Our chief defect is that we are more given to talking about things than to doing them.
Jawaharlal NehruRead
Democracy and socialism are means to an end, not the end itself.
Interpretation
Democracy and socialism are tools used to achieve goals, rather than ultimate objectives in themselves.
Jawaharlal Nehru's quote emphasizes that both democracy and socialism should be viewed as methods to create a better society rather than final destinations. This perspective encourages individuals and societies to focus on the values and objectives that underlie these systems, such as justice, equality, and freedom, instead of getting lost in the ideologies themselves.
In practice
In a discussion about political systems, you can use this quote to remind others that the purpose of democracy is to serve the people's needs.
Our chief defect is that we are more given to talking about things than to doing them.
India has known the innocence and insouciance of childhood, the passion and abandon of youth, and the ripe wisdom of maturity that comes from long experience of pain and pleasure; and over and over a gain she has renewed her childhood and youth and age
Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will.
Crises and deadlocks when they occur have at least this advantage, that they force us to think.
What we really are matters more than what other people think of us.
Loyal and efficient work in a great cause, even though it may not be immediately recognized, ultimately bears fruit.
No part of the education of a politician is more indispensable than the fighting of elections.
The potential for the abuse of power through digital networks - upon which we the people now depend for nearly everything, including our politics - is one of the most insidious threats to democracy in the Internet age.
We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.
It's impossible, I think, however much I'd become disillusioned politically or evolve into a post-political person, I don't think I'd ever change my view that socialism is the best political moment humans have ever come up with.
One of the statistics that always amazes me is the approval of the Chinese government, not elected, is over 80 percent. The approval of the U.S. government, fully elected, is 19 percent. Well, we elected these people and they didn't elect those people. Isn't it supposed to be different? Aren't we supposed to like the people that we elected?
May the States be so bound to each other as forever to defy European politics. Upon that union, their consequence, their happiness, will depend. This is the first wish of a heart more truly American than words can express.
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