We are a people in a quandary about the present. We are a people in search of our future. We are a people in search of a national community.
BARBARA JORDANWe cannot improve on the system of government handed down to us by the founders of the Republic. There is no way to improve upon that. But what we can do is to find new ways to implement that system and realize our destiny.
More Barbara Jordan Quotes
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We can certainly defuse the intensity of the anti-immigrant feeling if we can bring some reality to the discussion by showing that they are not using that many resources.
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We are a people trying not only to solve the problems of the present: unemployment, inflation… but we are attempting on a larger scale to fulfill the promise of America.
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I live a day at a time. Each day I look for a kernel of excitement. In the morning, I say: ‘What is my exciting thing for today?’ Then, I do the day. Don’t ask me about tomorrow.
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[It is] one of the most complex and emotional issues of out time.
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I never wanted to be run of the mill.
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The Supreme Court has always been the last bastion of the protection of our freedoms.
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The citizens of America expect more. They deserve and they want more than a recital of problems.
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“We, the people.” It is a very elegant beginning. But when that document was completed on the 17th of September in 1787, I was not included in that “We, the people.”
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Even as I stand here and admit that we have made mistakes I still believe that as the people of America sit in judgment on each party, they will recognize that our mistakes were mistakes of the heart. They’ll recognize that.
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Just remember the world is not a playground but a schoolroom. Life is not a holiday but an education. One eternal lesson for us all: to teach us how better we should love.
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We call ourselves public servants but I’ll tell you this: we as public servants must set an example for the rest of the nation. It is hypocritical for the public official to admonish and exhort the people to uphold the common good.
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When do any of us ever do enough?
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It is reason, and not passion, which must guide our deliberations, guide our debate, and guide our decision.
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Today, I am an inquisitor. I shall not sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution.
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If we promise as public officials, we must deliver. If we as public officials propose, we must produce.
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I never intended to be a run-of-the-mill person.
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Life is too large to hang out a sign: ‘For Men Only.
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Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap.
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We are a heterogeneous party made up of Americans of diverse backgrounds.
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The earth is bread we take and eat.
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We want to be in control of our lives. Whether we are jungle fighters, craftsmen, company men, gamesmen, we want to be in control. And when the government erodes that control, we are not comfortable.
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If youre going to play the game properly, youd better know every rule.
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Do not call for black power or green power. Call for brain power.
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But this is the great danger America faces. That we will cease to be one nation and become instead a collection of interest groups: city against suburb, region against region, individual against individual. Each seeking to satisfy private wants.
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We are a party of innovation. We do not reject our traditions, but we are willing to adapt to changing circumstances, when change we must. We are willing to suffer the discomfort of change in order to achieve a better future.
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The imperative is to define what is right and do it.
BARBARA JORDAN