The men who have guided the destiny of the United States have found the strength for their tasks by going to their knees. This private unity of public men and their God is an enduring source of reassurance for the people of America.
Interpretation
Leaders draw strength and guidance from their faith and spirituality, providing reassurance to their followers.
This quote by Lyndon B. Johnson highlights the idea that influential leaders in American history have often relied on their spiritual beliefs when faced with important decisions. It suggests that their connection to a higher power not only strengthens their resolve but also serves as a source of comfort and confidence for the public they serve. By going to 'their knees', it emphasizes humility and the importance of seeking guidance beyond oneself.
In practice
During a speech about the values of leadership, one might say, 'As Lyndon B. Johnson once noted, the men who have guided our nation have turned to their faith for strength.'
You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say, "you are free to compete with all the others," and still justly believe that you have been completely fair. We seek not just legal equity but human ability, not just equality as a right and a theory but equality as a fact and equality as a result.
Peace is a journey of a thousand miles and it must be taken one step at a time.
We do this in order to slow down aggression. We do this to increase the confidence of the brave people of South Vietnam who have bravely born this brutal battle for so many years with so many casualties. And we do this to convince the leaders of North Vietnam-and all who seek to share their conquest-of a simple fact: We will not be defeated. We will not grow tired. We will not withdraw either openly or under the cloak of a meaningless agreement.
So far are we generally from thinking what we often say of the shortness of life, that at the time when it is necessarily shortest we form projects which we delay to execute, indulge such expectations as nothing but along train of events can gratify, and suffer those passions to gain upon us which are only excusable in the prime of life.
You do not examine legislation in the light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered, but in the light of the wrongs it would do and the harms it would cause if improperly administered.
If government is to serve any purpose it is to do for others what they are unable to do for themselves.
Reason and judgment are the qualities of a leader.
Leadership is taking responsibility while others are making excuses.
When we say there's a dearth of women directors, it's not that there's a lack of women who direct: it's a lack of opportunities and access for women to direct and be supported in that.
This assumption of Negro leadership in the ghetto, then, must not be confined to matters of religion, education, and social uplift; it must deal with such fundamental forces in life as make these things possible.
When other Generals make mistakes their armies are beaten; when I get into a hole, my men pull me out of it.
Poor leaders push us towards the goal. Great leaders guide us through the journey.
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