Despite the dubious statistics … democracy is a thing of value for which we should be fighting. Rory Stewart More Quotes by Rory Stewart More Quotes From Rory Stewart I think it would be a huge mistake, damaging, unnecessary and I think also dishonest. Rory Stewart top-news If a relationship is going wrong, if a marriage is going wrong, the answer cannot simply be to say, 'You can't afford to break up because you are going to lose the house.' The answer has to be only one thing, which is 'I love you.' Rory Stewart i-love-youmarriageloverelationship When my father was posted to Malaysia, we'd take bacon-and-egg sandwiches in our backpacks and go hiking in the jungle or make bamboo rafts to sail down rivers. Rory Stewart downjunglesailfather As a Scot, I instinctively feel a sympathy towards a culture which is based on generosity. It's very refreshing. Afghans think they're the best people in the world and their country is the best place in the world, and it's strange because you go there and it doesn't really look like it, and yet they assume that everybody else envies them. Rory Stewart bestyouculturepeople September 11th has produced only miniature heroes because our culture has freed itself from many of the old, dangerous, elitist fantasies of heroism... But in so doing, we have not only tamed and diminished heroes. We have risked taming and diminishing ourselves. Rory Stewart doingheroismdangerousculture In the British embassy in Afghanistan in 2008, an embassy of 350 people, there were only three people who could speak Dari, the main language of Afghanistan, at a decent level. And there was not a single Pashto speaker. Rory Stewart singlelanguagespeakpeople When you're doing mountain rescue, you don't take a doctorate in mountain rescue; you look for somebody who knows the terrain. It's about context. Rory Stewart doinglookyoumountain I have not met, in Afghanistan, in even the most remote community, anybody who does not want a say in who governs them. Most remote community, I have never met a villager who does not want a vote. Rory Stewart nevervotecommunitywant Democracy matters because it reflects an idea of equality and an idea of liberty. It reflects an idea of dignity, the dignity of the individual, the idea that each individual should have an equal vote, an equal say, in the formation of their government. Rory Stewart equalityvotedemocracygovernment Democracy is not simply a question of structures. It is a state of mind. It is an activity. And part of that activity is honesty. Rory Stewart questiondemocracyhonestymind For politicians to be honest, the public needs to allow them to be honest, and the media, which mediates between the politicians and the public, needs to allow those politicians to be honest. If local democracy is to flourish, it is about the active and informed engagement of every citizen. Rory Stewart citizenpoliticiansdemocracymedia I am from Scotland, and I am Christian, not Muslim. Rory Stewart muslimi-amscotlandchristian Nostalgia for dead tyrants and the longing for heroes are unhealthy, and they can result in the deification of a Saddam as easily as a Havel or Mandela. Rory Stewart deadheroesresultnostalgia I'm not good at explaining why I walked across Afghanistan. Rory Stewart whygoodafghanistanexplaining I had a lot of romantic notions about what it would mean to cross Asia by foot. Rory Stewart crossaboutromanticmean I want to 'normalise' myself. I would love to have a family. Rory Stewart myselffamilywantlove I have planted over 6,000 trees at home in Scotland, some of them oak. I'd like my children to be able to watch them grow. Rory Stewart treesgrowhomechildren If things are going wrong in a country, it's not usually that we don't have enough foreigners. It's usually that we have too many. Rory Stewart wrongthingsenoughcountry In some sense, I'm a romantic. I like the idea of organic history and tradition. Rory Stewart liketraditionromantichistory If we say the purpose of life is our children, that's neither a purpose nor a meaning. But I'm sure I will be as besotted as everybody else when I have them. Rory Stewart meaningpurposelifechildren
