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When I Speak At My Local Church, Which I Try To Do 35 To 40 Times A Year, I Try In Every Lesson To Take The Old Testament Text Or New Testament Text And Apply Them To What Is Happening To Me Or How That Applies To The Audience That I'm Teaching In A Modern, Fast-changing, Technological World. I Use Headlines, Interfaith And That Sort Of Thing.

-Jimmy Carter

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When I Speak At

Jimmy Carter

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When I Speak At My Local Church, Which I Try To Do 35 To 40 Times A Year, I Try In Every Lesson To Take The Old Testament Text Or New Testament Text And Apply Them To What Is Happening To Me Or How That Applies To The Audience That I'm Teaching In A Modern, Fast-changing, Technological World. I Use Headlines, Interfaith And That Sort Of Thing.

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More From Jimmy Carter

We've Become Increasingly Addicted To Consumption Of Goods That We Don't Produce Ourselves, And A Lot Of The Manufacturing Has Gone Overseas.

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.

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.

My Wish Is Peace For Israel And For Israel's Neighbors.

And I Think The Almost Undeviating Support By Great Britain For The Ill-advised Policies Of President Bush In Iraq Have Been A Major Tragedy For The World.

I Have A Very Personal Relationship With Jesus Christ. It Doesn't Depend On The Fact That He Can Walk On Water.

There Was Never Any Question About The Morality Of Hunting, But Neither Was There Any Acceptance Of Killing For The Sake Of A Trophy.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Nearly All Inmates Are Drawn From The Ranks Of The Powerless And The Poor. A Child Of Privilege Frequently Receives The Benefit Of The Doubt; A Child Of Poverty Seldom Does.

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.

I Think What's Going On In Guantanamo Bay And Other Places Is A Disgrace To The U.s.a. I Wouldn't Say It's The Cause Of Terrorism, But It Has Given Impetus And Excuses To Potential Terrorists To Lash Out At Our Country And Justify Their Despicable Acts.

No Poor, Rural, Weak, Or Black Person Should Ever Again Have To Bear The Additional Burden Of Being Deprived Of The Opportunity For An Education, A Job, Or Simple Justice.

Thoughtful Criticism And Close Scrutiny Of All Government Officials By The Press And The Public Are An Important Part Of Our Democratic Society.

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

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

My Constant Prayer, My Number One Foreign Goal, Is To Bring Peace To Israel. And In The Process To Israel's Neighbours.

We've Uncovered Some Embarrassing Ancestors In The Not-too-distant Past. Some Horse Thieves, And Some People Killed On Saturday Nights. One Of My Relatives, Unfortunately, Was Even In The Newspaper Business.

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

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.

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.

In Retrospect, I Can See That President Brezhnev Was Quite Proud Of The Limited Agreement That He Had Concluded In Vladivostok; And To Have A New American President Come In And Say, "that Is Not Good Enough - Let's Do Much More, And Do It Quite Rapidly," Took Him By Surprise.

Not Good Enough

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 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.

Environmental Quality

I Think The Only Way That Political System Can Be Corrected Is For The American People To See Very Vividly That It Needs Repair. If Things Are Going To Worse In The Future, The American People, In Every Congressional District In The Land, Might Demand That Reforms Take Place In The Political System.

The United States Is Squandering International Prestige And Goodwill And Intensifying Global Anti-american Terrorism By Unofficially Condoning Or Abetting The Israeli Confiscation And Colonization Of Palestinian Territories.

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.

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.

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 Don't Believe That Jesus Would Approve Abortion Except In The Case Of Incest, Rape Or The Mother's Life In Danger. But I Had To Enforce The Supreme Court Ruling On Roe V. Wade So I Tried To Do Everything I Could To Minimize The Need For Abortions.

The Oil Lobby, Perhaps The Most Powerful Lobby On Earth, Is Almost Matched By Hospital Owners And Doctors.

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.

Failure Is A Reality; We All Fail At Times, And It's Painful When We Do. But It's Better To Fail While Striving For Something Wonderful, Challenging, Adventurous, And Uncertain Than To Say, " I Don't Want To Try Because I May Not Succeed Completely.

In A Nation That Was Proud Of Hard Work, Strong Families, Close Knit Communities, And Our Faith In God , Too Many Of Us Now Tend To Worship Self Indulgence And Consumption .

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.

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?

In Religious And In Secular Affairs, The More Fervent Beliefs Attract Followers. If You Are A Moderate In Any Respect - If You're A Moderate On Abortion, If You're A Moderate On Gun Control, Or If You're A Moderate In Your Religious Faith - It Doesn't Evolve Into A Crusade Where You're Either Right Or Wrong, Good Or Bad, With Us Or Against Us.

The Social Security Program Is A Pact Between Workers And Their Employers That They Will Contribute To A Common Fund To Ensure That Those Who Are No Longer Part Of The Work Force Will Have A Basic Income On Which To Live. It Represents Our Commitment As A Society To The Belief That Workers Should Not Live In Dread That A Disability, Death, Or Old Age Could Leave Them Or Their Families Destitute.

A Lot Of The Things That We Passed In The Energy Policy Were Embedded In Law, And They Resulted In Tremendous Reductions In Waste Of Energy In All Kinds Of Things.

I Think It Will Take Years Before We Can Repair The Damage Done By That Statement.

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.

Any System Of Economics Is Bankrupt If It Sees Either Value Or Virtue In Unemployment.

I Think The Israelis Are Beginning To Realize More That They Are Moving Toward A One-state Solution, Which Would Be A Catastrophe For Israel.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I've Just Finished My 20th Book This Past Year And I'm Working On My 21st Book About The Middle East Right Now That I'll Finish This Year. And I Get Up Early In The Morning And When I Get Tired Of The Computer And Tired Of Doing Research, I Walk 20 Steps Out To My Woodshop And I Either Build Furniture Or Paint Paintings. I'm An Artist Too.

I Believe That We Should Do Anything We Can To Minimize Abortion And Not To Encourage It.

I Think It Was Fully Justified After 9/11 To Initiate A Military Action Against Afghanistan, Because We Hoped To Create A Democracy, And Have A Flourishing Economy, And To Do Away With Al-qaida, And To Capture Osama Bin Laden.

[jerry Brown] Is California's Way Of Celebrating The Year Of The Child.

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

It Would Be Naïve To Think That Peace And Justice Can Be Achieved Easily. No Set Of Rules Or Study Of History Will Automatically Resolve The Problems ... However, With Faith And Perseverance, ... Complex Problems In The Past Have Been Resolved In Our Search For Justice And Peace.

I Enjoyed Being President, But The Campaign Against Guinea Worm [horrible Disease] Has Opened Up A Completely New Career That Is Challenging And Unpredictable And Adventurous - And Very Gratifying.

America Has Had The Best University System In The World For A Long Time. And So We Have Been Innovators, Not Only In The Discoveries As Proven By Nobel Prizes In Chemistry And Physics And That Sort Of Thing, But We've Been Able To Put That Into Practical Application With New Gadgets That People Admire.

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.

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

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.

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.

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)

Quite Often ... These Little Guys, Who Might Be Making Atomic Weapons Or Who Might Be Guilty Of Some Human Rights Violation ... Are Looking For Someone To Listen To Their Problems And Help Them Communicate.

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.

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.

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.

Two Problems Of Our Country - Energy And Malaise.

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.

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.

As A Matter Of Fact, Although We Had Some Terrible Challenges And Temptations When I Was In Office, We Never Dropped A Bomb... We Never Launched A Missile... And We Never Fired A Bullet. I Think That One Of The Main Requirements For A Strong Military, Like A Strong Submarine Force, Is To Prevent War, Not To Cause War.

When Combined, The Small Individual Contributors Of Caring, Friendship, Forgiveness, And Love, Each Of Us Different From Our Next-door Neighbors, Can Form A Phalanx, An Army, With Great Capability.

I Believe That The Boycott That We Have Against Cuba Is Counterproductive, And It Also Makes The Twelve Million Or So Cuban People Suffer Unnecessarily Just Because Of A Foolish Policy Of The United States.

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

Making A Difference

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.

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

When I Speak At My Local Church, Which I Try To Do 35 To 40 Times A Year, I Try In Every Lesson To Take The Old Testament Text Or New Testament Text And Apply Them To What Is Happening To Me Or How That Applies To The Audience That I'm Teaching In A Modern, Fast-changing, Technological World. I Use Headlines, Interfaith And That Sort Of Thing.

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.

Energy Will Be The Immediate Test Of Our Ability To Unite This Nation, And It Can Also Be The Standard Around Which We Rally. On The Battlefield Of Energy We Can Win For Our Nation A New Confidence, And We Can Seize Control Again Of Our Common Destiny.

I'm Feeling Better Than Anybody Expected Me To So I'm Still Maintaining A Pretty Normal Schedule, I'd Say.

I Have Never Been Happier, More Exhilarated, At Peace, Rested, Inspired, And Aware Of The Grandeur Of The Universe And The Greatness Of God Than When I Find Myself In A Natural Setting Not Much Changed From The Way He Made It.

I Think That, Regardless Of Our Culture, Age, Or Even Personal Handicaps, We Can Still Strive For Something Exceptional. Why Not Expand Our Sights Instead Of Restricting Our Lives And Accepting The Lowest Common Denominator Of A Dormant Existence? Faith. . . Will Permit Us To Take A Chance On A New Path, Perhaps Different From The One We Now Follow. It May Be Surprising Where It Leads.

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

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

The Awareness That Health Is Dependent Upon Habits That We Control Makes Us The First Generation In History That To A Large Extent Determines Its Own Destiny.

To Be True To Ourselves, We Must Be True To Others.

I Don't Believe That China, In My Lifetime Or Maybe My Children's Lifetime, Be Equal To The United States Militarily Speaking, But They Are Very Careful To Avoid Any Engagement In War, They Are Basically A Peaceful Country, Which Gives Them Another Advantage Over The United States When We Are Much More Inclined To Go To War For Various Reasons.

Everyone Has A Right To Peaceful Coexistence, The Basic Personal Freedoms, The Alleviation Of Suffering, And The Opportunity To Lead A Productive Life.

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.

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.

There Is No Other Even Moderately Equal Abuse Than The Murder Of Little Baby Girls - Nothing Else Compares With That, In Horror.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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

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.

Jesus Is The Son Of God, We Have A Chance For God's Blessings, God's Salvation Through Our Faith In Jesus Christ And All Of Us Are Sinners Who Fall Short Of The Glory Of God, And The Wages Of Sin Is Death But Through Our Faith That Jesus Christ, We Can Be Saved.

Governance Should Be Designed As An Equalizer. Democrats Are More Inclined Towards Working Families And Those Who Are Struggling For A Better Life.

But Love Must Be Aggressively Translated Into Simple Justice.

I Believe In The Separation Of Church And State And Would Not Use My Authority To Violate This Principle In Any Way.

Testing Oneself Is Best When Done Alone.

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.

Southerners, Whose Ancestors A Hundred Years Ago Knew The Horrors Of A Homeland Devastated By War, Are Particularly Determined That War Shall Never Come To Us Again. All Americans Understand The Basic Lessons Of History: That We Need To Be Resolute And Able To Protect Ourselves, To Prevent Threats And Domination By Others.

Quite Often, The People Who Do Leave Their Own Nation And Come To An Unknown Destination, Like The United States, Are Inherently Adventurous, So We've Had That Adventurous Spirit That Has Embedded Itself Collectively In The American Consciousness.

I Have Often Wanted To Drown My Troubles, But I Can't Get My Wife To Go Swimming.

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.

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

If You Fear Making Anyone Mad, Then You Ultimately Probe For The Lowest Common Denominator Of Human Achievement.

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.

A Fundamentalist Can't Bring Himself Or Herself To Negotiate With People Who Disagree With Them Because The Negotiating Process Itself Is An Indication Of Implied Equality.

Iran Is An Island Of Stability In A Turbulent Corner Of The World

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.

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.

I Thought Then And I Think Now That The Invasion Of Iraq Was Unnecessary And Unjust And I Think The Premises On Which It Was Launched Were False.

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

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

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 Will Never Lie To You.

I Have A Lot Of Pleasures But I Don't Feel Guilty About Them.

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.

If I Should Ever Decide In The Future To Discuss My Deep Christian Beliefs And Condemnation And Sinfulness, I Would Use Another Forum Besides Playboy.

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

I Don’t Claim To Be Knowledgeable About Theology. Most Of My Knowledge Comes Out Of My Experience And The Lessons In The Bible. Every Sunday I’m Home I Teach 45 Minutes And We Boiled Them Down To One Page For The New Book, “through The Year With Jimmy Carter.”

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

America Is Constantly Involved In Unnecessary Wars.

My Esteem In This Country Has Gone Up Substantially. It Is Very Nice Now When People Wave At Me, They Use All Their Fingers.

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.

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

If You Have A Task To Perform And Are Vitally Interested In It, Excited And Challenged By It, And Then You Will Exert Maximum Energy. But In The Excitement, The Pain Of Fatigue Dissipates, And The Exuberance Of What You Hope To Achieve Overcomes The Weariness.

I Don't Have Any Complaints About Homosexuals Being Married In A Civil Ceremony. But I Don't Think That The Government Ought To Require Religious Organizations, Churches, Should Perform Marriages Between Homosexuals If A Local Congregation Decides Otherwise. I Believe In The Autonomy Of Individual Churches.

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.

There Should Be An Honest Attempt At The Reconciliation Of Differences Before Resorting To Combat.

I Believe There Is Complete Equality Between Men And Women.

When You Invade Grenada, Or When You Invade Panama To Capture A Disreputable Person, Or When You Bomb The Bosnia Area, You Can Always Find Justification For Those Military Actions, But It's Really Surprising How Many Times In Those 25 Years - That's A Long Time - The United States Has Interceded, I Wouldn't Say Most Of The Time Militarily, But A Lot Of Those Have Been Military Actions.

Standing Alone Among Great Democratic Nations In Imposing The Death Penalty Is Another Moral Decision That Americansare Being Forced To Confront.

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 Have A Tendency To Condemn People Who Are Different From Us, To Define Their Sins As Paramount And Our Own Sinfulness As Being Insignificant.

Let Our Position Be Absolutely Clear: An Attempt By Any Outside Force To Gain Control Of The Persian Gulf Region Will Be Regarded As An Assault On The Vital Interests Of The United States Of America, And Such An Assault Will Be Repelled By Any Means Necessary, Including Military Force.

I Had Very Good Support From Democrats And Republicans All Throughout My Administration. I Had A Very High Batting Average. We Added More Jobs Per Year In My Four Years Than Any Other President Since The Second World War.

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.

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.

Last Night When I Was Commenting On The Fbi And The Cia, The Sound Went Off For 27 Minutes. I Should Have Known Better.

We've Lost An Edge That We Used To Have In Scientific Innovation Applications To Goods To Be Sold. In Many Ways, That Is Also Changing In The Electronic Field. Almost All Of The Materials That We Use Now Are Of Advanced Technology, I Have An Ipad And Also An Ipod, Both Of Which Are Made In China. Although We Have Designed Them Here With Apple, For Instance, They Are Manufactured Overseas.

In General, In The Matters That Relate To Theology Or Behavior, People To One Another, Paul Was Obviously Biblically Correct. But When He Said That Women Should Always Cover Their Hair Or That Women Should Not Teach Men, Women Should Not Have Leadership Positions In The Church, Women Should Not Speak In The Church, I Don't' Think That Those Writings Of Paul Can Be Extracted By Themselves To Stand Alone. Also, Paul Said That Women Should Be Subservient To Their Husbands But If You Read A Couple Of Verses Down It Says Husbands Should Treat Their Wives As Equals.

I Think There's An Awakening Now Of A Realization That We Too Early Congratulated Ourselves On The End Of Racial Prejudice And White Supremacy. And That Was A Feeling That We Had When I Was President, That We Had Pretty Much Overcome That Problem.

There's No Doubt That Usually A President's Public Image Is Enhanced By Going To War. That Never Did Appeal To Me.

I Don't Laugh At People Any More When They Say They've Seen Ufos. I've Seen One Myself!

The Greatest Discrimination In The World Now Is Against Poor People.

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.

I Say To You Quite Frankly That The Time For Racial Discrimination Is Over.

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.

The Evidence Shows That Investing In Women And Girls Delivers Major Benefits For Society. An Educated Woman Has Healthier Children. She Is More Likely To Send Them To School. She Earns More And Invests What She Earns In Her Family.

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

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

Like Music And Art, Love Of Nature Is A Common Language That Can Transcend Political Or Social Boundaries.

During The Period Of The Saturn-apollo Missions We Were Pilgrims In Space, Ranging From Home In Search Of Knowledge. Now We Will Become Shepherds Tending Our Technological Flocks, But Like The Shepherds Of Old, We Will Keep Our Eyes Fixed On The Heavens.

Each One Of Us Is An Individual, Just Like Talk Show Hosts Are Different From One Another, And Newspaper Columnists Are Different From Each Other. So, Former Presidents Are Different From Each Other, Too. Some Have Gone Into Relative Seclusion. Some Have Decided To Teach.

Spirit Is Like The Wind, In That We Can't See It But Can See Its Effects, Which Are Profound.

Our American Values Are Not Luxuries But Necessities, Not The Salt In Our Bread, But The Bread Itself. Our Common Vision Of A Free And Just Society Is Our Greatest Source Of Cohesion At Home And Strength Abroad, Greater Than The Bounty Of Our Material Blessings.

I Would Describe Fundamentalism As, First Of All, A Movement Led Almost Invariably By Authoritarian Males Who Consider Themselves To Be Superior To Others And Who Have An Overwhelming Commitment To Subjugate Women And To Dominate Their Fellow Believers.

Whether The Borders That Divide Us Are Picket Fences Or National Boundaries, We Are All Neighbors In A Global Community.

I Enjoyed Being President.

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.

America Has About Three Times As Many Abortions As They Have In Norway, Or Sweden, Or Nordic Countries, And They Don't Have Any Laws At All About Abortion, But They Care For Women And Infant Children, Which Is A Major Cause For Abortion.

Because (grandparents) Are Usually Free To Love And Guide And Befriend The Young Without Having To Take Daily Responsibility For Them, They Can Often Reach Out Past Pride And Fear Of Failure And Close The Space Between Generations.

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.

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

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.

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.

I Wish I Had Known When I Was In The White House What I Know Now About The Third World.

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

I Can Get Up At 8am And Be Rested... Or I Can Get Up At 5am And Be President.

My Proudest Accomplishment Was That I Never Dropped A Bomb, Fired A Bullet, Or Shot A Missile.

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.

In A Nuclear Age, Each Of Us Is Threatened When Peace Is Not Secured Everywhere.

I Believe We Accomplished A Lot Of Good Things While I Was In Office. We Maintained A Very Good Working Relationship With Both Republicans And Democrats During My Tenure. Consequently, We Had A Very High Batting Average In Dealing With Congress On Some Very Controversial Issues. Plus, We Kept Our Nation At Peace, We Obeyed The Law, And We Told The Truth.

I Feel That My Role As A Former President Is Probably Superior To That Of Other Presidents. Primarily Because Of The Activism And The Injection Of Working At The Carter Center, And In International Affairs, And To Some Degree, Domestic Affairs, On Energy Conservation, On Environment, And Things Of That Kind.

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.

I Believe That Anyone Can Be Successful In Life, Regardless Of Natural Talent Or The Environment Within Which We Live. This Is Not Based On Measuring Success By Human Competitiveness For Wealth, Possessions, Influence, And Fame, But Adhering To God's Standards Of Truth, Justice, Humility, Service, Compassion, Forgiveness, And Love.

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.

From The Beginning, The United States Has Enjoyed Close And Valued Ties With The Muslim World.

Too Many Of Us Now Tend To Worship Self Indulgence And Consumption.

Our Decision About Energy Will Test The Character Of The American People And The Ability Of The President And The Congress To Govern This Nation. This Difficult Effort Will Be The Moral Equivalent Of War, Except That We Will Be Uniting Our Efforts To Build And Not To Destroy.

We Have No Desire To Be The World's Policeman. But America Does Want To Be The World's Peacemaker.

Everyone Who Has Run Knows That Its Most Important Value Is In Removing Tension And Allowing A Release From Whatever Other Cares The Day May Bring.

Important Values

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.

When I Was President, I Announced And I Still Maintain That I Can Live With Roe V. Wade. I Did Everything I Possibly Could As President Under That Ruling, Which I Don't Think Ought To Be Changed, To Minimize The Need For Abortions. I Think Every Abortion Is A Result Of A Horrible Series Of Errors On The Part Of People Involved.

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

The Heartfelt Sympathy And Friendship Offered To America After The 9/11 Attacks, Even From Formerly Antagonistic Regimes, Has Been Largely Dissipated; Increasingly Unilateral And Domineering Policies Have Brought International Trust In Our Country To Its Lowest Level In Memory.

People Make A Big Fuss Over You When You're President. But I'm Very Serious About Doing Everything I Can To Make Sure That It Doesn't Go To My Head.

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.

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?

I Am Pro-israeli, Not Because Of Political Expediency, But Because I Believe Israel Is The Fulfillment Of Biblical Prophecy.

We Will Not Learn How To Live Together In Peace By Killing Each Other's Children.

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