You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes that individuals often have greater potential and capability than they realize.
This quote by Jimmy Carter highlights the notion that people can achieve their necessary goals and may even surpass their own expectations in the process. It encourages resilience and self-belief, suggesting that through determination and effort, one can unlock untapped capabilities, often achieving more than anticipated.
In practice
In a motivational speech to college graduates, one might say, 'Remember, you can do what you have to do.'
Acknowledging the physical realities of our planet does not mean a dismal future of endless sacrifice. In fact, acknowledging these realities is the first step in dealing with them. We can meet the resource problems of the world - water, food, minerals, farmlands, forests, overpopulation, pollution - if we tackle them with courage and foresight.
The preeminent obstacle to peace is Israel's colonization of Palestine.
I would say the biggest handicap we have right now is some nutcases in our country that don't believe in global warming. I think they are going to change their position because of pressure from individuals, because the evidence of the ravages of global warming is already there.
If I were president, I'd be very glad to see the Palestinians have a nation recognized by the United Nations. There's no downside to it.
My understanding of racial discrimination as a child was highly distorted because the most prominent man in Archery was an African-American bishop. When he came home from up north, where he was in charge of A.M.E. churches in five states, it was front-page news. He was the most successful man in my life.
Our American values are not luxuries but necessities, not the salt in our bread, but the bread itself. Our common vision of a free and just society is our greatest source of cohesion at home and strength abroad, greater than the bounty of our material blessings.
Πll I need is one life, one try, one breath, I'm one man._x000D_ _x000D_ What I stand for speaks for itself...they don't understand.
Rhetoric is a poor substitute for action, and we have trusted only to rhetoric. If we are really to be a great nation, we must not merely talk; we must act big.
We can never have too much preparation and training. We must be a strong competitor. We must adhere staunchly to the basic principle that anything less than full equality is not enough. If we compromise on that principle our soul is dead.
Our problem is not that we don't have power, so much as that we tend to not use the power we have.
It's a real strength for me that I've never minded the training process. It's something I enjoy. I really like being in the gym or, certainly, on the field.
We can always redeem the man who aspires and strives.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.