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If Any Agreement Between Two Nations Is To Last, It Must Serve The Best Interests Of Both Nations.
-Jimmy Carter
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If Any Agreement Between

Jimmy Carter
...
If Any Agreement Between Two Nations Is To Last, It Must Serve The Best Interests Of Both Nations.

Understanding the Quote: "if any agreement between two nations is to last, it must serve..."

This quote by Jimmy Carter reflects deeply on the theme of two nations. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Two Nations, Agreement, Lasts, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Jimmy Carter interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter is celebrated for insightful thoughts on two nations and agreement. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Two Nations
Agreement
Lasts
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War
America
Unnecessary
Ahmadinejad Is Just A Buffoon, Sort Of A Clown On The International Scene Who Tries To Be Provocative So He Can Get His Name In The Paper And His Face On Television.
Names
Trying
Faces
But I Am Not Discouraged. I Do Not Despair For Our Country. I Believe Tonight, As I Always Have, That The Essential Decency, Compassion And Common Sense Of The American People Will Prevail.
Country
Believe
Compassion
I Can't Deny I'm A Better Ex-president Than I Was A President.
President
Deny
I Can
In A Nuclear Age, Each Of Us Is Threatened When Peace Is Not Secured Everywhere.
Peace
Age
Nuclear
We Know That A Peaceful World Cannot Long Exist, One-third Rich And Two-thirds Hungry.
Two
Long
Peaceful
They Were More Than Hostile. In The First Place, I Was A South Georgian And I Was Looked Upon As A Fiscal Conservative, And The Atlanta Newspapers Quite Erroneously, Because They Didn't Know Anything About Me Or My Background Here In Plains, Decided That I Was Also A Racial Conservative.
Race
Atlanta
Politics
History Teaches, Perhaps, Very Few Clear Lessons. But Surely One Such Lesson Learned By The World At Great Cost Is That Aggression, Unopposed, Becomes A Contagious Disease.
Lesson Learned
Cost
World
I Let God Be The Judge And I Believe That We Worship A Just And Fair God Who Won't Punish Innocent People Unnecessarily.
Letting Go
Believe
People
I Have A Very Personal Relationship With Jesus Christ. It Doesn't Depend On The Fact That He Can Walk On Water.
Jesus
Water
Facts
Billy Graham Is One Of My Great Lifetime Heroes. I Think He Epitomizes The Essence Of What A Christian Leader Should Be. I Have Participated In Some Of His Crusades A Couple Of Times In Atlanta. I've Seen The Profound Impact He's Had On Me Personally, And On Other People Who Were Not Christians And Accepted Christ As Savior.
Christian
Couple
Hero
I Want To Stress Again That Human Rights Are Not Peripheral To The Foreign Policy Of The United States. Our Pursuit Of Human Rights Is Part Of A Broad Effort To Use Our Great Power And Our Tremendous Influence In The Service Of Creating A Better World, A World In Which Human Beings Can Live In Peace, In Freedom, And With Their Basic Needs Adequately Met.
Stress
Rights
Creating
There Has Never Been Any Evidence That The Death Penalty Reduces Capital Crimes Or That Crimes Increased When Executions Stopped. Tragic Mistakes Are Prevalent...it Is Clear That There Are Overwhelming Ethical, Financial, And Religious Reasons To Abolish The Death Penalty.
Religious
Mistake
Execution
The Most Important Bible Teaching That I Remembered When I Was In The Navy And When I Was Commander-in-chief, Was That We Worshipped The Prince Of Peace. Jesus Christ Is The Prince Of Peace. So, I Considered Myself, As A Submarine Officer, As Helping To Preserve The Peace. And I Felt The Same Way When I Was President.
Jesus
Teaching
Navy
A Nation's Domestic And Foreign Policies And Actions Should Be Derived From The Same Standards Of Ethics, Honesty And Morality Which Are Characteristic Of The Individual Citizens Of The Nation.
Honesty
Government
Citizens
I Think A Good Husband Has To Depend On Having A Good Wife.
Husband
Thinking
Wife
Elvis Was A Symbol Of The Country's Vitality, Rebelliousness, And Good Humor.
Country
Vitality
Good Humor
America Has No Functioning Democracy At This Moment.
America
Democracy
Moments
I Am A Nuclear Physicist By Training And A Deeply Committed Christian. I Don't Have Any Doubt In My Own Mind About God Who Created The Entire Universe. But I Don't Adhere To Passages That So And So Was Created 4,000 Years Before Christ, And Things Of That Kind.
Christian
Years
Doubt
It's Politically Impossible For Any Member Of Congress To Make A Public Statement Condemning Or Criticizing The Policies Of Israel. It Would Be Political Suicidal For Them To Do So.
Suicidal
Political
Impossible
And So I Say To You And To Others Around The World, Whether They Wish Us Well Or Ill - Do Not Underestimate Us Americans. We Lack Neither Strength Nor Wisdom.
Wish
World
Underestimate
It Is The Fundamental Right Of Every American, As Guaranteed By The First Amendment Of The Constitution, To Worship As He Or She Pleases... This Legislation Sets Forth The Policy Of The United States To Protect And Preserve The Inherent Right Of American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut, And Native Hawaiian People To Believe, Express, And Exercise Their Traditional Religions
Believe
Exercise
People
The Cost Of An On-site Inspection Team Would Be Minuscule Compared To War, Saddam Would Have No Choice Except To Comply, The Results Would Be Certain, Military And Civilian Casualties Would Be Avoided, There Would Be Almost Unanimous Worldwide Support, And The United States Could Regain Its Leadership In Combating The Real Threat Of International Terrorism.
Military
Real
War
The Founding Of Our Nation Was More Than A Political Event; It Was An Act Of Faith, A Promise To Americans And To The Entire World. The Declaration Of Independence Declared That People Can Govern Themselves, That They Can Live In Freedom With Equal Rights, That They Can Respect The Rights Of Others.
Inspirational Life
Rights
People
I'm An Expert Cook When It Comes To Preparing The Quail, Ducks, Geese And Wild Turkeys That I Hunt On The Farm.
Turkeys
Ducks
Experts
I Think An Overwhelming Portion Of The Intensely Demonstrated Animosity Toward President Barack Obama Is Based On The Fact That He Is A Black Man, That He's African American.
Men
Thinking
African American
You Can Not Divorce Religious Belief And Public Service. I've Never Detected Any Conflict Between God's Will And My Political Duty. If You Violate One, You Violate The Other.
Religious
Believe
Divorce
Acknowledging The Physical Realities Of Our Planet Does Not Mean A Dismal Future Of Endless Sacrifice. In Fact, Acknowledging These Realities Is The First Step In Dealing With Them. We Can Meet The Resource Problems Of The World - Water, Food, Minerals, Farmlands, Forests, Overpopulation, Pollution - If We Tackle Them With Courage And Foresight.
Future
Mean
Sacrifice
Two Centuries Ago Our Nation's Birth Was A Milestone In The Long Quest For Freedom, But The Bold And Brilliant Dream Which Excited The Founders Of Our Nation Still Awaits Its Consummation. I Have No New Dream To Set Forth Today, But Rather Urge A Fresh Faith In The Old Dream.
Dream
Two
Long
To Work For Better Understanding Among People, One Does Not Have To Be A Former President Sitting At A Fancy Conference Room Table. Peace Can Be Made In The Neighborhoods, The Living Rooms, The Playing Fields, And The Classrooms Of Our Country.
Country
People
Understanding
The Experience Of Democracy Is Like The Experience Of Life Itself-always Changing, Infinite In Its Variety, Sometimes Turbulent And All The More Valuable For Having Been Tested By Adversity.
4th Of July
Adversity
Patriotic
It's Abominable, And It's A Disgrace To A Great Democracy To See What's Happened In Our Country. The Main Reason For That Has Been The Enormous Infusion Of High Quantities Of Money To Campaigns - Governors, Congress, President And The U.s. Senate.
Country
President
Democracy
Then When [isis] Moved Into Iraq, The Sunni Muslims Didn’t Object To Their Being There And About A Third Of The Territory In Iraq Was Abandoned.
Isis
Iraq
Territory
George Bush Asked Me If There Was Anything He Could Do For Me, And I Said, "yes, You Can Help Promote Peace In Sudan After Eight Years Of Different Policy." And He Said, "i'll Do It." So To Make A Long Story Short, He Did It, Not Necessarily Because I Requested It, But They Were Very Successful.
Successful
Long
Different
At The Carter Center We Work With Victims Of Oppression, And We Give Support To Human Rights Heroes.
Hero
Rights
Giving
It's Important To Meet With The People Who Can Shape Future Events, And Who Might Be Causing A Current Problem. And To Ignore Them Means That The Problem Will Continue.
Mean
People
Important
We Have Been Involved In More Wars, On A Bilateral Basis, Since The United Nations Was Formed Than Any Other Country By Far.
Country
War
United Nations
The World Is Safer Without Saddam [hussein]. Certainly The People Of Iraq Are Better Without Saddam.
Iraq
People
World
My Life Since The White House Has Been Much More All-encompassing, Much More Enjoyable. The Main Thing That I've Acquired Has Been Access To The Poorest And Most Destitute, Forgotten, And Suffering People On Earth. It's Not Possible For A President To Actually Know Them.
White
People
House
There Were Two Unpleasant Surprises [about Washington]. One Was The Inertia Of Congress, The Length Of Time It Takes To Get A Complicated Piece Of Legislation Through ... And The Other Was The Irresponsibility Of The Press.
Two
Pieces
Surprise
God Always Answers Prayers. Sometimes It's 'yes.' Sometimes The Answer Is 'no.' Sometimes It's 'you Gotta Be Kidding.
Prayer
Religion
Answers
I Enjoyed Being President.
President
Enjoyed
I Think All Americans Believe In Human Rights. And Health Is An Often Overlooked Aspect Of Basic Human Rights. And It's One That's Easily Corrected. The Reason I Say That Is That Many Of The Diseases That We Treat Around The World, I Knew When I Was A Child. My Mother Was A Registered Nurse. And They No Longer Exist In Our Country.
Mother
Country
Children
Throughout My Life, I've Seen The Difference That Volunteering Efforts Can Make In People's Lives. I Know The Personal Value Of Service As A Local Volunteer.
Differences
People
Volunteer
In An All-out Nuclear War, More Destructive Power Than In All Of World War Ii Would Be Unleashed Every Second During The Long Afternoon It Would Take For All The Missiles And Bombs To Fall. A World War Ii Every Second-more People Killed In The First Few Hours Than All The Wars Of History Put Together. The Survivors, If Any, Would Live In Despair Amid The Poisoned Ruins Of A Civilization That Had Committed Suicide.
Suicide
War
Fall
The Best Way To Enhance Freedom In Other Lands Is To Demonstrate Here That Our Democratic System Is Worthy Of Emulation.
Memorable
Land
Way
I Think My Wife ... Is Sure Of My Loyalty.... She Knows How Hard I Work. She Knows How Tired I Am Every Night. She Knows I Have Fifty Or Sixty Reporters Watching Me Day And Night.
Loyalty
Tired
Night
I Have Often Wanted To Drown My Troubles, But I Can't Get My Wife To Go Swimming.
Anniversary
Patriotic
Swimming
And I'm Asking You For Your Good And For Your Nation's Security To Take No Unnecessary Trips, To Use Carpools Or Public Transportation Whenever You Can, To Park Your Car One Extra Day Per Week, To Obey The Speed Limit, And To Set Your Thermostats To Save Fuel. Every Act Of Energy Conservation Like This Is More Than Just Common Sense-i Tell You It Is An Act Of Patriotism.
Common Sense
Car
Alternatives
I Want To Make It Clear,if There Is Ever A Conflict [between Environmental Quality And Economic Growth], I Will Go For Beauty, Clean Air, Water, And Landscape.
Air
Environmental Quality
Water
To Me, Faith Is Not Just A Noun But Also A Verb
Verbs
Nouns
If You Fear Making Anyone Mad, Then You Ultimately Probe For The Lowest Common Denominator Of Human Achievement.
Inspirational
Funny
Graduation
A Christian Should Know That God Is A Creator, That God Is An Entity That Is All-powerful And All Knowledgeable, God Is Everywhere And God Is An Entity Filled With Grace, Love, Compassion And Forgiveness, That Jesus Is The Son Of God And Jesus Came On Earth To Explain To People In A Very Revolutionary Way The Nature Of God, That God Was Not A Stern Judge Who Was Keeping Track Of 600 Or So Rules And Regulations That You Had To Keep In Order To Be Acceptable To God.
Christian
Jesus
Powerful
Christmas Has Been A Season Of Mixed Interests And Meanings, But The Very Foundation, Of Course, Is Its Religious Significance. No Matter What Other Personal Desires Or Crises We Have Faced, I've Never Forgotten That This Is The Time To Celebrate The Birth Of The Baby Jesus, And The Impact Of This Event On The History Of The World.
Baby
Religious
Jesus
We Cannot Resort To Simplistic Or Extreme Solutions Which Substitute Myths For Common Sense.
Common Sense
Substitutes
Resorts
Well, You Know, I Had Been A Peanut Farmer. I Had - You Know Who Was The First President - Democratic President I Ever Met? Bill Clinton.
President
Bills
Firsts
The Southern Baptist Convention, As You Know, Decided In The Year 2000 That Women Should Not Be Permitted To Be Pastors Or Deacons Or Chaplains In The Military Service. Some Southern Baptist Seminaries Don't Even Permit Women To Teach Male Students. I Don't Agree With That. But They Can Go In And Quote A Few Passages Of Paul That Women Should Be Restricted In Their Services.
Military
Years
Southern
Israel's Continued Control And Colonization Of Palestinian Land Have Been The Primary Obstacles To A Comprehensive Peace Agreement In The Holy Land.
Israel
Agreement
Land
Some Devout Christians Are Among The Most Fervent Advocates Of The Death Penalty, Contradicting Jesus Christ And Justifying Their Belief On An Erroneous Interpretation Of Hebrew Scriptures. "an Eye For An Eye, And A Tooth For A Tooth," Their Most Likely Response, Overlooks The Fact That This Was Promulgated By Moses As A Limitation- A Prohibition Against Taking Both Eyes Or All Of An Offender's Teeth In Retribution.
Christian
Jesus
Eye
I Have A Lot Of Pleasures But I Don't Feel Guilty About Them.
Guilty
Pleasure
Feels
Our Laws Were Not Designed To Accommodate Three Or Four Thousand Refugees Coming Here Per Day. Our Laws Were Designed For People To Be Screened In A Foreign Country, Carefully Catalogued, And Brought Here A Few At A Time. This Just Didn't Happen.
Country
Law
People
I Look Forward To These Confrontations With The Press To Kind Of Balance Up The Nice And Pleasant Things That Come To Me As President.
Nice
Balance
President
This War Has Been Motivated By Pride Or Arrogance, By A Desire To Control Oil Wealth, By A Desire To Implant Our Programs. (talking About The Iraq War)
War
Pride
Power
I Happen To Be A Scientist. My Background Is In Nuclear Physics. I Was A Nuclear Engineer. But I Don't See Any Incompatibility At All With My Religious Faith And God The Creator Of Everything And The Incompatibility Between When The Earth Was Created As Specified In The Bible. I Don't See Any Incompatibility There Because Those That Were Interpreting God's Overall Message Didn't Know Anything About Modern-day Science.
Religious
Messages
Nuclear
People Would Ask Me How I Could Stand The Long Campaigning, How I Could Stand Being Charged With The Responsibilities Of A Great Nation, One Of The Most Powerful And Difficult Jobs In The World. It Wasn't Any More Difficult Than Picking Cotton All Day Or Shaking Peanuts.
Inspirational
Jobs
Powerful
"solid Wastes" Are The Discarded Leftovers Of Our Advanced Consumer Society. This Growing Mountain Of Garbage And Trash Represents Not Only An Attitude Of Indifference Toward Valuable Natural Resources, But Also A Serious Economic And Public Health Problem.
Attitude
Mountain
Growing
I'm Going To Stay Active As Long As I Can Politically, And With The Carter Center Primarily, And If I'm Able Mentally And Physically, Will Continue To Be Quite Active.
Long
Able
Carter
It Is Clear That Global Challenges Must Be Met With An Emphasis On Peace, In Harmony With Others, With Strong Alliances And International Consensus. Imperfect As It May Be, There Is No Doubt That This Can Best Be Done Through The United Nations, Not Merely To Preserve Peace But Also To Make Change, Even Radical Change, Without Violence.
Inspirational
Strong
Business
War And Good Health Are Incompatible. There's No Way We Can Go [eradicate Diseases] Into An Area That Is At War.
War
Disease
Way
If We Do Not Learn To Eliminate Waste And To Be More Productive And More Efficient In The Ways We Use Energy, Then We Will Fall Short Of This Goal [for The Nation To Derive 20 Percent Of All The Energy We Use From The Sun, By 2000]. But If We Use Our Technological Imagination, If We Can Work Together To Harness The Light Of The Sun, The Power Of The Wind, And The Strength Of Rushing Streams, Then We Will Succeed.
Fall
Hard Work
Science
It Is Generally Not Known In The World That, In The Years Preceding 1916, There Was A Concerted Effort Made To Eliminate All The Armenian People, Probably One Of The Greatest Tragedies That Ever Befell Any Group. And There Weren't Any Nuremberg Trials.
Years
People
Effort
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