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Since I Was 18 Years Old, I Have Taught The Bible. For The Last Fifteen Or Twenty Years, I Have Taught Every Sunday When I Was Home Or Near My Own House, So That Would Be 35 Or 40 Times Per Year. Half Of Those Sundays, The Text Comes From The Hebrew Bible. I Have Had A Deep Personal Interest In The Holy Land And In The Teachings Of The Hebrew People. God Has A Special Position For The Jewish People, The Hebrews, Or Whatever. I Know The Difference Between Ancient Israel And Judaea, And I Know The History. I Don't Have Any Problem With The Jewish People.

-Jimmy Carter

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Since I Was 18

Jimmy Carter

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Since I Was 18 Years Old, I Have Taught The Bible. For The Last Fifteen Or Twenty Years, I Have Taught Every Sunday When I Was Home Or Near My Own House, So That Would Be 35 Or 40 Times Per Year. Half Of Those Sundays, The Text Comes From The Hebrew Bible. I Have Had A Deep Personal Interest In The Holy Land And In The Teachings Of The Hebrew People. God Has A Special Position For The Jewish People, The Hebrews, Or Whatever. I Know The Difference Between Ancient Israel And Judaea, And I Know The History. I Don't Have Any Problem With The Jewish People.

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We Should Live Our Lives As Though Christ Were Coming This Afternoon.

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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.

You Just Have To Have A Simple Faith.

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I'd Like To Be Remembered As Someone Who Was A Champion Of Peace And Human Rights.

We Know Definitively That Al-qaida Isn't All Over Afghanistan Anymore. According To Cia Estimates, There Are Less Than A Hundred Al-qaida Members In The Entire Country. Most Of Them Are In Pakistan. So, It's Hard For Me To Understand Why We're Still Fighting There And Sending In More And More Troops. I Would Get Out Of Afghanistan As Quickly As Possible.

Christians Are Supposed To Be Evangelicals. And I Am. I Am Evangelical.

I Don't Think The Tea Party People Are Racist, Except Maybe A Tiny Portion Of Them. But There Has Been A Deliberate Effort - Again, Referring To Fox Broadcasting - To Inject The Race Issue Into It. They Have Actually Called Obama A Racist On Television.

I'm Not A Mediator Or A Negotiator. I Don't Want To Be One.

My Position Has Always Been, Along With Many Other People, That Any Differences Be Resolved In A Nonviolent Way.

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

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I've Been An Evangelistic Baptist All My Life And Still Am To Some Degree.

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Testing Oneself Is Best When Done Alone.

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.

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.

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.

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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.

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I Enjoy Walking By Myself On The Same Paths Where, As A Little Boy, I Delighted In Following My Father Around.

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I Have Been In Love With The Palestinian People For Many Years. I Have Two Great-grandsons That Are Rapidly Learning About The People Here And The Anguish And Suffering And Deprivation Of Human Rights That You Have Experienced Ever Since 1948.

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The Bible And Studying The Bible Has Been An Important Part Of My Life.

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Environmental Quality

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There Needs To Be A Similar Degree Of Flexibility And Generosity In The Recognition Of The Humaneness And Worth Of People Who We Generally Consider As Adversaries.

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.

Our Values Are Not Luxuries, But Necessities. They Are Not The Salt In Our Bread, But The Bread Itself.

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America Has No Functioning Democracy At This Moment.

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The Measure Of A Society Is Found In How They Treat Their Weakest And Most Helpless Citizens. As Americans, We Are Blessed With Circumstances That Protect Our Human Rights And Our Religious Freedom, But For Many People Around The World, Deprivation And Persecution Have Become A Way Of Life.

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I Am No Big Shot. I Am Not Anybody's Boss. I Want To Be Everybody's Servant.

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.

People Who Have Lust In Their Heart As Just As Guilty As Those Who Commit Adultery.

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.

In The Life Of The Human Spirit, Words Are Action, Much More So Than Many Of Us Realize Who Live In Countries Where Freedom Of Expression Is Taken For Granted. The Leaders Of Totalitarian Nations Understand This Very Well. The Proof Is That Words Are Precisely The Action For Which Dissidents In Those Countries Are Being Persecuted.

In Many Courts, Plea Bargaining Serves The Convenience Of The Judge And The Lawyers, Not The Ends Of Justice, Because The Courts Simply Lack The Time To Give Everyone A Fair Trial.

I'm An Expert Cook When It Comes To Preparing The Quail, Ducks, Geese And Wild Turkeys That I Hunt On The Farm.

What Are The Things That You Can't See That Are Important? I Would Say Justice, Truth, Humility, Service, Compassion, Love...they're The Guiding Lights Of A Life.

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.

One Of The Turning Points Of My Life Was When I Got My First Bait-casting Outfit.

The Superfund Legislation Set Up A System Of Insurance Premiums Collected From The Chemical Industry To Clean Up Toxic Wastes. This New Program May Prove To Be As Far-reaching And Important As Any Accomplishment Of My Administration. The Reduction Of The Threat To America's Health And Safety From Thousands Of Toxic-waste Sites Will Continue To Be An Urgent But Bitterly Fought Issue-another Example For The Conflict Between The Public Welfare And The Profits Of A Few Private Despoilers Of Our Nation's Environment.

We Have Been Involved In More Wars, On A Bilateral Basis, Since The United Nations Was Formed Than Any Other Country By Far.

The Situation In Gaza Is Intolerable. Not One Destroyed House Has Been Rebuilt Ppl Cannot Live W The Dignity They Deserve

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.

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.

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.

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

I Hate To See Complacency Prevail In Our Lives When It's So Directly Contrary To The Teaching Of Christ.

I Believe In The Separation Of Church And State. The Government Has The Right To Say What Happens In A Civil Case, Like In A Court House. And Religious People Have A Right To Say What Happens In A Church Congregation. They Are Two Completely Separate Things.

Jerry Falwell Can Go Straight To Hell - And I Mean That In A Christian Way.

I Have Nothing Against A Community That Is Made Up Of People Who Are Polish, Or Who Are Czechoslovakians, Or Who Are French Canadians Or Who Are Blacks Trying To Maintain The Ethnic Purity Of Their Neighborhoods. This Is A Natural Inclination... Government Should Not Break Up A Neighborhood On A Numerical Basis. As Soon As The Government Does, The White Folks Flee.

You Can Do What You Have To Do, And Sometimes You Can Do It Even Better Than You Think You Can.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

We Have The Deepest Respect And Reverence For Islam And All Who Share The Faith Of Islam.

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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.

You Always Get Back Much More Than You Give.

After All These Years, I Still Feel Like A Boy When I'm On A Stream

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.

The Government Ought To Stay Out Of The Prayer Business.

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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.

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.

If One Of Our Fellow Citizens Can Be Executed With So Much Doubt Surrounding His Guilt, Then The Death Penalty System In Our Country Is Unjust And Outdated.

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.

Human Identity Is No Longer Defined By What One Does But Rather By What One Owns.

Elvis Presley's Death Deprives Our Country Of A Part Of Itself. He Was Unique, Irreplaceable. More Than Twenty Years Ago, He Burst Upon The Scene With An Impact That Was Unprecedented And Will Probably Never Be Equaled. His Music And His Personality, Fusing The Styles Of White Country And Black Rhythm And Blues, Permanently Changed The Face Of American Popular Culture. His Following Was Immense. And He Was A Symbol To People The World Over Of The Vitality, Rebelliousness And Good Humor Of This Country.

I'm Still, Except For Making Overseas Trips, I'm Staying Just About As Busy As I Ever Did.

When Your Troops Go To War, The Prime Minister Or The President Change Overnight From An Administrator, Dealing With Taxation And Welfare And Health And Deteriorating Roads, Into The Commander-in-chief. And It's Just Become Almost Unpatriotic To Describe Bush's Fallacious And Ill-advised And Mistaken And Sometimes Misleading Actions.

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.

"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.

I Believe Strongly That In The Eyes Of God Women And Men Should Be The Same And They Should Be Given The Same Authority In The Church, Women Should As Men.

We Believe In Separation Of Church And State, That There Should Be No Unwarranted Influence On The Church Or Religion By The State, And Vice Versa.

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.

Working Together

We Don't Have Any Problem Finding Enough Things To Do; The Problem We Have Is Making Sure We Don't Overload Ourselves Inadvertently.

I Obviously Hoped That Everything That I Found Would Make A Difference. It Ended Up Being Way Behind My Wildest Dreams.

Making A Difference

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.

The Decision To Attack The Entire Nation [of Yugoslavia] Has Been Counterproductive, And Our Destruction Of Civilian Life Has Now Become Senseless And Excessively Brutal. ... The United States' Insistence On The Use Of Cluster Bombs, Designed To Kill Or Maim Humans, Is Condemned Almost Universally And Brings Discredit On Our Nation (as Does Our Refusal To Support A Ban On Land Mines). Even For The World's Only Superpower, The Ends Don't Always Justify The Means.

My Decision To Register Women Confirms What Is Already Obvious Throughout Our Society-that Women Are Now Providing All Types Of Skills In Every Profession. The Military Should Be No Exception.

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.

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.

I Am Convinced That Ufos Exist Because I've Seen One.

Human Rights Is The Soul Of Our Foreign Policy, Because Human Rights Is The Very Soul Of Our Sense Of Nationhood.

I Let God Be The Judge And I Believe That We Worship A Just And Fair God Who Won't Punish Innocent People Unnecessarily.

The Bond Of Our Common Humanity Is Stronger Than The Divisiveness Of Our Fears And Prejudices.

Common Humanity

I Think That The Best Approach Would Be If The American People Ever Insist That We Cut Down On The Massive Amounts Of Money That Moves Into The Campaigns From Special Interest Groups, And If We Resist Publicly By Saying "no More Negative Advertisements That Destroy The Reputations Of One's Opponents." In The Meantime, Just Don't Pay Any Attention To Negative Ads, If You Can Avoid Them, And Try To Focus On The Issues.

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.

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.

A Joyous Occasion Is Never Quite As Wonderful As When It Becomes A Memory.

We Must Adjust To Changing Times And Still Hold To Unchanging Principles.

I've Used The Prestige And Influence Of Having Been A President Of The United States As Effectively As Possible. And Secondly, I've Still Been Able To Carry Out My Commitments To Peace And Human Rights And Environmental Quality And Freedom And Democracy And So Forth.

No Matter Where You Go In The World In Any Country In Africa Or Latin America And Other Place, You Will Find That China Is Very Deeply Involved In The Affairs Of That Country.

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I Have Come To Realize That In Every Person There Is Something Fine And Pure And Noble, Along With A Desire For Self-fulfillment.

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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.

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.

[on The Republican Party] A Party With A Narrow Vision, A Party That Is Afraid Of The Future.

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.

I Come Out Of The Environment Of The Deep South, Where I Had Seen The Millstone Of Racial Discrimination Weighting Down My People, Both The Black People And The White People; And I Had Seen The Enormous Progress That We Were Able To Make After We Removed The Legal Restraints Of A Two-class Society, With The Whites Superior And Blacks Inferior. So I Was Very Convinced Before I Became President That Basic Human Rights, Equality Of Opportunity, The End Of Abuse By Governments Of Their People, Was A Basic Principle On Which The United States Should Be An Acknowledged Champion.

Whatever Starts In California Unfortunately Has An Inclination To Spread.

I Believe That We Are Saved By The Grace Of God Because He Loves Us Provided That We Have Faith In Jesus Christ.

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.

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.

Aggression Unopposed Becomes A Contagious Disease.

The Abuse Of Women And Girls Is The Most Pervasive And Unaddressed Human Right Violation On Earth.

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.

Being Confident Of Our Own Future, We Are Now Free Of That Inordinate Fear Of Communism Which Once Led Us To Embrace Any Dictator Who Joined Us In That Fear. I'm Glad That That's Being Changed.

We Are A Purely Idealistic Nation But Let No One Confuse Our Idealism With Weakness.

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.

One Of My Greatest Pleasures Is Being On The Farmland That's Been In The Family Since 1833.

Greatest Pleasures

Giving People Equal Access To Enjoying The Benefits Of America Is The Biggest Problem That We're Not Making Any Progress In Resolving.

When Men In Secular Life, Who Might Be Religious Or Not, See Women Being Treated As Secondary In The Eyes Of God, They Assume That It's Ok For Them To Do It.

I Think A Good Husband Has To Depend On Having A Good Wife.

I Think Doctors Care Very Deeply About Their Patients, But When They Organize Into The Ama, Their Responsibility Is To The Welfare Of Doctors, And Quite Often, These Lobbying Groups Are The Only Ones That Are Heard In The State Capitols And In The Capitol Of Our Country.

The Carter Center Has A Policy Of Doing What Others Do Not Want To Do. We Do Not Compete With The World Health Organization, The United Nations Or The Us Government.

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)

For The First Time In The History Of Our Country The Majority Of Our People Believe That The Next Five Years Will Be Worse Than The Past Five Years.

When I Feel Something Very Intensely Or Deeply Or Personally, I Can Go To Extremes Of Self-expression Or Self-analysis By Writing A Poem - More Than I Can Just Talking To Somebody Or Writing Prose.

You Have Given Me A Great Responsibility: To Stay Close To You, To Be Worthy Of You And To Exemplify What You Are.

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.

Penalties Against Possession Of A Drug Should Not Be More Damaging To An Individual Than The Use Of The Drug Itself

I Think With The Advent Of Reagan, And Subsequently, Both Parties, There's Been A Strong Move Towards The Advantage Given To The Richer People, In Taxation And Grants And Supplements And Things Of That Kind. Primarily Exacerbated More Recently By The Supreme Court's Stupid Ruling On Citizens United, And Now There's A Massive Flood Of Money Into The Political System That I Think Has Subverted The Essence Of A Moral And Ethical Standard That Used To Permeate American Democracy. Now It's Not An Admirable Process. I Think We've Gone Backwards.

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.

I've Committed Adultery In My Heart.

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.

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.

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.

That Difference Between The Rich And Poor Is Growing Every Month.

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.

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.

The Preeminent Obstacle To Peace Is Israel's Colonization Of Palestine.

There's Always Enough To Fill Up The Headlines In A Newspaper, The Evening News Broadcasts. I'm Always Grateful When I Get The Weekly News Magazines On Monday Morning And Don't See My Picture On The Front.

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.

When People Are Intimidated About Having Their Own Opinions, Oppression Is At Hand.

Unfortunately, Every American Citizen Takes The Same Position... That We Don’t Like Negative Advertisements. But They Work! And, As You See, Many A Candidate Has Prevailed By Tearing Down The Reputation Of An Opponent In A More Advantageous Position.

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.

We Live In A Time Of Transition, An Uneasy Era Which Is Likely To Endure For The Rest Of This Century... During This Period We May Be Tempted To Abandon Some Of The Time-honored Principles And Commitments Which Have Been Proven During The Difficult Times Of Past Generations. We Must Never Yield To This Temptation. Our American Values Are Not Luxuries But Necessities - Not The Salt In Our Bread But The Bread Itself.

Some Major Churches Overemphasize The Importance Of Preaching As A Means To Increase Membership And Fail To Reach Out With Compassion To Their Neighbors In Need.

The Election Of Barack Obama Was A Very Wonderful Step Forward For America, Which Has Unfortunately Been Tainted By The Ugly Reaction Of Some Right Wing Activist Who Are Doing Their Best To Cast Aspersions On His Character And To Question His Religion And Citizenship.

My Favourite President, And The One I Admired Most, Was Harry Truman.

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.

I'm 86, And Too Old To Be President.

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Harold MacMillan

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