"Individuals develop democratically when things are not fixed in advance, but are open to negotiation and mediation. While democracy inspires us to see that all plans begin with separate individuals and their responses and interpretations, quickly one person is conversing with another. Democracy encourages the growth of individual citizens, not to sanction the excesses of liberty- of staying apart in competition- but to set human relationships on a new footing. This new footing represents an attempt to remain engaged with the conflicts and paradoxes of human relationships through stories of negotiation. When the dignity of the individual is valued, freedom should serve to move people together, not apart, as relationships proceed tentatively across previously restricted boundaries. In a democracy, individuals gain a future by creatively imagining space for others."