I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the significant struggles faced by a large portion of the population regarding basic needs.
Franklin D. Roosevelt's quote draws attention to the dire conditions experienced by a significant part of the nation, emphasizing the urgent need for social reform and support for those who are underserved. It serves as a call to action to recognize and address the disparities in housing, clothing, and nutrition that affect many individuals, urging society to respond with compassion and policy changes for improvement.
In practice
In a speech about social justice, I referenced Roosevelt’s quote to emphasize the importance of addressing poverty in our policies.
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.
When you want to change things, you can't please everyone. If you do please everyone, you aren't making enough progress.
If we can sacrifice something comfortable, that we're 'too good at,' that might even be holding us back, we'll have more room to grow into the person we want to be.
After weeks on the road, listening to a language you don’t understand, using a currency whose value you don’t comprehend, walking down streets you’ve never walked down before, you discover that your old “I,” along with everything you ever learned, is absolutely no use at all in the face of those new challenges, and you begin to realize that buried deep in your unconscious mind there is someone much more interesting and adventurous and more open to the world and to new experiences.
I think if we're going to be serious as a city, as a country, about addressing climate change, addressing inequality and racial disparities, we have to start taking action at the scale that matches the urgency of the problems.
All human nature vigorously resists grace because grace changes us and the change is painful.
Just try walking very slowly, and you will be surprised - a new quality of awareness starts happening in the body. Eat slowly, and you will be surprised - there is great relaxation. Do everything slowly... just to change the old pattern, just to come out of old habits.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.