Journalism still, in a democracy, is the essential force to get the public educated and mobilized to take action on behalf of our ancient ideals.
Doris Kearns GoodwinRead
The past is not simply the past, but a prism through which the subject filters his own changing self-image.
Interpretation
The past shapes our self-perception and how we view ourselves can evolve over time.
This quote by Doris Kearns Goodwin suggests that our understanding of the past is not fixed; rather, it is refracted through our current self-image and experiences. As we change and grow, the way we interpret our past also shifts, influencing our identity and perspective on life.
In practice
In a motivational speech about personal growth, you can use this quote to emphasize the importance of evolving one's self-image.
Journalism still, in a democracy, is the essential force to get the public educated and mobilized to take action on behalf of our ancient ideals.
We've got to figure out a way that we give a private sphere for our public leaders. We're not gonna get the best people in public life if we don't do that.
Once a president gets to the White House, the only audience that is left that really matters is history.
That is what leadership is all about: staking your ground ahead of where opinion is and convincing people, not simply following the popular opinion of the moment.
I am a historian. With the exception of being a wife and mother, it is who I am. And there is nothing I take more seriously.
Obama does seem to have what both FDR and Lincoln had, which is the recognition that you have to hold back at times and then wait to come forward.
We do not want churches because they will teach us to quarrel about God. We do not want to learn that. We may quarrel with men sometimes about things on this earth, but we never quarrel about the Great Spirit. We do not want to learn that.
Two may talk and one may hear, but three cannot take part in a conversation of the most sincere and searching sort.
Men judge by the complexion of the sky The state and inclination of the day.
I know that a man who shows me his wealth is like the beggar who shows me his poverty; they are both looking for alms from me, the rich man for the alms of my envy, the poor man for the alms of my guilt.
There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.
Misunderstandings and neglect occasion more mischief in the world than malice and wickedness.
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