Background Image

...

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.

-Jimmy Carter

...

Please Wait....
Translating....

When Your Troops Go

Jimmy Carter

...

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.

Views: 81801

Topic

More From Jimmy Carter

Always Tell The Truth, And Take An Interest In Serving The People Around You As Much As Possible.

Telling The Truth

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

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.

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.

America Did Not Invent Human Rights. In A Very Real Sense Human Rights Invented America.

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.

The United States...has A Warm And A Unique Relationship Of Friendship With Israel That Is Morally Right. It Is Compatible With Our Deepest Religious Convictions, And It Is Right In Terms Of America's Own Strategic Interests. We Are Committed To Israel's Security, Prosperity, And Future As A Land That Has So Much To Offer The World.

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.

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.

Prostitution Thrives In The United States. We Focus In This Country On Punishing The Girls. For Every Brothel Owner Or Pimp Or Male Customer, There Are 50 Girls Who Are Arrested For Being Prostitutes. Other Countries Have Tried The Other Way Around, And It Works Beautifully...they Bring The Charges Against The Brothel Owners And The Pimps And The Male Customers, And They Do Not Prosecute The Girls, Who Quite Often Are Brought Into That Trade Involuntarily. It Works Quite Well, By The Way.

Because We Are Free, We Can Never Be Indifferent To The Fate Of Freedom Elsewhere.

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.

Unless Both Sides Win, No Agreement Can Be Permanent.

On The Basis Of Both Values And Interests, The Natural Relationship Between Islam And The United States Is One Of Friendship.

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.

The Government And The Church Are Two Different Realms Of Service, And Those In Political Office Have To Face A Subtle But Important Difference Between The Implementation Of The High Ideals Of Religious Faith And Public Duty.

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.

With Overwhelming Military Strength Now Deployed Against Him And With Intense Monitoring From Space Surveillance And The U.n. Inspection Team On The Ground, Any Belligerent Move By Saddam Against A Neighbor Would Be Suicidal....if Iraq Does Possess Such Concealed Weapons, As Is Quite Likely, Saddam Would Use Them Only In The Most Extreme Circumstances, In The Face Of An Invasion Of Iraq, When All Hope Of Avoiding The Destruction Of His Regime Is Lost.

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

Those Who Start War Often Know That Because Of Their High Political Position Their Own Lives Will Not Be In Danger. On The Diane Rehm Show.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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.

It Is Clear That Global Challenges Must Be Met With An Emphasis On Peace, In Harmony With Others, With Strong Alliances And International Consensus. Imperfect As It May Be, There Is No Doubt That This Can Best Be Done Through The United Nations, Not Merely To Preserve Peace But Also To Make Change, Even Radical Change, Without Violence.

Rosalynn Said, "jimmy, If We Could Only Get Prime Minister Begin And President Sadat Up Here On This Mountain For A Few Days, I Believe They Might Consider How They Could Prevent Another War Between Their Countries." That Gave Me The Idea, And A Few Weeks Later, I Invited Both Men To Join Me For A Series Of Private Talks. In September 1978, They Both Came To Camp David.

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

Our Income Tax System Is A Disgrace To The Human Race.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Government Ought To Stay Out Of The Prayer Business.

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.

There's No Way To Have A Peace Agreement Unless The Mediator Or Negotiator Looks At Both Sides From An Equal Basis.

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 .

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

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.

I Believe That We Are Given An Order By Jesus. One Of The Last Things He Did Was To Spread The Word Of God And He Being The Basis For Our Salvation. Christians Are Supposed To Be Evangelicals. And I Am.

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.

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

I Think I Was Identified As A Failed President Because I Wasn't Re-elected.

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

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Our Individual Fates Are Linked Our Futures Intertwined

War And Good Health Are Incompatible. There's No Way We Can Go [eradicate Diseases] Into An Area That Is At War.

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.

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

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.

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 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.

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.

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

When The Laws Are Written And Administered By The Most Powerful Leaders In A Society, It Is Human Nature For Them To Understand, Justify, And Protect The Interests Of Themselves And People Like Them. Many Injustices Arise From This Natural Human Failing.

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.

The Reduction Of Nuclear Arsenals And The Removal Of The Threat Of Worldwide Nuclear Destruction Is A Measure, In My Judgment, Ofthe Power And Strength Of A Great Nation.

A Strong Nation, Like A Strong Person, Can Afford To Be Gentle, Firm, Thoughtful, And Restrained. It Can Afford To Extend A Helping Hand To Others. It's A Weak Nation, Like A Weak Person, That Must Behave With Bluster And Boasting And Rashness And Other Signs Of Insecurity.

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

I'm Much More Introspective Than I Was, Say, Thirty Years Ago.

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

The Existing And Long-standing Use Of The Word 'evolution' In Our State's Textbooks Has Not Adversely Affected Georgians' Belief In The Omnipotence Of God As Creator Of The Universe, There Can Be No Incompatibility Between Christian Faith And Proven Facts Concerning Geology, Biology, And Astronomy. 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.

The Test Of A Government Is Not How Popular It Is With The Powerful And Privileged Few But How Honestly And Fairly It Deals With The Many Who Must Depend On It.

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.

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.

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

Life Is Just Too Short To Go Quail Hunting With The Wrong People.

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

I Think My Wife ... Is Sure Of My Loyalty.... She Knows How Hard I Work. She Knows How Tired I Am Every Night. She Knows I Have Fifty Or Sixty Reporters Watching Me Day And Night.

I Separated From The Southern Baptists When They Adopted The Discriminatory Attitude Towards Women, Because I Believe What Paul Taught In Galatians That There Is No Distinction In God's Eyes Between Men And Women, Slaves And Masters, Jews And Non-jews - Everybody Is Created Equally In The Eyes Of God.

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.

It Was The Darndest Thing I've Ever Seen. It Was Big, It Was Very Bright, It Changed Colors And It Was About The Size Of The Moon.. We Watched It For Ten Minutes, But None Of Us Could Figure Out What It Was. One Thing's For Sure, I'll Never Make Fun Of People Who Say They've Seen Unidentified Objects In The Sky.

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.

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.

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.

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

Common Humanity

You Always Get Back Much More Than You Give.

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

When I Was In The White House, I Was Confronted With The Challenge Of The Cold War. Both The Soviet Union And I Had 30,000 Nuclear Weapons That Could Destroy The Entire Earth And I Had To Maintain The Peace.

I Enjoyed Being President.

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 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.

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

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

All My Playmates Were Black. I Lived In A Little Community Called Archery (ph) In A Rural Area. And I Didn't Have Any White Neighbors At All. So All My Kids With Whom I Fought And Wrestled And Went Fishing And Worked In The Field And So Forth Were African-americans. And That Was My Life. So When I Got To Be School Age, We Had To Separate During The Daytime, But I Always Felt Like I Was In An Alien Environment When I Was In Plains, Georgia With White Kids. I Was Eager To Get Back Where I Belonged With My Black Playmates.

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

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.

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 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.

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 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.

America Has No Functioning Democracy At This Moment.

Every Act Of Energy Conservation... Is More Than Just Common Sense: I Tell You It Is An Act Of Patriotism.

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.

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.

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.

We Can Choose To Alleviate Suffering. We Can Choose To Work Together For Peace. We Can Make These Changes - And We Must.

Working Together

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

This Afternoon, I've Arranged For This Ceremony To Be Illuminated By Solar Power.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

We Know That A Peaceful World Cannot Long Exist, One-third Rich And Two-thirds Hungry.

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.

The Importation And Sale Of Marijuana Is Condemned And Punished As A Serious Crime, But We Accept As Legitimate The Manufacture And Sale Of An Infinitely More Addictive And Deadly Drug: The Nicotine In Cigarettes That Cost The Lives Of 390,000 American Citizens Last Year.

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.

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.

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.

Elvis Was A Symbol Of The Country's Vitality, Rebelliousness, And Good Humor.

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.

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.

The Measure Of A Society Is Found In How They Treat Their Weakest And Most Helpless Citizens.

Globalization, As Defined By Rich People Like Us, Is A Very Nice Thing... You Are Talking About The Internet, You Are Talking About Cell Phones, You Are Talking About Computers. This Doesn't Affect Two-thirds Of The People Of The World.

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.

To Me, Faith Is Not Just A Noun But Also A Verb

We Not Only Brought Peace To Many Countries And People Around The World, But We Never Dropped A Bomb, We Never Launched A Missile, And We Never Fired A Bullet While I Was In Office. Yet We Protected The Interests Of The American People In A Peaceful, But Strong Way.

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

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

Carter Is Doing A High-wire Act Over A Cesspool, Preaching All The Way. Sinclair Lewis, Thou Shouldst Be Living In This Hour. We Have A Warren Harding Impersonating Elmer Gantry.

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

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.

I Don't Think That Israel Has Any Legal Or Moral Justification For Their Massive Bombing Of The Entire Nation Of Lebanon.

It's Abominable, And It's A Disgrace To A Great Democracy To See What's Happened In Our Country. The Main Reason For That Has Been The Enormous Infusion Of High Quantities Of Money To Campaigns - Governors, Congress, President And The U.s. Senate.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

It's Clear That The True Problems Of Our Nation Are Much Deeper - Deeper Than Gasoline Lines Of Energy Shortages, Deeper Even Than Inflation Or Recession. And I Realize More Than Ever That As President I Need Your Help. So, I Decided To Reach Out And Listen To The Voices Of America.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

At The Beginning Of This Year Also, I Called Upon The North Korean Side To Open Dialog Between The Responsible Authorities Of The South And The North At Any Place, At Any Time, And At Any Level, In Order To Prevent A Recurrence Of War And To Cooperate To Speed Up The Peaceful Unification Of Our Fatherland. However, No Sincere Response Has Yet Been Made By North Korea.

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.

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. Human Identity Is No Longer Defined By What One Does, But By What One Owns. But We've Discovered That Owning Things And Consuming Things Does Not Satisfy Our Longing For Meaning. We've Learned That Piling Up Material Goods Cannot Fill The Emptiness Of Lives Which Have No Confidence Or Purpose.

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.

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

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

In The Bible Homosexuality Is Condemned, But Along With Divorce And Greed And Callousness Toward Poor People. So Its Elevation To A Highest Priority Among Some Religious Groups Has Been Very Disturbing To Me.

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

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.

Nobody Knows When You Make An Effort Or When You Plant A Seed If It Will Bear Fruit Or Not.

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.

We Cannot Speak Of Human Rights In Other Countries Unless We Are Going To Do Our Utmost To Protect The Rights Of Our Own People Here At Home.

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.

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.

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.

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

Making A Difference

It Would Be Almost Politically Suicidal For Members Of Congress To Espouse A Balanced Position Between Israel And Palestine, To Suggest That Israel Comply With International Law Or To Speak In Defense Of Justice Or Human Rights For Palestinians. If They Did So, They Couldn't Be Reelected.

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?

Trust Is Very Much A Part Of Our Democracy.

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

Thomas Jefferson Declared, Stating That He Was Speaking On Behalf Of The Other Founding Fathers, ...(that) We Should Build A Wall Between The Church And State.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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'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.

We Have The Heaviest Concentration Of Lawyers On Earth -- One For Every Five-hundred Americans; Three Times As Many As Are In England, Four Times As Many As Are In West Germany, Twenty-one Times As Many As There Are In Japan. We Have More Litigation, But I Am Not Sure That We Have More Justice. No Resources Of Talent And Training In Our Own Society, Even Including The Medical Care, Is More Wastefully Or Unfairly Distributed Than Legal Skills. Ninety Percent Of Our Lawyers Serve 10 Percent Of Our People. We Are Over-lawyered And Under-represented.

For This Generation, Ours, Life Is Nuclear Survival, Liberty Is Human Rights, The Pursuit Of Happiness Is A Planet Whose Resources Are Devoted To The Physical And Spiritual Nourishment Of Its Inhabitants.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

We All Know Grandparents Whose Values Transcend Passing Fads And Pressures, And Who Possess The Wisdom Of Distilled Pain And Joy.

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

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.

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.

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.

Trending Author

Leonard Boswell

Dominic Chianese

Martin McGuinness

Luther Campbell

Category