norman Mailer > [Conservatives are people who look at a tree and feel instinctively that it is more beautiful than anything they can name. But when it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/conservatives-are-people-who-look-at-a-tree-and-feel-instinctively/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [There's a subterranean impetus towards pornography so powerful that half the business world is juiced by the sort of half sex that one finds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/there-s-a-subterranean-impetus-towards-pornography-so-powerful-that/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [So the blind will lead the blind, and the deaf shout warnings to one another until their voices are lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/so-the-blind-will-lead-the-blind-and-the-deaf-shout-warnings-to-one/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [Writing for a newspaper is like running a revolutionary war. 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