We will be judged. There will be an accounting; there will be a reckoning sooner or later. It will either come from ourselves and our own conscience, or it will come from our kids when they ask that inconvenient question: 'What were you doing when they turned those kids back from the border?'
Interpretation
We are all accountable for our actions, and this accountability will manifest either through our own conscience or through future generations.
This quote from Beto O'Rourke speaks to the inevitability of accountability for our actions, particularly in a moral context. He suggests that we will be judged, not just by ourselves but also by our children, who will question our decisions and actions regarding significant social issues like immigration. The quote serves as a reminder to consider the long-term impacts of our actions and decisions on future generations, highlighting the importance of ethical responsibility.
In practice
In a speech about social justice, one might quote this to highlight the importance of moral responsibility.
We can either be governed by fear - fear of immigrants, fear of Muslims, call the press the enemy of the people, tear kids away from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border - or we can be governed by our ambitions and our aspirations and our desire to make the most out of all of us. And that's America at its best.
I can think of nothing more American than to peacefully stand up or take a knee for your rights - anytime, anywhere, anyplace.
The theologian who labours without joy is not a theologian at all.
Men seldom, or rather never for a length of time and deliberately, rebel against anything that does not deserve rebelling against.
Life is an unanswered question, but let's still believe in the dignity and importance of the question.
Divorced from the cosmos, from nature, from society and from each other, we have become fractured and fragmented.
The arbitrary rule of a just and enlightened prince is always bad. His virtues are the most dangerous and the surest form of seduction: they lull a people imperceptibly into the habit of loving, respecting, and serving his successor, whoever that successor may be, no matter how wicked or stupid.
All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand! Oh, oh, oh!
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