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One Of The Surprising Things That Brezhnev Said When We Were In Our Talks, Was - When I Proposed That We Make These Changes In Nuclear Weaponry, He Said, "god Will Never Forgive Us If We Don't Succeed." And, You Know, Coming From The Leader Of An Atheistic Communist Country, This Surprised Everyone.
-Jimmy Carter
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One Of The Surprising

Jimmy Carter
One Of The Surprising Things That Brezhnev Said When We Were In Our Talks, Was - When I Proposed That We Make These Changes In Nuclear Weaponry, He Said, "god Will Never Forgive Us If We Don't Succeed." And, You Know, Coming From The Leader Of An Atheistic Communist Country, This Surprised Everyone.
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Topic
Country
Leader
Forgiving
More From Jimmy Carter
I Think I Governed Effectively. I Don't Have Any Doubts About That. I Had The Benefit, When I Was In Office, Of Having An Excellent Relationship With The Republican Party. We Had Superb Bipartisan Support And We Had The Highest Batting Average Of Any President Since The Second World War, Except Lyndon Johnson. He Had A Little Better Average Than I Did.
War
Party
Thinking
I Think It Will Take Years Before We Can Repair The Damage Done By That Statement.
Thinking
Years
Done
In This Great Country Of Ours, It Is Inexcusable That So Many Children Grow Up In Poverty And Despair. The Well-being Of Our Children Must Be The National Priority And The Responsibility Of Every Individual.
Country
Children
Growing Up
Communicating Our Questions, Hopes, And Fears In Prayer Makes Them-even To Ourselves-more Open And Clear.
Prayer
Communicate
Clear
My Mother's Influence To Take On New Challenges And Do What I Though Was Right Even Though Sometimes The Consequences Politically Speaking Were Not Good. My Mother Was Vivacious, She Was Full Of Life, She Got Up Every Morning Looking Forward To The Day, Trying To Figure Out What She Could Do That Was Innovative And Unprecedented And Maybe Controversial.
Mother
Morning
Challenges
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
As A Christian, A Trained Engineer And Scientist, And A Professor At Emory University, I Am Embarrassed By Superintendent Kathy Cox's Attempt To Censor And Distort The Education Of Georgia's Students.... There Is No Need To Teach That Stars Can Fall Out Of The Sky And Land On A Flat Earth In Order To Defend Our Religious Faith.
Christian
Religious
Stars
I Thought A Lot About Our Nation And What I Should Do As President. And Sunday Night Before Last, I Made A Speech About Two Problems Of Our Countryenergy And Malaise.
Sunday
Night
Two
I Would Like People To Remember That I Kept The Peace When I Was President And I Worked For Peace, That I Espoused Human Rights In Its Broadest Definition, Not Only Freedom Of Speech But Freedom Of Assembly, Freedom Of Worship And Trial By Jury But Also The Right Of People For People To Have A Decent Home To Live, Food To Eat, Employment, Healthcare, Self Respect, Dignity. So I Think The Broad Gamut Of Human Rights, Peace And Freedom. I Would Like To Be Remembered For Those Things To The Degree That I Deserve It And I Still Have A Long Way To Go.
Home
Thinking
Self
Every Advance In This Half-century-social Security, Civil Rights, Medicare, Aid To Education, One After Another-came With The Support And Leadership Of American Labor.
Rights
Support
Presidential
We've Got To Stop Crying And Start Sweating, Stop Talking And Start Walking, Stop Cursing And Start Praying. The Strength We Need Will Not Come From The White House, But From Every House In America.
Talking
White
America
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
I'm Still, Except For Making Overseas Trips, I'm Staying Just About As Busy As I Ever Did.
Busy
Stills
Staying
It Is Good To Realize That If Love And Peace Can Prevail On Earth, And If We Can Teach Our Children To Honor Nature's Gifts, The Joys And Beauties Of The Outdoors Will Be Here Forever.
Inspirational
Life
Beauty
I Began To Expand My Personal Service In The Church, And To Search More Diligently For A Closer Relationship With God Among My Different Business, Professional And Political Interests.
God
Political
Religion
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
Elvis Was A Symbol Of The Country's Vitality, Rebelliousness, And Good Humor.
Country
Vitality
Good Humor
I Officially Designated Every Us Ambassador On Earth To Be My Personal Human Rights Representative, And To Have The Embassy Be A Haven For People Who Suffered From Abuse By Their Own Government.
Rights
Government
People
My Favourite President, And The One I Admired Most, Was Harry Truman.
Harry Truman
President
Truman
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
Government Is A Contrivance Of Human Wisdom To Provide For Human Wants. People Have The Right To Expect That These Wants Will Be Provided For By This Wisdom.
Memorable
Government
People
The Government Ought To Stay Out Of The Prayer Business.
Prayer
Government
Atheism
Americans Long Thought That Nature Could Take Care Of Itself-or That If It Did Not, The Consequences Were Someone Else's Problem. As We Know Now, That Assumption Was Wrong; None Of Us Is A Stranger To Environmental Problems.
Long
Environmental
Care
Because We Are Free We Can Never Be Indifferent To The Fate Of Freedom Elsewhere. Our Moral Sense Dictates A Clearcut Preference For These Societies Which Share With Us An Abiding Respect For Individual Human Rights. We Do Not Seek To Intimidate, But It Is Clear That A World Which Others Can Dominate With Impunity Would Be Inhospitable To Decency And A Threat To The Well-being Of All People.
Freedom
Fate
Rights
Great American Power And Responsibility Are Not Unprecedented, And Have Been Used With Restraint And Great Benefit In The Past. We Have Not Assumed That Super Strength Guarantees Super Wisdom, And We Have Consistently Reached Out To The International Community To Ensure That Our Own Power And Influence Are Tempered By The Best Common Judgment.
Responsibility
Power
Past
I Have A Lot Of Pleasures But I Don't Feel Guilty About Them.
Guilty
Pleasure
Feels
When We Go To The Bible We Should Keep In Mind That The Basic Principles Of The Bible Are Taught By God, But Written Down By Human Beings Deprived Of Modern Day Knowledge. So There Is Some Fallibility In The Writings Of The Bible. But The Basic Principles Are Applicable To My Life And I Don't Find Any Conflict Among Them.
Writing
Mind
Principles
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
We'll Never Know Whether Something New And Wonderful Is Possible Unless We Try. Let's Scratch Our Heads, Stretch Our Minds, Be Adventurous! Serve God With Boldness, And Who Knows What Wonders The Lord May Work?
Mind
Trying
Scratches
Many Of The Most Highly Publicized Events Of My Presidency Are Not Nearly As Memorable Or Significant In My Life As Fishing With My Daddy.
Memorable
Lakes
Sea
I Have Never Been Disappointed When I Asked In A Humble And Sincere Way For God's Help. I Pray Often. I Think I Pray More Often Since January 12th.
Prayer
Humble
Humility
Jesus Never Said A Word About Homosexuality. In All Of His Teachings About Multiple Things - He Never Said That Gay People Should Be Condemned. I Personally Think It Is Very Fine For Gay People To Be Married In Civil Ceremonies.
Jesus
Teaching
Gay
The Major Violence Now Is Because Of A Plethora, Explosion Almost, Of Rebel Groups, All Of Whom Oppose The Government, And They're Fighting Each Other, Strangely Precipitated By The Fact That The United Nations And African Union Has Now Planned Peace Talks.
Fighting
Rebel
Violence
Whether The Borders That Divide Us Are Picket Fences Or National Boundaries, We Are All Neighbors In A Global Community.
Community
Borders
Boundaries
I Think It's Alright If The Government Wants To Say, In The State Of Massachusetts, In The State Of New York, In The State Of California, That Civil Ceremonies Should Be Accepted, I Think That Should Be Fine. I Don't Think That Even Those States That Believe In Civil Marriages Between Homosexuals Or Ordained In A Church Should Perform Civil Ceremonies.
New York
Believe
Thinking
The North Korean Communists Are Implacably Pursuing Their Military Buildup In Defiance Of The International Trend Toward Rapprochement And Of The Stark Reality Of The Korean Situation, As Well As Of The Long-cherished Aspiration Of The 50 Million Koreans. The North Koreans Have Already Constructed A Number Of Underground Invasion Tunnels Across The Demilitarized Zone.
Military
Reality
Usa
America Is Constantly Involved In Unnecessary Wars.
War
America
Unnecessary
There's No Doubt That The Christian Right Has Gone To Bed With The More Conservative Elements Of The Republican Party. And There's Been A Melding In Their Goals When It Comes To The Separation Of Church And State. I've Always Believed In The Separation Of Church And State.
Christian
Party
Goal
If You're Totally Illiterate And Living On One Dollar A Day, The Benefits Of Globalization Never Come To You.
Memorable
Dollars
Benefits
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 Think As Far As The Adverse Impact On The Nation Around The World, This Administration Has Been The Worst In History... The Overt Reversal Of America's Basic Values As Expressed By Previous Administrations, Including Those Of George H.w. Bush And Ronald Reagan And Richard Nixon And Others, Has Been The Most Disturbing To Me.
Thinking
Impact
America
I Don't Think That The Total Creation Took Place In Six Days As We Now Measure Time. If We Can Confirm, Say, The Big Bang Theory, That Doesn't At All Cause Me To Question My Faith That God Created The Big Bang.
Thinking
Causes
Six
I Don't Think That Israel Has Any Legal Or Moral Justification For Their Massive Bombing Of The Entire Nation Of Lebanon. What Happened Is That Israel Is Holding Almost 10,000 Prisoners, So When The Militants In Lebanon Or In Gaza Take One Or Two Soldiers, Israel Looks Upon This As A Justification For An Attack On The Civilian Population Of Lebanon And Gaza. I Do Not Think That's Justified, No.
Thinking
Israel
Two
On Saint Paul, He's Probably One Of The Best Theologians Of All Time, But I Don't Believe That Some Of His Teachings Are Appropriate Today.
Believe
Teaching
Saint
This Intolerable Dependence On Foreign Oil Threatens Our Economic Independence And The Very Security Of Our Nation. The Energy Crisis Is Real. It Is Worldwide. It Is A Clear And Present Danger To Our Nation. These Are Facts And We Simply Must Face Them.
Real
Oil
Independence
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
Every Act Of Energy Conservation... Is More Than Just Common Sense: I Tell You It Is An Act Of Patriotism.
Common Sense
Energy
Conservation
We Consider These Settlements To Be Contrary To The Geneva Convention, That Occupied Territory Should Not Be Changed By Establishment Of Permanent Settlements By The Occupying Power.
Israel
Territory
Establishment
I've Never Won An Argument With My Wife; And The Only Time I Thought I Had I Found Out The Argument Wasn't Over Yet.
Marriage
Wife
Argument
I've Been An Evangelistic Baptist All My Life And Still Am To Some Degree.
Degrees
Baptists
Stills
God Always Answers Prayer, Sometimes With A Yes, Sometimes With A No And Sometimes With A 'you've Got To Be Kidding!'
Prayer
Answers
Sometimes
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
The Oil Lobby, Perhaps The Most Powerful Lobby On Earth, Is Almost Matched By Hospital Owners And Doctors.
Powerful
Health
Doctors
Ours Is The Most Wasteful Nation On Earth. We Waste More Energy Than We Import. With About The Same Standard Of Living, We Use Twice As Much Energy Per Person As Do Other Countries Like Germany, Japan, And Sweden.
Country
Japan
Alternatives
In Order For Us Human Beings To Commit Ourselves Personally To The Inhumanity Of War, We Find It Necessary First To Dehumanize Our Opponents, Which Is In Itself A Violation Of The Beliefs Of All Religions. Once We Characterize Our Adversaries As Beyond The Scope Of God's Mercy And Grace, Their Lives Lose All Value.
Life
War
Order
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
I Can't Really Criticize The Tea Party People, Because I Came Into The White House Pretty Much On The Same Basis That They Have Become Popular. That Is Dissatisfaction With The Way Things Are Going In Washington And Disillusionment And Disencouragement About The Government.
Party
White
Government
Our Goals Are Also The Same, To Have A Just System Of Economics And Politics, To Let The People Of The World Share In Growth, In Peace, In Personal Freedom, And In The Benefits To Be Derived From The Proper Utilization Of Natural Resources. We Believe In Enhancing Human Rights. We Believe That We Should Enhance, As Independent Nations, The Freedom Of Our Own People.
Believe
Independent
Rights
We Cannot Be Both The World's Leading Champion Of Peace And The World's Leading Supplier Of The Weapons Of War.
Peace
War
Memorable
One Of The Greatest Concerns That I Had When I Became President Was The Vast Array Of Nuclear Weapons In The Arsenals Of The United States And The Soviet Union And A Few Other Countries, And Also The Great Proliferation Of Conventional Weapons, Non-nuclear Weapons, Particularly As A Tremendous Burden On The Economies Of Developing Or Very Poor Countries.
Country
President
United States
When I Reflect Upon My Blessings During My Very Nice Lifetime, I Am Inspired To Make Sure That I Spend The Balance Of The Days Of My Existence In A Productive Way.
Nice
Blessing
Balance
The World Is Safer Without Saddam [hussein]. Certainly The People Of Iraq Are Better Without Saddam.
Iraq
People
World
The Carter Center Has The Only Existing International Taskforce On Disease Eradication. Which Means A Total Elimination Of A Disease On The Face Of The Earth. In The History Of The World, There's Only Been One Disease Eradicated: Smallpox. The Second Disease, I Think, Is Gonna Be Guinea Worm.
Mean
Thinking
World
Before I Became President, In The Aftermath Of The Vietnam War, There Had Been Fairly Dramatic, And I Think Excessive, Reductions In The Capability Of Our Military Forces, And As A Former Military Man Myself - I Was A Professional Naval Officer, A Submarine Officer - I Thought It Was Better, On A Step-by-step, Very Carefully Planned Way, To Increase The Technical, Or Technological, Capability Of Our Weapons Systems.
Military
War
Men
We Must Adjust To Changing Times And Still Hold To Unchanging Principles.
Inspirational
Change
Presidential
I Think I Would Have Been Much More Attuned To The Concerns Of People Who Were Desperately In Need. I Was Unfamiliar, For Instance, With The Plight Of Those Living In The Small Villages In The Deserts And The Jungles Of Africa.
Thinking
People
Plight
We Have The Deepest Respect And Reverence For Islam And All Who Share The Faith Of Islam.
Islam
Share
Reverence
It's A Terrible And Tragic And Counterproductive Policy To Avoid Communicating With People Who Disagree With Us.
Communication
People
Tragic
The President Publicly Apologized Today To All Those Offended By His Brother's Remark, There's More Arabs In This Country Than There Is Jews! Those Offended Include Arabs, Jews, And English Teachers.
Country
Teacher
Brother
This Afternoon, I've Arranged For This Ceremony To Be Illuminated By Solar Power.
Illumination
Afternoon
Ceremony
I'm Concerned About The Negative Aspect Of Political Campaigning In American Nation, Which Is A New Phenomenon. When I Ran For President Against Gerald Ford And Later Against Ronald Reagan We Never Referred To Each Other Except As 'my Distinguished Opponent'. And Had We Criticised Personally Our Opponent It Would Have Been Political Suicide, We Would Have Been Castigated And Condemned For It.
Suicide
Political
President
It's Very Difficult For The American People To Believe That Our Government, One Of The Richest On Earth, Is Also One Of The Stingiest On Earth.
Believe
Memorable
Government
Because We Are Free, We Can Never Be Indifferent To The Fate Of Freedom Elsewhere.
Fate
Indifferent
Elsewhere
I See A Lot Of Parallels Between My Candidacy And The Tea Party. I Would Not Have Been Elected Had There Not Been A Tremendous Amount Of Dissatisfaction And Discouragement And Disgust With What Was Going On In Washington.
Party
Tea
Discouragement
I Think The Bible Is Completely Inspired By God In Its Overall Messages. But, For The People Of Those Days To Know What Was Going To Happen 4,000 Years Later In A World Of Astronomy Or Subatomic Particles. They Didn't Have Access To The Knowledge That We Presently Have About Geology. So, We Know Now That The World Was Created Many Of Billions Of Years Ago, 13 Or 14 Billion Years Ago. As Far As They Knew, The Earth Was The Center Of The Universe. They Thought That Stars Were Little Twinkling Things In The Sky Where As Now We Know Stars Are Very Distant And Much Larger Than The Earth.
Stars
Thinking
Sky
I Guess My Biggest Failure Was Not Getting Re-elected. And I Learned Two Things; One Is That You Ought Not To Ever Let American Hostages Be Held For 444 Days In A Foreign Country Without Extracting Them. I Did The Best I Could, But I Failed.
Country
Loss
Taught
We Can Choose To Alleviate Suffering. We Can Choose To Work Together For Peace. We Can Make These Changes - And We Must.
Suffering
Working Together
Together
We Will Have An Unchallenged, Open, Panoramic Opportunity On A Global Scale To Demonstrate The Finest Aspects Of What We Know In This Country: Peace, Freedom, Democracy, Human Rights, Benevolent Sharing, Love, The Easing Of Human Suffering. Is That Going To Be Our List Of Priorities Or Not?
Inspirational
Country
Business
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
My Proudest Accomplishment Was That I Never Dropped A Bomb, Fired A Bullet, Or Shot A Missile.
Accomplishment
Bombs
Bullets
I Will Never Lie To You.
Lying
Presidential
Never Lie
Ever Since Israel Has Been A Nation The United States Has Provided The Leadership. Every President Down To The Ages Has Done This In A Fairly Balanced Way, Including George Bush Senior, Gerald Ford, And Others Including Myself And Bill Clinton.
Leadership
Senior
Israel
"adjust To Changing Times But Sticking To Unchanging Principles" - Committing Me And All Americans To Real Ideals Of Justice And Truth, No Matter What Difficulties Faced Us.
Real
Justice
Matter
I Don't Think That Israel Has Any Legal Or Moral Justification For Their Massive Bombing Of The Entire Nation Of Lebanon.
Thinking
Israel
Lebanon
I'll Never Tell A Lie. I'll Never Make A Misleading Statement. I'll Never Betray The Confidence That Any Of You Had In Me. And I'll Never Avoid A Controversial Issue.
Lying
Issues
Controversial
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
Being President Is As Difficult As Writing The Perfect Poem. And Being President Is As Effortless As Writing The Perfect Poem. Always A Reckoning, My First Collection Of Poetry, Was Described By Booklist As 'keenly Evocative.'
Writing
Perfect
President
I Tried To Eliminate The Need For Israel To Strike Out, Militarily, By Removing Its Major Threat And Attacker, And That Was Egypt. I've Written A Few Books On The Subject. There's No Doubt That The Best Way To Resolve Israel's Problems Is To Negotiate Peace Between Israel And Its Immediate Neighbors, Particularly The Palestinians. And That's Something That's Not Going To Be Achieved, In My Opinion, Without The Strong Involvement Of The American President.
Strong
Book
Israel
The Bottom Line Is This: Peace Will Come To Israel And The Middle East Only When The Israeli Government Is Willing To Comply With International Law, With The Roadmap For Peace, With Official American Policy, With The Wishes Of A Majority Of Its Own Citizens - And Honor Its Own Previous Commitments - By Accepting Its Legal Borders. All Arab Neighbors Must Pledge To Honor Israel's Right To Live In Peace Under These Conditions.
Commitment
Law
Government
We Cannot Resort To Simplistic Or Extreme Solutions Which Substitute Myths For Common Sense.
Common Sense
Substitutes
Resorts
As Has Been Emphasized Vigorously By Foreign Allies And By Responsible Leaders Of Former Administrations And Incumbent Officeholders, There Is No Current Danger To The United States From Baghdad.
Leader
Administration
Allies
I Would Say The Biggest Handicap We Have Right Now Is Some Nutcases In Our Country That Don't Believe In Global Warming. I Think They Are Going To Change Their Position Because Of Pressure From Individuals, Because The Evidence Of The Ravages Of Global Warming Is Already There.
Country
Believe
Thinking
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
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
In The Year 2000, The Solar Water Heater Behind Me, Which Is Being Dedicated Today, Will Still Be Here Supplying Cheap, Efficient Energy. A Generation From Now, This Solar Heater Can Either Be A Curiosity, A Museum Piece, An Example Of A Road Not Taken, Or It Can Be Just A Small Part Of One Of The Greatest And Most Exciting Adventures Ever Undertaken By The American People: Harnessing The Power Of The Sun To Enrich Our Lives As We Move Away From Our Crippling Dependence On Foreign Oil.
Life
Taken
Moving
We Should Live Our Lives As Though Christ Were Coming This Afternoon.
Life
Softball
Religion
Homosexuality Was Massively Practiced In Some Of The Conflicting Religions At The Time Of Christ And Even At The Time Of Christ, In Roman Times Show That Homosexuality Was Widely Prevalent. I Think It's Quite Significant That Jesus Never Did Mention It.
Jesus
Thinking
Christ
We Have A Special Relationship With Israel. It's Absolutely Crucial That No One In Our Country Or Around The World Ever Doubt That Our Number One Committment In The Middle East Is To Protect The Right Of Israel To Exist, To Exist Permanently, And To Exist In Peace. It's A Special Relationship.
Country
Israel
Numbers
I Can't Deny I'm A Better Ex-president Than I Was A President.
President
Deny
I Can
The Drug Culture Has Shaped At Least One Major Change Since The Sixties; It Became The Basis For Overloading Our Prisons.
Drug
Culture
Prison
We Can't Equate Democracy With Christianity Because The Largest Democracy On Earth Is India, Which Is Primarily Hindu. The Third Largest Democracy Is Indonesia, Which Is Islamic. Democracy And Freedom Are Not Dependent On Christian Beliefs.
Christian
Islamic
Democracy
We Only Have To Recall The Color Of The Faces Of Those Who Were Most Devastated By Katrina, To Know That There Are Not Yet Equal Opportunities For All Americans.
Opportunity
Color
Faces
Let Us Learn Together And Laugh Together And Work Together And Pray Together, Confident That In The End We Will Triumph Together In The Right.
Laughing
Working Together
Triumph
I First Came Into The Labor Force In 1941 When The Minimum Wage Was 40 Cents An Hour, And That Was My First Job. And Each Time That We've Tried To Boost The Lower Level Of Salary For The Most Underpaid Workers, There Have Been Predictions Of Catastrophe. But Each Time, In [m]y Opinion, The Change Has Helped Our Nation And Its Economic Strength.
Jobs
Labor Force
Salary
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
In 1891, During The Presidency Of William Henry Harrison [benjamin Harrison], Electric Lights Were First Installed In The White House, The Residence Of The Leaders Of Our Country. At That Time, Commercial Electricity Was Not Economically Feasible, But President Harrison Wanted To Affirm His Confidence In The Technological Capability Of Our Country.
Country
Technology
White
I Am Convinced That Ufos Exist Because I've Seen One.
Flying Saucers
Ufo
Prominent
Under Lenin The Soviet Union Was Like A Religious Revival, Under Stalin Like A Prison, Under Khrushchev Like A Circus, And Under Brezhnev Like The U.s. Post Office.
Religious
War
Office
I Think The Most Challenging Thing For Me In My Life And In The Bible Is That We Worship Jesus As The Prince Of Peace. And America Is Constantly At War.
Jesus
War
Thinking
The Bond Of Our Common Humanity Is Stronger Than The Divisiveness Of Our Fears And Prejudices.
Common Humanity
Stronger
Prejudice
It Is Often Just As Important To Be Perceived As Something As Actually To Be That Something And, As A Matter Of Fact, A Candidate Need Not Be Anything Ideologically At All.
Important
Needs
Matter
If You Fear Making Anyone Mad, Then You Ultimately Probe For The Lowest Common Denominator Of Human Achievement.
Inspirational
Funny
Graduation
I'm 86, And Too Old To Be President.
President
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
On Human Rights, Civil Rights And Environmental Quality, I Consider Myself To Be Very Liberal. On The Management Of Government, On Openness Of Government, On Strengthening Individual Liberties And Local Levels Of Government, I Consider Myself A Conservative. And I Don't See That The Two Attitudes Are Incompatible.
Attitude
Rights
Government
Penalties Against Possession Of A Drug Should Not Be More Damaging To An Individual Than The Use Of The Drug Itself; And Where They Are, They Should Be Changed. Nowhere Is This More Clear Than In The Laws Against Possession Of Marijuana In Private For Personal Use... Therefore, I Support Legislation Amending Federal Law To Eliminate All Federal Criminal Penalties For The Possession Of Up To One Ounce [28g] Of Marijuana.
Weed
Marijuana
Law
The First Step In Providing Economic Equality For Women Is To Ensure A Stable Economy In Which Every Person Who Wants To Work Can Work.
Work
Equality
Want
America Did Not Invent Human Rights. In A Very Real Sense Human Rights Invented America.
Inspirational
Motivational
Real
Unfortunately, Some Of The African Leaders Employ Various Nefarious Means To Remain In Office Far Beyond What Their Constitutions Permit.
Mean
Office
Leader
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
The First Year I Was In Office, Only About 800 People Came Out Of The Soviet Union, Jews. By The Third Year I Was In Office... Second Year, 1979, 51,000 Came Out Of The Soviet Union. And Every One Of The Human Rights Heroes - I'll Use The Word - Who Have Come Out Of The Soviet Union, Have Said It Was A Turning Point In Their Lives, And Not Only In The Soviet Union But Also In Places Like Czechoslovakia And Hungary And Poland [they] Saw This Human Rights Policy Of Mine As Being A Great Boost To The Present Democracy And Freedom That They Enjoy.
Hero
Rights
Years
Trust Is Very Much A Part Of Our Democracy.
Democracy
I Believed What My Father Taught Me About The Separation Of Church And State, So When I Was President I Never Invited Billy Graham To Have Services In The White House Because I Didn't Think That Was Appropriate. He Was Injured A Little Bit, Until I Explained It To Him.
Father
Thinking
White
The Blood Of Abraham, God's Father Of The Chosen, Still Flows In The Veins Of Arab, Jew, And Christian, And Too Much Of It Has Been Spilled In Grasping For The Inheritance Of The Revered Patriarch In The Middle East. The Spilled Blood In The Holy Land Still Cries Out To God--an Anguished Cry For Peace.
Christian
Father
Blood
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
The Bible And Studying The Bible Has Been An Important Part Of My Life.
Important
Study
Has Beens
War May Sometimes Be A Necessary Evil. But No Matter How Necessary, It Is Always An Evil, Never A Good. We Will Not Learn How To Live Together In Peace By Killing Each Other's Children.
Inspirational
Veterans Day
Peace
Although Military, Economic And Political Strength Certainly Favors The More Powerful Side, The Matter Of Simple Justice Is A Counterbalancing Factor.
Powerful
Military
Simple
We Have No Desire To Be The World's Policeman. But America Does Want To Be The World's Peacemaker.
America
Desire
Doe
Today, In Directly Harnessing The Power Of The Sun, We're Taking The Energy That God Gave Us, The Most Renewable Energy That We Will Ever See, And Using It To Replace Our Dwindling Supplies Of Fossil Fuels.
God
Science
Power
Whatever Starts In California Unfortunately Has An Inclination To Spread.
California
Political
Politics
We Can Drift Along As Though There Were Still A Cold War, Wasting Hundreds Of Billions Of Dollars On Weapons That Will Never Be Used, Ignoring The Problems Of People In This Country And Around The World, Being One Of The Worst Environmental Violators On Earth, Standing Against Any Sort Of Viable Programs To Protect The World's Forests Or To Cut Down On Acid Rain Or The Global Warming Or Ozone Depletion. We Can Ignore Human Rights Violations In Other Countries, Or We Can Take These Things On As True Leaders Ought To And Accept The Inspiring Challenge Of America For The Future.
Country
War
Rain
Because We Are Now Running Out Of Gas And Oil, We Must Prepare Quickly For A Third Change, To Strict Conservation And To The Use Of ... Permanent Renewable Energy Sources, Like Solar Power.
Running
Oil
Energy
It Is Difficult For The Common Good To Prevail Against The Intense Concentration Of Those Who Have A Special Interest, Especially If The Decisions Are Made Behind Locked Doors.
Doors
Decision
Political
Jesus Never Mentions Abortion. But I Think That Jesus Did Care For The Unborn Child, I Think That Jesus Did Care For People Who Were Completely Helpless, Who Depend On Others For Their Life And Livelihood. I Just Believe That This Should Be Minimized If Possible.
Jesus
Children
Believe
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
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
As President, I Was Able To Save With The Stroke Of The Pen A Hundred Million Acres Of Wilderness Area In Alaska. This Is The Kind Of Thing That Is Is Gratifying To A President, But To Be On A Solitary Stream With Good Friends, With A Fly Rod In Your Hand, And To Have A Successfull Or Even An Unsuccessful Day-they're All Successful-is An Even Greater Delight.
Successful
Good Friend
Hands
According To Gandhi, The Seven Sins Are Wealth Without Works, Pleasure Without Conscience, Knowledge Without Character, Commerce Without Morality, Science Without Humanity, Worship Without Sacrifice, And Politics Without Principle. Well, Hubert Humphrey May Have Sinned In The Eyes Of God, As We All Do, But According To Those Definitions Of Gandhi's, It Was Hubert Humphrey Without Sin.
Hard Work
Knowledge
Character
When I Ran, I Didn't Have Any Money. Now, It Requires Raising Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars Just To Get The Nomination, And I Don't Care To Be Involved In That Process.
Dollars
Care
Nominations
We Must Make It Clear That A Platform Of 'i Hate Gay Men And Women' Is Not A Way To Become President Of The United States.
Hate
Gay
Men
To Be True To Ourselves, We Must Be True To Others.
Being True
I Don't Think There's Going To Be Peace As Long As Israel Is Occupying Land That Belongs To The Palestinians, To Lebanon And To Syria.
Thinking
Israel
Land
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
I Wish I Had Known When I Was In The White House What I Know Now About The Third World.
White
House
Wish
When People Are Intimidated About Having Their Own Opinions, Oppression Is At Hand.
Hands
People
Opinion
I Have A Great Respect For The Flag, (but) If The Government Passed A Law Saying That I Had To Pledge Allegiance To The Flag, I Don't Think I Would Do It. I've Always Felt That I Lived In A Country...where If I Wanted To Worship God As A Baptist, I Could Do So. If I Were An Atheist, I Could Be One. If I Wanted To Be A Catholic But Was Born A Jew, There's No Condemnation...from A Government Authority.
Country
Atheist
Thinking
I Think I Was Identified As A Failed President Because I Wasn't Re-elected.
Thinking
President
My Opinion Of The Russians Has Changed Most Drastically In The Last Week Than Even (sic) The Two-and-a-half Years Before That. It's Only Now Dawning Upon The World The Magnitude Of The Action That The Soviets Undertook In Invading Afghanistan.
War
Years
Two
Penalties Against Possession Of A Drug Should Not Be More Damaging To An Individual Than The Use Of The Drug Itself
Weed
Marijuana
Drug Use
As Far As Being In Dangerous Situations Around The World Is Concerned, I Always Have A Secret Service Detail With Me As One Of The Privileges Of A Former President.
Dangerous Situations
Secret
President
My Faith Has Helped Me To Adjust To Life Whether I Was A Small Farm Boy, A Submarine Officer, Governor, President Or An Ex-president. I've Tried To Remember The Teaching That We Have To Accommodate Change We Can't Control In Our Lives, Whether It's Disappointment, Sorrow, Loss Or Failure, While Simultaneously Clinging To Principles That Never Change.
Disappointment
Teaching
Loss
We All Know Grandparents Whose Values Transcend Passing Fads And Pressures, And Who Possess The Wisdom Of Distilled Pain And Joy.
Pain
Grandparent
Joy
I Have A Very Real Political Awareness That At Least On A Transient Basis The More Drastic Action Taken By The President, The More Popular It Is.
Real
Taken
Political
In The United States, You Might Say Every County Has Got Its Own Separate System. There's Not Even One Kind Of Ballot That You Use All Over The United States. We Require That In A Foreign Country.
Country
United States
Use
Unfortunately, After Sept. 11, There Was An Outburst In America Of Intense Suffering And Patriotism, And The Bush Administration Was Very Shrewd And Effective In Painting Anyone Who Disagreed With The Policies As Unpatriotic Or Even Traitorous.
America
Patriotism
Suffering
In General The 53 Countries On The Continent Of Africa Have Made Great Progress Towards Freedom And Democracy, And In Terms Of Electing Good, Sound Administrations.
Country
Democracy
Progress
Except During My Childhood, When I Was Probably Influenced By Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel Depiction Of God With A Flowing White Beard, I Have Never Tried To Project The Creator In Any Kind Of Human Likeness. The Vociferous Debates About Whether God Is Male Or Female Seem Ridiculous To Me. I Think Of God As An Omnipotent And Omniscient Presence, A Spirit That Permeates The Universe, The Essence Of Truth, Nature, Being, And Life. To Me, These Are Profound And Indescribable Concepts That Seem To Be Trivialized When Expressed In Words.
God
Thinking
Essence
I Believe Those Passages In The New Testament, Not By Jesus, But By Paul, That Say Women Should Not Adorn Themselves, They Should Always Wear Hats Or Color Their Hair In Church - Things Like That - I Think They Are Signs Of The Times And Should Not Apply To Modern-day Life.
Jesus
Believe
Thinking
We Are Grossly Wasting Our Energy Resources And Other Precious Raw Materials As Though Their Supply Were Infinite. We Must Even Face The Prospect Of Changing Our Basic Ways Of Living. This Change Will Either Be Made On Our Own Initiative In A Planned And Rational Way, Or Forced On Us With Chaos And Suffering By The Inexorable Laws Of Nature.
Nature
Animal
Law
To Me, Faith Is Not Just A Noun But Also A Verb
Verbs
Nouns
God Wisely Designed The Human Body So That We Can Neither Pat Our Own Backs Nor Kick Ourselves Too Easily.
Body
Human Body
Kicks
Each Of Us Must Rededicate Ourselves To Serving The Common Good. We Are A Community. Our Individual Fates Are Linked; Our Futures Intertwined; And If We Act In That Knowledge And In That Spirit Together, As The Bible Says: "we Can Move Mountains."
Moving
Fate
Community
There's Always An Element Of Self Delusion Among People Who Believe They Ought To Be President. There's An Underestimation Of Your Opponent And An Overestimation Of Your Own Abilities. This Is Compatible With Being Rich And Powerful, The Idea That We Were Blessed By God Because We Deserve To Be Blessed.
Powerful
Believe
Blessed
This View That Women Are Somehow Inferior To Men Is Not Restricted To One Religion Or Belief. It Is Widespread. Women Are Prevented From Playing A Full And Equal Role In Many Faiths.
Men
Views
Atheism
Iran Is An Island Of Stability In A Turbulent Corner Of The World
Islands
Israel
Iran
You Always Get Back Much More Than You Give.
Giving
Get Back
The First Time I Ever Saw Snow Skis Was When I Was 62 Years Old And That Was 19 Years Ago And I'm Still Skiing. So, We'll Be Skiing With Some Very Close Friends Of The Carter Center Letting Them Know What The Carter Center Is Doing Around The World. We Have Programs In Over 65 Countries.
Country
Years
Snow
My Paintings Have Gotten To Be Pretty Popular And I've Taken A Little Bit More Interest In Painting The Last Few Years. In Fact, My Novel That I Wrote Not Too Long Ago, 'the Hornet's Nest,' I Painted The Cover Picture For It And I Do A Good Bit Of Painting Now.
Taken
Long Ago
Years
I Don't Want To Tell President Obama How To Make A Speech. He's A Much Better Speech Maker Than I Am. But I Think Always To Tell The Truth In A Sometimes Blatant Way, Even Though It Might Be Temporarily Unpopular, Is The Best Approach.
Thinking
President
Speech
One Of The Most Serious Problems That Our Country Has Inherited An Unwillingness To Talk To Anyone Who Disagrees With Us Or Who Won't Accept, Before A Discussion, All The Premises That We Demand.
Country
Demand
Serious
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
I Believe In The Separation Of Church And State And Would Not Use My Authority To Violate This Principle In Any Way.
Believe
Presidential
Church
There Was Promulgation Of False Propaganda By The Administration About The Existence Of Weapons Of Mass Destruction In Iraq. There Was Promulgation Of False Propaganda About Iraq As A Base For Al Qaeda.
Mass Destruction
Tyrants
Iraq
Everyone Has A Right To Peaceful Coexistence, The Basic Personal Freedoms, The Alleviation Of Suffering, And The Opportunity To Lead A Productive Life.
Peace
Freedom
Opportunity
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
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
For Me Personally And For Most Other Americans, This Commitment To Peace And Diplomacy Does Not Imply A Blind Or Total Pacifism. There Are Times When War Is Justified, And For Many Centuries The Moral Criteria For Violence Have Been Carefully Delineated.
War
Commitment
Doe
When People First Vote For Democracy, They Have Extremely High Hopes, Excessive Expectations, And They're Not Realized. They Don't Instantly Get Richer And The Schools Don't Instantly Get Better And The Garbage Isn't Instantly Picked Up Quicker. So They Get Disillusioned.
School
Expectations
People
After All These Years, I Still Feel Like A Boy When I'm On A Stream
Boys
Fishing
Rivers
When I Was Elected President Nobody Asked Me To Negotiate Between Israel And Egypt. It Was Not Even A Question Raised In My Campaign. But I Felt That One Of The Reasons That I Was Elected President Was To Try To Bring Peace To The Holy Land.
Israel
Egypt
Land
Because I Know About The Holy Land, I've Taught Lessons About The Holy Land All My Life, And - But You Can't Bring Peace To Israel Without Giving The Palestinian Also Peace. And Lebanon And Jordan And Syria As Well.
Israel
Land
Giving
The Preeminent Obstacle To Peace Is Israel's Colonization Of Palestine.
Israel
Obstacles
Colonization
The Heart And Mind Of Every Muslim Is Affected By Whether Or Not The Israel-palestine Issue Is Dealt With Fairly.
Heart
Israel
Issues
The Entire Islamic World Condemned Iran. Nowadays, Because Of The Unwarranted Invasion Of Iraq By Bush And Blair, Which Was A Completely Unjust Adventure Based On Misleading Statements, And The Lack Of Any Effort To Resolve The Palestinian Issue, There Is Massive Islamic Condemnation Of The United States.
War
Islamic
Adventure
I've Looked On Many Women With Lust. I've Committed Adultery In My Heart Many Times. God Knows I Will Do This And Forgives Me.
Crazy
Heart
Patriotic
Any System Of Economics Is Bankrupt If It Sees Either Value Or Virtue In Unemployment.
Unemployment
Virtue
Economics
Last Night When I Was Commenting On The Fbi And The Cia, The Sound Went Off For 27 Minutes. I Should Have Known Better.
Night
Should Have
Sound
Last Year I Was On Pat Robertson's Show, And We Discussed Our Basic Christian Faith - For Instance, Separation Of Church And State. It's Contrary To My Beliefs To Try To Exalt Christianity As Having Some Sort Of Preferential Status In The United States. That Violates The Constitution. I'm Not In Favor Of Mandatory Prayer In School Or Of Using Public Funds To Finance Religious Education.
Christian
Religious
Prayer
One Of The Most Basic Principles For Making And Keeping Peace Within And Between Nations. . . Is That In Political, Military, Moral, And Spiritual Confrontations, There Should Be An Honest Attempt At The Reconciliation Of Differences Before Resorting To Combat
Forgiveness
Spiritual
Peace
The Truth Is That Male Religious Leaders Have Had - And Still Have - An Option To Interpret Holy Teachings Either To Exalt Or Subjugate Women. They Have, For Their Own Selfish Ends, Overwhelmingly Chosen The Latter.
Religious
Fear
Selfish
This Is The First National Administration We've Ever Seen Where The Housewife Couldn't Afford To Buy Groceries And The Farmer Couldn't Afford To Grow Them.
Firsts
Administration
Eating
Forgiving Is One Of The Most Difficult Things For A Human Being To Do, But I Think It Means Looking At Some Slight You Feel, Putting Yourself In The Position Of The Other Person, And Wiping Away Any Sort Of Resentment And Antagonism You Feel Toward Them. Then Let That Other Person Know That Everything Is Perfectly Friendly And Normal Between You.
Forgiveness
Anger
Mean
Sadat Was A Great And Good Man, And His Most Bitter And Dangerous Enemies Were People Who Were Obsessed With Hatred For His Peaceful Goals.
Men
People
Goal
Habitat Has Opened Up Unprecedented Opportunities For Me To Cross The Chasm That Separates Those Of Us Who Are Free, Safe, Financially Secure, Well Fed And Housed, And Influential Enough To Shape Our Own Destiny From Our Neighbors Who Enjoy Few, If Any, Of These Advantages Of Life.
Opportunity
Destiny
Safe
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
The Respect For Human Rights Is One Of The Most Significant Advantages Of A Free And Democratic Nation In The Peaceful Struggle For Influence, And We Should Use This Good Weapon As Effectively As Possible.
Freedom
Struggle
Rights
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
On Both Of My Major Trips To North Korea, The Leaders Of The Country Made It Plain That They Want To Make Progress Towards Doing Away With Nuclear Weapons And Towards Ending The Longstanding, Official State Of War Which Persists Between North Korea And The United States And South Korea, A War Which Has Continued Since The Ceasefire Over Fifty Years Ago. That Sort Of Thing Happens Quite Often When We Meet With People Who Are Kind Of International Outcasts With Whom The Government Of The United States Won't Meet.
Country
War
Korea
The Relationship Between Government And Art Must Necessarily Be A Delicate One. It Would Not Be Appropriate For The Government To Try To Define What Is Good Or What Is True Or What Is Beautiful. But Government Can Provide Nourishment To The Ground Within Which These Ideas Spring Forth From The Seeds Of Inspiration Within The Human Mind.
Beautiful
Art
Spring
Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

A quote is a repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. It can be a direct replication of words spoken or written by another individual, often used to support arguments, provide evidence, or convey profound insights.


2. The Importance of Quotes

2.1. Enhancing Credibility

Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.


2.2. Providing Evidence

Quotes serve as concrete evidence to support claims. In academic and professional writing, they validate points made, offering readers a basis to trust the information presented.


2.3. Conveying Emotions and Perspectives

Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.


3. Types of Quotes

3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.


3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.


3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.



4. Proper Usage of Quotes


4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.


4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.


4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).


5. Common Mistakes to Avoid


5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.


5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.


5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.



6. Quotes in Different Contexts


6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.


6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.


6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.



7. Punctuation and Formatting


Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:


Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.


Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.


Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.



8. Ethical Considerations


Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes


Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.



Conclusion


Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.


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