A nation, like a person, has a mind - a mind that must be kept informed and alert, that must know itself, that understands the hopes and needs of its neighbors - all the other nations that live within the narrowing circle of the world
Interpretation
Nations, much like individuals, need awareness and understanding of themselves and others to thrive.
This quote emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and global consciousness for nations, akin to how individuals must understand their surroundings and the desires of others to function effectively. Roosevelt suggests that just as a person should remain informed and considerate to thrive, a nation must maintain an informed mentality to foster relationships and cooperation among other nations in a rapidly evolving world.
In practice
During a diplomatic meeting, one might quote Roosevelt to emphasize the importance of understanding other nations' needs.
There has been one persistent theme through all Axis propaganda. This theme has been that Americans are admittedly rich, that Americans have considerable industrial power - but that Americans are soft and decadent, that they cannot and will not unite and work and fight. ... Let them tell that to the Marines!
The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.
A war of ideas can no more be won without books than a naval war can be won without ships. Books, like ships, have the toughest armor, the longest cruising range, and mount the most powerful guns.
Better the occasional faults of a government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.
A world turned into a stereotype, a society converted into a regiment, a life translated into a routine, make it difficult for either art or artists to survive. Crush individuality in society and you crush art as well. Nourish the conditions of a free life and you nourish the arts, too.
Don't take shadows too seriously. Reality is your only safety. Continue to reject illusion.
Clay is moulded to make a vessel, but the utility of the vessel lies in the space where there is nothing. . . . Thus, taking advantage of what is, we recognize the utility of what is not.
The way you eat is inseparable from your core beliefs about being alive. Your relationship with food is an exact mirror of your feelings about love, fear, anger, meaning and transformation.
Man is born to live, to suffer, and to die, and what befalls him is a tragic lot. There is no denying this in the final end. But we must deny it all along the way.
This is the fast lane, folks...and some of us like it here.
We view things not only from different sides, but with different eyes; we have no wish to find them alike.
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