--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For our democracy has been marred by…" description: "\"For our democracy has been marred by imperialism, and it has been enlightened only by individual and sporadic efforts at freedom.\" — Pearl S. Buck" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/291/pearl-s-buck-1024_democracies-have_for-our-democracy-has-been-marred-by-imp_187013.png" --- # For our democracy has been marred by imperialism, and it… ![“For our democracy has been marred by imperialism, and it has been enlightened only by individual and sporadic efforts at freedom.” quote by Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/291/pearl-s-buck-1024_democracies-have_for-our-democracy-has-been-marred-by-imp_187013.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/291/pearl-s-buck-1024_democracies-have_for-our-democracy-has-been-marred-by-imp_187013.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/291/pearl-s-buck-1024_democracies-have_for-our-democracy-has-been-marred-by-imp_187013.png) > “For our democracy has been marred by imperialism, and it has been enlightened only by individual and sporadic efforts at freedom.” [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Democracy suffers when dominated by imperialism, yet individual acts of freedom can illuminate it. **In simple terms:** Imperialism hinders democracy; individuals can spark change. Key Takeaway Support grassroots freedom initiatives. Themes politics freedom imperialism Mood thoughtful hopeful Type philosophical activist When to use this quote - activism - education - policy reform Key Concepts civil resistance democratic renewal Questions to Reflect On - What personal actions can you take to promote freedom? - How can societies balance power to prevent imperialism? A Different Perspective Individual efforts may be insufficient without systemic reform. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Democracies have](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracies-have/) [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [Democracy Marred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy-marred-1984165/) [Effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effort/) [Enlightened](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enlightened/) [Enlightened Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enlightened-individual-1984167/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Imperialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imperialism/) [Imperialism Enlightened](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imperialism-enlightened-1984164/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Marred Imperialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marred-imperialism-1984166/) [Sporadic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sporadic/) [Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women/) ## Related quotes > [The outer is easier, and the outer is objective. 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Prayer should be as much a part of our lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/prayer-shouldn-t-be-casual-or-sporadic-dictated-only-by-the-needs-of/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [At night my father often heard sporadic gunfire mixed in with the sound of dogs howling. If the war came closer, soon there would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinaw-mengestu/at-night-my-father-often-heard-sporadic-gunfire-mixed-in-with-the/) [Dinaw Mengestu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinaw-mengestu/) > [Pace yourself in your reading. A little bit every day really adds up. If you read during sporadic reading jags, the fits and starts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-wilson/pace-yourself-in-your-reading-a-little-bit-every-day-really-adds-up/) [Douglas Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-wilson/) > [It frankly does not make sense to occasionally 'fill up' with water, with long periods of dehydration in between. The same thing is true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-a-bednar/it-frankly-does-not-make-sense-to-occasionally-fill-up-with-water/) [David A. Bednar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-a-bednar/) > [For me parks are good when first of all, they're not impeccable, and when solitude has appropriated them in such a way that solitude…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergio-chejfec/for-me-parks-are-good-when-first-of-all-they-re-not-impeccable-and/) [Sergio Chejfec](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergio-chejfec/) > [If mankind is to profit freely from the small and sporadic crop of the heroically gifted it produces, it will have to cultivate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-trotter/if-mankind-is-to-profit-freely-from-the-small-and-sporadic-crop-of/) [Wilfred Trotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-trotter/) > [“Blind impatience is equally evident in the fruit section. Our ancestors might have delighted in the occasional handful of berries found on the underside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/blind-impatience-is-equally-evident-in-the-fruit-section-our/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## More by Pearl S. Buck > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [Hunger makes a thief of any man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/hunger-makes-a-thief-of-any-man/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [War is the most devastating endemic and epidemic disease the human race has to endure, and yet too little has been done to discover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/war-is-the-most-devastating-endemic-and-epidemic-disease-the-human/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [In our changing world nothing changes more than geography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/in-our-changing-world-nothing-changes-more-than-geography/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [No one really understood music unless he was a scientist, her father had declared, and not just a scientist, either, oh, no, only the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/no-one-really-understood-music-unless-he-was-a-scientist-her-father/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [Upon the profound discontent of the young in every country do I set my faith. I beg you, the young, to be discontented. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/upon-the-profound-discontent-of-the-young-in-every-country-do-i-set/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“Wang Lung sat smoking, thinking of the silver as it had lain upon the table. It had come out of the earth, this silver,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/wang-lung-sat-smoking-thinking-of-the-silver-as-it-had-lain-upon-the/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/the-secret-of-joy-in-work-is-contained-in-one-word-excellence-to-know/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [If our American way of life fails the child, it fails us all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/if-our-american-way-of-life-fails-the-child-it-fails-us-all/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“Mind and body were well or ill together.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/mind-and-body-were-well-or-ill-together/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“U meni postoji mjesto gdje živim posve sama; tu obnavljam svoja proljeća koja nikad ne presahnu”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/u-meni-postoji-mjesto-gdje-ivim-posve-sama-tu-obnavljam-svoja-prolje/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“Brave young American men climbed the rugged slopes of Korean mountains and fought in homesickness and desperate weariness for the sake of a people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/brave-young-american-men-climbed-the-rugged-slopes-of-korean/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [Truth is always exciting. Speak it, then; life is dull without it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/truth-is-always-exciting-speak-it-then-life-is-dull-without-it/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“All scientific effort must now be concentrated in the area of defence (sic). We have learned our lesson. We, the most civilized of people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/all-scientific-effort-must-now-be-concentrated-in-the-area-of-defence/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [to know how to read is to light a lamp in the mind, to release the soul from prison, to open a gate to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/to-know-how-to-read-is-to-light-a-lamp-in-the-mind-to-release-the/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) [Explore all 304 Pearl S. Buck quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) ## More Democracies have quotes > [The spirit of democracy cannot be established in the midst of terrorism, whether governmental or popular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-spirit-of-democracy-cannot-be-established-in-the-midst-of/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/the-strain-of-anti-intellectualism-has-been-a-constant-thread-winding/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [No democracy has ever long survived the failure of its adherents to be ready to die for it. My own conviction is this, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lloyd-george/no-democracy-has-ever-long-survived-the-failure-of-its-adherents-to/) [David Lloyd George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lloyd-george/) > [It is a law of governance that democracies have to spend themselves dizzy. Citizens of democracies can, after all, tell their government to give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/it-is-a-law-of-governance-that-democracies-have-to-spend-themselves/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. 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