The point of asylum is not to declare to the world what country you think is the pinnacle of civilization. The point of asylum is to find a country that's both willing and able to protect you from political persecution. In no way is asylum an endorsement of a country's politics, laws, or values.
Interpretation
Asylum is about safety, not a statement of a country's superiority.
This quote emphasizes that seeking asylum is primarily a means of escaping political persecution rather than an endorsement of the asylum-granting country's political or social system. It highlights the importance of finding refuge and security for those in danger, without implying agreement with the politics of the host nation.
In practice
In a speech about human rights, one might reference this quote to illustrate the importance of protecting individuals fleeing danger.
There are different ways that kids who are gay take on the rejection and alienation they feel. The way I dealt with it was to say, 'You know what? You're imposing judgments on me and condemnations, but I don't accept them. I'm going to instead turn the light on you and see what your flaws are and impose the same judgmental standards on you.'
There is a massive apparatus within the United States government that with complete secrecy has been building this enormous structure that has only one goal, and that is to destroy privacy and anonymity, not just in the United States but around the world.
Nobody has the right to shield any idea as so sacred it can’t be challenged. ... Almost all human progress is driven by people who stood up and said ‘I disagree’ with this idea that society at the time considered to be the most precious.’
It's hard to imagine a more potent sign of a weak, declining empire than having one's national 'credibility' depend upon periodically bombing other countries.
The fact that war is the word we use for almost everything—on terrorism, drugs, even poverty—has certainly helped to desensitize us to its invocation; if we wage wars on everything, how bad can they be?
Incestuous, homogeneous fiefdoms of self-proclaimed expertise are always rank-closing and mutually self-defending, above all else.
The principle can be established that for a man who does not cheat what he believes to be true must determine his actions.
Intellectual generalities are always interesting, but generalities in morals mean absolutely nothing.
Everything is full and pure at its source and precisely there, not outside.
Men are always more inclined to pitch their estimate of the enemy's strength too high than too low, such is human nature.
Don't minimize the importance of luck in determining life's course.
But when I call for a hero, out comes my lazy old self; so I never know who I am, nor how many I am or will be. I'd love to be able to touch a bell and summon the real me, because if I really need myself, I mustn't disappear.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.