The damage done to this country by its own misconduct in the last few months and years, to its very heart and soul, is far greater and longer lasting than any damage that any terrorist could possibly inflict upon us.
Interpretation
The internal issues of a nation can have more damaging effects than external threats.
The quote by Theodore C. Sorensen highlights the detrimental impact that a country's own actions and misconduct can have on its fundamental values and integrity. It underscores the idea that while terrorism poses a significant threat, the erosion of a nation's core principles due to its own behavior can lead to more profound and enduring harm, affecting its identity and future.
In practice
In a political speech about the importance of integrity in governance, one could reference this quote.
Our surest protection against assault from abroad has been not all our guards, gates and guns, or even our two oceans, but our essential goodness as a people. Our richest asset has been not our material wealth but our values.
We have contingency plans for war, but none for peace.
Public opinion rarely considers the needs of the next generation or the history of the last. It is frequently hampered by myths and misinformation, by stereotypes and shibboleths, and by an inate resistance to innovation.
What matters is that the majority of American people have become complacent in a senseless injustice that occurs all around them. What matters is that most American politicians have become more easily swayed by money than by the people who voted them into office.
In time of this grave national danger, when all excess income should go to win the war, no American citizen ought to have a net income, after he has paid his taxes, of more than $25,000 a year.
A good government may, indeed, redress the grievances of an injured people; but a strong people can alone build up a great nation.
Nixon had the unique ability to make his enemies seem honorable, and we developed a keen sense of fraternity. Some of my best friends have hated Nixon all their lives. My mother hates Nixon, my son hates Nixon, I hate Nixon, and this hatred has brought us together.
A country survives its legislation. That truth should not comfort the conservative nor depress the radical. For it means that public policy can enlarge its scope and increase its audacity, can try big experiments without trembling too much over the result. This nation could enter upon the most radical experiments and could afford to fail in them.
Terrorism works better as a tactic for dictatorships, or for would-be dictators, than for revolutionaries .
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