Perhaps if all the peoples of the world understand what war really means, we would eliminate it.
The very first time a politician puts you in his target is sometimes a disappointment, because perhaps you thought you were friends and getting along well... But it is not something that you dwelled on. At least, I did not.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the disappointment that can arise when personal relationships are affected by political dynamics.
Walter Cronkite expresses the notion that in politics, personal relationships can sometimes be misleading. When a politician unexpectedly targets you for criticism or attack, it can feel like a betrayal, especially if you believed there was mutual respect and camaraderie. However, Cronkite emphasizes the importance of not dwelling on such disappointments, suggesting a pragmatic approach to navigating political landscapes.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about political transparency, one might quote Cronkite to highlight how personal connections can be misinterpreted in political contexts.
More from Walter Cronkite
All quotes βThe death of Churchill at 90 was one of those watershed moments in which the obituary rises to a special calling beyond the sharing of remembered times. It gave an older generation a rare opportunity to explain something of itself to its children.
I suppose popularity is measured by ratings. If a broadcaster is known as the leader because of ratings, then that's where people most want to be seen and heard, so there's no question that there's an advantage.
Objective journalism and an opinion column are about as similar as the Bible and Playboy magazine.
I feel no compulsion to be a pundit. As a matter of fact, I really don't have that much to say about most things. Working with hard news satisfies me completely.
I think that our comfort is in our history.
Similar quotes
Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote...that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.
The essence of a free government consists in an effectual control of rivalries.
We should not expect the state to appear in the guise of an extravagant good fairy at every christening, a loquacious companion at every stage of life's journey, and the unknown mourner at every funeral.
It has been observed that a pure democracy if it were practicable would be the most perfect government. Experience has proved that no position is more false than this. The ancient democracies in which the people themselves deliberated never possessed one good feature of government. Their very character was tyranny; their figure deformity.
Government actually grew during the Reagan years.
Whenever you have political conflict, such as the one that we have now between Russia and Ukraine, but also in many other conflicts around the world, it has always proved to be right to try again and again to solve such a conflict.