--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Democracy's worst fault is that its…" description: "\"Democracy's worst fault is that its leaders are likely to reflect the faults and virtues of their constituents.\" — Robert A. Heinlein" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aaf/robert-a-heinlein-209_constituents_democracy-s-worst-fault-is-that-its-lead_1863682.jpg" --- # Democracy's worst fault is that its leaders are likely to… ![“Democracy's worst fault is that its leaders are likely to reflect the faults and virtues of their constituents.” quote by Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aaf/robert-a-heinlein-209_constituents_democracy-s-worst-fault-is-that-its-lead_1863682.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aaf/robert-a-heinlein-209_constituents_democracy-s-worst-fault-is-that-its-lead_1863682.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aaf/robert-a-heinlein-209_constituents_democracy-s-worst-fault-is-that-its-lead_1863682.jpg) > “Democracy's worst fault is that its leaders are likely to reflect the faults and virtues of their constituents.” [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Democracy mirrors the strengths and flaws of its people, reflecting their collective character. **In simple terms:** Democracy reflects its citizens. Key Takeaway Improve society by improving yourself. Themes citizenship leadership collective responsibility Mood critical inspirational Type philosophical political When to use this quote - voting - civic education - community activism - public policy Key Concepts political theory ethics Questions to Reflect On - How can individuals raise societal standards? - What role does education play? A Different Perspective Changing leaders alone cannot fix systemic issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [Leader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leader/) [Leadership](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leadership/) [Stranger in a strange land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stranger-in-a-strange-land/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [“The more visibility you have to organizational leaders the more likely they are to consider you for roles of increasing responsibility – and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-petrilli/the-more-visibility-you-have-to-organizational-leaders-the-more/) Lisa Petrilli > [“Democracy is a poor system of government at best; the only thing that can honestly be said in its favor is that it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/democracy-is-a-poor-system-of-government-at-best-the-only-thing-that/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [It's a long story. Want a refill?" "No, let's start the steak. Where's the button?" "Right here." "Well, push it." "Me? You offered to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/it-s-a-long-story-want-a-refill-no-let-s-start-the-steak-where-s-the/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Self awareness is NOT just a bunch of amino acids bumping together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/self-awareness-is-not-just-a-bunch-of-amino-acids-bumping-together/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“The capacity of humans to believe in what seems to me highly improbable- from table tapping to the superiority of their children- has never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-capacity-of-humans-to-believe-in-what-seems-to-me-highly/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [I've found out why people laugh. They laugh because it hurts- because it's the only thing that'll make it stop hurting... I had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/i-ve-found-out-why-people-laugh-they-laugh-because-it-hurts-because-2/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“Allie, what do the Stars tell me to do? You know I don't understand the scientific part.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/allie-what-do-the-stars-tell-me-to-do-you-know-i-don-t-understand-the/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [There comes a time in the life of every human when he or she must decide to risk ‘his life, his fortune and his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/there-comes-a-time-in-the-life-of-every-human-when-he-or-she-must/) [Robert A. 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I was trying to shake the reader loose from some preconceptions and induce him to think for himself, along…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/i-was-not-giving-answers-i-was-trying-to-shake-the-reader-loose-from/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [I've never understood how God could expect His creatures to pick the one true religion by faith-it strikes me as a sloppy way to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/i-ve-never-understood-how-god-could-expect-his-creatures-to-pick-the/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [We are more tied to our faults than to our virtues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/we-are-more-tied-to-our-faults-than-to-our-virtues/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [“Yet I had not been many days shut up with them before I began to be ashamed of my first judgment, when I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/yet-i-had-not-been-many-days-shut-up-with-them-before-i-began-to-be/) [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/) ## More by Robert A. Heinlein > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Ninety percent of all human wisdom is the ability to mind your own business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/ninety-percent-of-all-human-wisdom-is-the-ability-to-mind-your-own/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [If we blow ourselves up we will do it by misapplication of science; if we manage to keep from blowing ourselves up, it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/if-we-blow-ourselves-up-we-will-do-it-by-misapplication-of-science-if/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Nor would anybody suspect. If was one thing all people took for granted, was conviction that if you feed honest figures into a computer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/nor-would-anybody-suspect-if-was-one-thing-all-people-took-for/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Women will forgive anything. Otherwise, the race would have died out long ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/women-will-forgive-anything-otherwise-the-race-would-have-died-out/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Most neuroses and some psychoses can be traced to the unnecessary and unhealthy habit of daily wallowing in the troubles and sins of five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/most-neuroses-and-some-psychoses-can-be-traced-to-the-unnecessary-and/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [No statement should be believed because it is made by an authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/no-statement-should-be-believed-because-it-is-made-by-an-authority/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“Some people are ants by nature; they have to work, even when it’s useless. Few people have a talent for constructive laziness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/some-people-are-ants-by-nature-they-have-to-work-even-when-it-s/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“The instinct to survive is human nature itself, and every aspect of our personalities derives from it. Anything that conflicts with the survival instinct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-instinct-to-survive-is-human-nature-itself-and-every-aspect-of/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“I tried to dig out of the computer a call directory for Luna. But it was still sulking. I could not get it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/i-tried-to-dig-out-of-the-computer-a-call-directory-for-luna-but-it/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“this has more aspects than a cat has hair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/this-has-more-aspects-than-a-cat-has-hair/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Never own more than you can carry in both hands at a dead run.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/never-own-more-than-you-can-carry-in-both-hands-at-a-dead-run/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“In Wilson's scale of evaluations breakfast rated just after life itself and ahead of the chance of immortality." ~ By His Bootstraps / Robert A. Heinlein”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/in-wilson-s-scale-of-evaluations-breakfast-rated-just-after-life/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/ignorance-is-curable-stupid-is-forever/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Explore all 888 Robert A. Heinlein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) ## More Constituents quotes > [I will support my party when they are right on an issue, but am not afraid to stand up to party bosses who are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darlene-senger/i-will-support-my-party-when-they-are-right-on-an-issue-but-am-not/) Darlene Senger > [ So \[Republicans\] packed all the Democrats into districts, very Democratic districts. What that's done is made our party urban, more liberal, and so those… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/collin-peterson/so-republicans-packed-all-the-democrats-into-districts-very/) [Collin Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/collin-peterson/) > [Every man must form himself as a particular being, seeking, however, to attain that general idea of which all mankind are constituents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/every-man-must-form-himself-as-a-particular-being-seeking-however-to/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [The best leaders are those who break that mission down into the organization's constituent parts, so that everybody understands their role and how it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/the-best-leaders-are-those-who-break-that-mission-down-into-the/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [One of my goals here in Congress, being the youngest member of the California delegation, is to really try and get the institution to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-swalwell/one-of-my-goals-here-in-congress-being-the-youngest-member-of-the/) [Eric Swalwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-swalwell/) > [And if I should later be attacked for neglecting my constituents' "interests," I shall reply that I was informed that their main interest is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-goldwater/and-if-i-should-later-be-attacked-for-neglecting-my-constituents/) [Barry Goldwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-goldwater/) > [I regularly see constituents, speak to people who feel let down by the justice system quite fundamentally, and these are people who don't make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-xenophon/i-regularly-see-constituents-speak-to-people-who-feel-let-down-by-the/) [Nick Xenophon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-xenophon/) > [Neither these statesmen nor their constituents sought in any way to use the Government for the interest of themselves or their section, or for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-toombs/neither-these-statesmen-nor-their-constituents-sought-in-any-way-to/) [Robert Toombs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-toombs/) > [Of course things get stagnant; people get too used to their environment, but that's why I'm in my district every week, at meetings with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/of-course-things-get-stagnant-people-get-too-used-to-their/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I went to Ferguson and walked with the demonstrators and saw this heavily armed police force, tactical units pointing sniper rifles at my constituents…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-lacy-clay-jr/i-went-to-ferguson-and-walked-with-the-demonstrators-and-saw-this/) [William Lacy Clay, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lacy-clay-jr/) > [My focus is on my constituents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-hultgren/my-focus-is-on-my-constituents/) [Randy Hultgren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-hultgren/) > [If we can't have the courage to tell our constituents, hey, we've got to cut back, then if we can point to something and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-flake/if-we-can-t-have-the-courage-to-tell-our-constituents-hey-we-ve-got/) [Jeff Flake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-flake/) > [By the deficiency or absence of one necessary constituent, all the others being present, the soil is rendered barren for all those crops to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justus-von-liebig/by-the-deficiency-or-absence-of-one-necessary-constituent-all-the/) [Justus von Liebig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justus-von-liebig/) > [I think a lot of people feel that they are just not listened to, and that the politicians in Washington are just playing games…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-lieberman/i-think-a-lot-of-people-feel-that-they-are-just-not-listened-to-and/) [Joe Lieberman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-lieberman/) > [My constituents are my employers - if I let them down I should be accountable to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-lucas/my-constituents-are-my-employers-if-i-let-them-down-i-should-be/) [Caroline Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-lucas/) Browse all 259 Constituents quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Democracy's worst fault is that its leaders are likely to reflect the faults and virtues of their constituents.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert A. 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