While you cannot deliver policies without principles, you cannot deliver principles without having power. You have quickly to move to a stage where, emphasising your principles, you build a programme, then call for popular support.
Gordon BrownRead
Our mission is, in truth, historic and world changing - to build, over the next fifty years and beyond, a global low carbon economy. And it is not overdramatic to say that the character and course of the coming century will be set by how we measure up to this challenge
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of transitioning to a low carbon economy to impact future generations.
Gordon Brown highlights the urgent mission of creating a global low carbon economy as a transformative challenge for the world. He suggests that the actions taken in the next fifty years will significantly influence the character and trajectory of the upcoming century, making it imperative for society to rise to this ecological challenge without overstating its importance.
In practice
During a climate change conference, this quote can inspire policymakers to commit to a sustainable future.
While you cannot deliver policies without principles, you cannot deliver principles without having power. You have quickly to move to a stage where, emphasising your principles, you build a programme, then call for popular support.
No one should be held back from realising their potential by fears that they will not be able to afford to go to university or that they will graduate with unmanageable levels of debt.
To my astonishment, everything that I had assumed was now questioned by the findings. What started off as a search for identity that appeared to be purely Scottish in origin ended up as a discovery of my migrant roots - indeed an understanding that almost all of our families, at some stage, have been migrants - and my European roots.
Collective European Union action could mean no hiding places for evaders, no safe haven for tax avoiders, and no treasure islands for money launderers.
As much as people say they love change, they love it when you change - not when you want them to change. Even when it comes to processes they don't like, they're afraid of change.
But Mockingjays were never a weapon," said Madge. "They’re just songbirds. Right?" "Yeah, I guess so,” I said, But it’s not true. A mockingbird is just a songbird. A mockingjay is a creature the capitol never intended to exist. They hadn’t counted on the highly controlled jabberjay having the brains to adapt to the wild, to thrive in a new form. They hadn’t anticipated its will to live.
If you want your life to be more rewarding, you have to change the way you think.
Out of this darkness a new world can arise, not to be constructed by our minds so much as to emerge from our dreams. Even though we cannot see clearly how it's going to turn out, we are still called to let the future into our imagination. We will never be able to build what we have not first cherished in our hearts.
Whether it's racism, homophobia, misogyny, transphobia, xenophobia, religious intolerance or other bias - we demand to live in a country where we can be safe to be who we are, believe what we want and love whomever we want.
Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter - but beautiful - struggle for a new world.
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