Ralph Nader quotes

Ralph Nader is an American political activist, author, and lawyer, widely recognized for his work in consumer protection and environmentalism. His efforts were instrumental in shaping modern automobile safety laws and advocating for citizens' rights. He continues to be a prominent voice for social justice and public interest issues. Here are 83 of his quotes:

The only difference between the Republican and Democratic parties is the velocities with which their knees hit the floor when corporations knock on their door. That's the only difference. (Ralph Nader)
I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. View quote
Ralph Nader
This (George W. Bush's) administration is not sympathetic to corporations, it is indentured to corporations. View quote
Ralph Nader
A society that has more justice is a society that needs less charity. View quote
Ralph Nader
The use of solar energy has not been opened up because the oil industry does not own the sun. View quote
Ralph Nader
The shortcomings of America's political leaders do not stop at our borders. View quote
Ralph Nader
Up against the corporate government, voters find themselves asked to choose between look-alike candidates from two parties vying to see who takes the marching orders from their campaign paymasters and their future employers. The money of vested interest nullifies genuine voter choice and trust. View quote
Ralph Nader
We must strive to become good ancestors. View quote
Ralph Nader
The "democracy gap" in our politics and elections spells a deep sense of powerlessness by people who drop out, do not vote, or listlessly vote for the "least worst” every four years and then wonder why after every cycle the "least worst” gets worse. View quote
Ralph Nader
...the Democratic and Republican parties, two apparently distinct political entities feeding at the same corporate trough. View quote
Ralph Nader
When strangers start acting like neighbors... communities are reinvigorated. (Ralph Nader)
John D. Rockefeller wanted to dominate oil, but Microsoft wants it all, you name it: cable, media, banking, car dealerships. View quote
Ralph Nader
Your best teacher is your last mistake. View quote
Ralph Nader
Unlike members of Congress, Big Business knew what the WTO agreements contained. That's because corporate lobbyists helped draft them. View quote
Ralph Nader
The 1963 Corvair, which has some remarkable characteristics. It's one of the few cars I know that can do the bossa nova on dry pavement and the watusi on wet. View quote
Ralph Nader
The tired whine of 'But the Republicans are worse' will fall flat as more young Americans take charge of their future and move, with their reenergized elders, toward the Green Party and parallel civic and political movements. View quote
Ralph Nader
...organized labor...rushes to support the party without demanding a turn away from corporatism toward workers' needs. This is the logic of the lesser of two evils. It tethers labor to a relentless slide deeper into the corporate power pits year after year. View quote
Ralph Nader
My hope is that... I will open Democrats' and other progressives' eyes to the many values shared by the Left and Right... like the desire to end corporate welfare and convert to a renewable energy (solar) economy. ...the way to defeat Trump... is to embrace (not marginalize) issues such as raising the minimum wage. ...It is a question of do or just further fade away. View quote
Ralph Nader
Congress... has become a secret tyrannical bastion of Wall Street, and that outrages people... View quote
Ralph Nader
American politicians over the past 25 years have learned to quietly dismiss big rallies, demonstrations, and even temporary occupations, because they have gone nowhere. View quote
Ralph Nader
[W]e have all these myths... about a Democratic society... [W]e have been disintegrating our Democratic institutions for over 40 years. (Ralph Nader)
They say we have a free press, but we do not. We have a press that is indentured to advertising revenue, and they themselves are now conglomerate corporations... and five big ones control most of the circulation and viewership... View quote
Ralph Nader
Democratic elections require that votes are supreme, not big-money. They require contested candidacies, not a two-party duopoly that increasingly reflects the same commercial interests. View quote
Ralph Nader
Paradoxically, we are in a golden age of books, documentaries, and films that... expose the abuses, crimes and authoritarian essence of corporate commercialism. ...[N]ever ...have they had less impact for change. View quote
Ralph Nader
[P]ublic interest groups, consumer protection organizations, and... social networks have worked relentlessly to break through the battalions of lobbyists paid by corporate interests... View quote
Ralph Nader