But this is the great danger America faces. That we will cease to be one nation and become instead a collection of interest groups: city against suburb, region against region, individual against individual. Each seeking to satisfy private wants.
Interpretation
The quote warns against fragmentation within society, where individual interests overshadow collective unity.
Barbara Jordan's quote underscores a critical concern for the social fabric of America, highlighting the risk of disunity that arises when personal or regional interests take precedence over the collective well-being. She advocates for a cohesive national identity, urging that the potential for division among various groups could lead to a weakened society. This fragmentation threatens the fundamental principle of unity that is essential for a functioning democracy.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech addressing community leaders about the importance of collaboration for the common good.
Let's all understand that these guiding principles cannot be discarded for short-term political gains. They represent what this country is all about. They are indigenous to the American idea. And these are principles which are not negotiable.
We want to be in control of our lives. Whether we are jungle fighters, craftsmen, company men, gamesmen, we want to be in control. And when the government erodes that control, we are not comfortable.
What we have to do is strike a balance between the idea that government should do everything and the idea, the belief, that government ought to do nothing. Strike a balance.
My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total, and I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminuation, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution. It is reason and not passion which must guide our deliberations, guide our debate, and guide our decision.
Americanization means the process of becoming an American. It means civic incorporation, becoming a part of the polity - becoming one of us. But that does not mean conformity. We are more than a melting pot, we are a kaleidoscope, where every turn of history refracts new light on the old promise.
We cannot improve on the system of government handed down to us by the founders of the Republic. There is no way to improve upon that. But what we can do is to find new ways to implement that system and realize our destiny.
He that offereth sacrifice of the goods of the poor is as one that sacrificeth the son in the presence of his father.
At first it seems obvious, but the more you think about it the stranger the deductions from this axiom seem to become; in the end you cease to understand what is meant by it.
We are always complaining that our days are few, and acting as though there would be no end to them.
The peoples of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarism when they learned to cultivate the olive and the vine.
Nobody can be exactly me. Sometimes even I have trouble doing it.
For the whole earth is the tomb of famous men; not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions in their own country, but in foreign lands there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men.
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