It's important to underscore this overriding fact: women are not just victims of conflict-they are agents of peace and agents of change.
One day after laying a wreath at the tomb of Martin Luther King Jr., President Bush appoints a federal judge who has built his career around dismantling Dr. King's legacy.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the contradiction in honoring a legacy while simultaneously undermining it through actions.
Hillary Clinton's quote points out the irony of commemorating Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy by laying a wreath at his tomb, only to follow it up with the appointment of a judge known for activities that dismantle the very principles King stood for. This reflection emphasizes the complexities and contradictions often found in political actions and how they can silently contradict the ideals they outwardly appear to support.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech discussing social justice, one might reference this quote to highlight the importance of consistent advocacy for civil rights.
More from Hillary Clinton
All quotes βThe worst thing that can happen in a democracy - as well as in an individual's life - is to become cynical about the future and lose hope.
First, we parents have to back up school authority and quit making excuses for our kids when they misbehave.
The first lesson I've learned is that no matter what you do in your life, you have to figure out your own internal rhythms - I mean, what works for you doesn't necessarily work for your friend.
I feel like every day, every minute I have to make the most of.
It does not matter what country we live in, who our leaders are, or even who we are. Because we are human, we therefore have rights. And because we have rights, governments are bound to protect them.
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If you want to rip the heart out of a democracy, you go after the facts. That's what modern authoritarians do. You lie. All the time. Then, you say it's your opponents and the journalists who lie.
Optimism comes less easily today, not because democracy is less vigorous, but because democracy's enemies have refined their instruments of repression.
They are patriotic in time of war because it is to their interest to be so, but in time of peace they follow power and the dollar wherever they may lead.
The established politicians, who before the war preached national pride and Christian love, were the first to collaborate with the Germans. But the communists, who as children we'd been taught to fear, kept a resistance movement alive, living and dying true to their ideals.
However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.