Election Quotes: 16 Inspirational Sayings About Voting For President

The United States is about to elect its 45th president in a historic election. Are you going to be a part of it?

Many Americans consider voting to be a civic duty, and so joining in on Election Day — or ahead of it — is popular. In 2012, nearly 58 percent of eligible people voted, leading to a total turnout of about 126 million, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.

If you have a friend who's on the proverbial fence about voting Tuesday, send them a YouTube video of a bald eagle and remind them they have the power to choose the next leader of the United States. In the unlikely event that doesn't convince them, direct them to read the following inspirational quotes, collected from Goodreads, BrainyQuote and Politico:

"The voting booth joint is a great leveler; the whole neighborhood — rich, poor, old, young, decrepit and spunky — they all turn out in one day." — David Byrne

"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." — John Quincy Adams

"Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government when it deserves it." — Mark Twain

"Voting is a civic sacrament." — Theodore Hesburgh

"By all means stay home if you want, but don't bullshit yourself that you're not voting. In reality, there is no such thing as not voting: you either vote by voting, or you vote by staying home and tacitly doubling the value of some Diehard's vote." — David Foster Wallace

"Voting is as much an emotional act as it is an intellectual one." — Monica Crowley

"I've dropped my pebble in the ocean, and hopefully; throughout the course of the day; millions of others will drop theirs in too. No single one of us knows which pebble causes the wave to crest, but each of us, quite rightly, believes that it might be ours; an act of faith." — Michael J. Fox

"That we have the vote means nothing. That we use it in the right way means everything." — Lou Henry Hoover

"Every election is determined by the people who show up." ― Larry J. Sabato

"Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education." — Franklin D. Roosevelt

"It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." — Winston Churchill

"Don't boo. Vote." — Barack Obama

"Voting isn't the most we can do, but it is the least. To have a democracy, you have to want one." — Gloria Steinem

"There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right." — Martin Luther King Jr.

"Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you." — Pericles

"Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters." — Abraham Lincoln