"We can keep a Republic, or we will eventually end up with an Oligarchy - a tyranny of the elite." — Benjamin Franklin
Your best quote, because it shows, where we are today.
I am fully aware, that when we talk democracy in such forums as here, we all have our own artificial picture of democracy in mind, that is not the same as democracy in its genuine sense.
I would be very interested in seeing the source of the quotations from Jefferson and Franklin. "Mob rule" and "elite" do not at all sound like the expression of their day.
"A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where 51% of the people may take away the rights of the other 49%." — Thomas Jefferson
"Democracy is the road to socialism." — Karl Marx (father of communism)
"We can keep a Republic, or we will eventually end up with an Oligarchy - a tyranny of the elite." — Benjamin Franklin
"We are a Republican government. Real liberty is never found in despotism or in the extremes of democracy." — Alexander Hamilton