The best armor against everything around you is to be well educated, to work hard, to be twice as good as if you had to be, to do languages and culture better.
Today’s headlines and history’s judgment are rarely the same. If you are too attentive to the former, you will most certainly not do the hard work of securing the latter.
The essence of America – that which really unites us – is not ethnicity, or nationality or religion – it is an idea – and what an idea it is: That you can come from humble circumstances and do great things.
But the truth of the matter is, we’re an open society, we want to remain an open society, and there will continue to be vulnerability. That’s why we have to meet the threats when they are not yet taking place on our territory and on our soil.
You have to have a strong sense of your values and a strong sense of who you are, because there are a lot of events and a lot of people who will pull you in this direction or that direction.
