Let each person do his or her part. If one citizen is unwilling to participate, all of us are going to suffer. For the American idea, though it is shared by all of us, is realized in each one of us.
BARBARA JORDANWe 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.
More Barbara Jordan Quotes
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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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It is reason, and not passion, which must guide our deliberations, guide our debate, and guide our decision.
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We must have an economy that does not force the migrant worker’s child to miss school in order to earn…just so the family can eat. That is the moral bankruptcy that trickle-down economics is all about.
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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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The majority of the American people still believe that every single individual in this country is entitled to just as much respect, just as much dignity, as every other individual.
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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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We must exchange the philosophy of excuse – what I am is beyond my control for the philosophy of responsibility.
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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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Do not call for black power or green power. Call for brain power.
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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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A spirit of harmony can only survive if each of us remembers, when bitterness and self-interest seem to prevail, that we share a common destiny.
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Life is too large to hang out a sign: ‘For Men Only.
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How 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.
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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.
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The stakes … are too high for government to be a spectator sport.
BARBARA JORDAN