Generally students are the best vehicles for passing on ideas, for their thoughts are plastic and can be molded and they can adjust the ideas of old men to the shape of reality as they find it in villages and hills of China or in ghettos and suburbs of America.
There is no excitement anywhere in the world, short of war, to match the excitement of the American presidential campaign.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the intense excitement and energy surrounding American presidential campaigns, likening it to the thrill of war.
Theodore White's quote highlights the unparalleled fervor and enthusiasm that American presidential campaigns generate. Drawing a dramatic comparison to war, he suggests that few experiences in the world can ignite the same level of passion and interest among the populace as the political contests that shape the future of the nation. This statement reflects on the unique nature of democratic processes and the genuine engagement they provoke from citizens, showcasing how politics can electrify and mobilize masses.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be referenced during a community discussion on the importance of participating in elections.
More from Theodore White
All quotes βPower in America today is control of the means of communication.
I happen to think that American politics is one of the noblest arts of mankind; and I cannot do anything else but write about it.
Politics in America is the binding secular religion.
History is always best written generations after the event, when clouded fact and memory have all fused into what can be accepted as truth, whether it be so or not.
To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform.
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Of course Brexit means that something is wrong in Europe. But Brexit means also that something was wrong in Britain.
Much of political decision-making concentrates power in the hands of those already inside the circle, who tend to be men. Excluding women may not be the intention, but when they are not invited into the room where decisions are made, you can see how it happens.
The people who cast the votes don't decide an election, the people who count the votes do.
Iraq may have been a preview of that, but it's still redeemable if we get out fast. In a war with Iran, we'll get dragged down for 20 or 30 years. The world will condemn us. We will lose our position in the world.