When it becomes a bloody reality, we have to come together and look at what can be done to return to the order of peace, ... There is no alternative to it.
Shimon PeresRead
David Ben-Gurion was a mythic figure, the founding father of Israel and a modern-day prophet, but he was also a real man who stormed through history on human legs. It was my great privilege to know him and work with him for many years.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on David Ben-Gurion's significant role in the establishment of Israel, highlighting both his legendary status and his humanity.
Shimon Peres expresses admiration for David Ben-Gurion, recognizing him as both a legendary leader and a relatable human being. This duality emphasizes the impact Ben-Gurion had on Israeli history while also acknowledging the vibrant, personal presence he maintained in the lives of those who worked with him. Peres' words suggest that great leaders are not just historical figures, but also individuals who walk among us, shaping our realities with their actions and decisions.
Themes
LeadershipHistoryIsraelHumanityLegacy
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech commemorating a national leader, I might quote Shimon Peres to illustrate the impact of great figures.
More from Shimon Peres
All quotes →I didn't plan to be a politician. The founder of our country, David Ben-Gurion, called me from the kibbutz to serve in the underground. We were short of manpower, short of arms. I was 24 years old. I was supposed to serve my country for one or two years. I am 89 years old this year, and I keep going.
Shimon PeresRead
The United States is the only power in history that became great by giving and not by taking. I think the crisis was when the United States had more money than ideas. Money doesn't produce money. Ideas produce money.
Shimon PeresRead
The problem of the Middle East is poverty more than politics.
Shimon PeresRead
The Iranian regime suppresses its own people as well as others in the region. It prevents peace by sponsoring terror globally. With the ultimate weapon that it is deceptively developing, the regime aims to gain hegemony over the entire Middle East and hold the world's economy hostage.
Shimon PeresRead
Early in the morning, I fell in love with the girl that later on became my wife. At that time, we were so naive. I wanted to charm her, so I read her Capital by Marx. I thought somehow she would be convinced by the strength of his criticism about capital.
Shimon PeresRead
Similar quotes
Your grandparents came of age in the Great Depression, when everyday life was about deprivation and sacrifice, when the economic conditions of the time were so grave and so unrelenting it would have been easy enough for the American dream to fade away.
Tom BrokawRead
Never to forget the Holocaust was not only against Jews. It was mostly against Jews but it was also against homosexuals, gypsies and, let's not forget, people with disability.
Ruth WestheimerRead
The war for our Union, with all the constitutional issues which it settled, and all the military lessons which it gathered in, has throughout its dilatory length but one meaning in the eyes of history. It freed the country from the social plague which until then had made political development impossible in the United States. More and more, as the years pass, does the meaning stand forth as the sole meaning.
William JamesRead
It is like writing history with lightning and my only regret is that it is all so terribly true.
Woodrow WilsonRead
During the twentieth century, men fought on behalf of nationalism. Yet the wars they fought were also engendered by dislocations in world markets and by social revolution stimulated by the coming of the industrial age.
Zbigniew BrzezinskiRead
In Brazil, the history of the interaction between blancos and indios - whites and Indians - often reads like an extended epitaph. Tribes were wiped out by disease and massacres; languages and songs were obliterated.
David GrannRead