We 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.
BARBARA JORDANHow do we create a harmonious society out of so many kinds of people? The key is tolerance — the one value that is indispensable in creating community.
More Barbara Jordan Quotes
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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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Let’s all understand that these guiding principles cannot be discarded for short-term political gains. They represent what this country is all about. They are indigenous to the American idea. And these are principles which are not negotiable.
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In other times, I could stand here and give this kind of exposition on the beliefs of the Democratic Party and that would be enough. But today that is not enough. People want more.
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What the people want is very simple – they want an America as good as its promise.
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If you’re going to play the game [politics] properly, you’d better know every rule.
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The Supreme Court has always been the last bastion of the protection of our freedoms.
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Fairness is an across-the-board requirement for all our interactions with each other …Fairness treats everbody the same.
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Let us heed the voice of the people and recognize their common sense. If we do not, we not only blaspheme our political heritage, we ignore the common ties that bind all Americans.
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For our immigration policy to make sense, it is necessary to make distinctions between those who obey the law, and those who violate it.
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If the society today allows wrongs to go unchallenged, the impression is created that those wrongs have the approval of the majority.
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A government is invigorated when each of us is willing to participate in shaping the future of this nation.
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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 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 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 we promise as public officials, we must deliver. If we as public officials propose, we must produce.
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The earth is bread we take and eat.
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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 have a positive vision of the future founded on the belief that the gap between the promise and reality of America can one day be finally closed. We believe that.
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I never wanted to be run of the mill.
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I have confidence that we can form this kind of national community.
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More is required of public officials than slogans and handshakes and press releases. More is required. We must hold ourselves strictly accountable. We must provide the people with a vision of the future.
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There is no executive order; there is no law that can require the American people to form a national community. This we must do as individuals and if we do it as individuals, there is no President of the United States who can veto that decision.
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If youre going to play the game properly, youd better know every rule.
BARBARA JORDAN -
We must not become the new puritans and reject our society. We must address and master the future together. It can be done if we restore the belief that we share a sense of national community, that we share a common national endeavor. It can be done.
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Do not call for black power or green power. Call for brain power.
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It is reason, and not passion, which must guide our deliberations, guide our debate, and guide our decision.
BARBARA JORDAN