Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.
Ronald ReaganRead
No matter how big and powerful government gets, and the many services it provides, it can never take the place of volunteers.
Interpretation
Volunteers play an irreplaceable role in society that cannot be matched by government services.
This quote emphasizes the value of volunteers in society and suggests that no matter how extensive or powerful government is, it cannot replicate the personal touch, commitment, and passion that volunteers bring to their communities. It implies that the efforts of individuals who freely give their time and energy are essential and unique, serving purposes that bureaucracies cannot fulfill.
In practice
In a speech about civic engagement, I mentioned Reagan's view on the importance of volunteer work.
Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.
Our status as a free society and world power is not based on brute strength. When we've taken up arms, it has been for the defense of freedom for ourselves and for other peaceful nations who needed our help. But now, faced with the development of weapons with immense destructive power, we've no choice but to maintain ready defense forces that are second to none. Yes, the cost is high, but the price of neglect would be infinitely higher.
I'm spending more time at this library in four days than I did at the Eureka College Library in four years.
I'm not a politician by profession. I am a citizen who decided I had to be personally involved in order to stand up for my own values and beliefs. My candidacy is based on my record, and for that matter, my entire life.
My fellow citizens, our nation is poised for greatness. We must do what we know is right, and do it with all our might. Let history say of us: "These were golden years - when the American Revolution was reborn, when freedom gained new life, and America reached for her best."
We must have faith in the people of this country and faith in our principles.
April is the cruelest month, T.S. Eliot wrote, by which I think he meant (among other things) that springtime makes people crazy. We expect too much, the world burgeons with promises it can't keep, all passion is really a setup, and we're doomed to get our hearts broken yet again. I agree, and would further add: Who cares? Every spring I go out there anyway, around the bend, unconditionally. ... Come the end of the dark days, I am more than joyful. I'm nuts.
Faith does not, in the realist, spring from the miracle but the miracle from faith. If the realist once believes, then he is bound by his very realism to admit the miraculous also.
There is something about poverty that smells like death.
The will to domination is a ravenous beast. There are never enough warm bodies to satiate its monstrous hunger. Once alive, this beast grows and grows, feeding on all the life around it, scouring the earth to find new sources of nourishment. This beast lives in each man who battens on female servitude.
Religion, art, and science flourish best in a free society. True, freedom does not afford much opportunity for grand gestures. It has little room for martyrs. But life is not supposed to be about dying well. It is about living well.
While I fear that we're drawn to what abandons us, and to what seems most likely to abandon us, in the end I believe we're defined by what embraces us.
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