If freedom makes social progress possible, so social progress strengthens and enlarges freedom. The two are inseparable partners in the great adventure of humanity.
It is the right of government to protect the weak; it is the right of the weak to find in their courts fair treatment before the law.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Governments have a duty to protect vulnerable individuals, and those individuals have the right to seek justice and fairness.
This quote by Robert Kennedy emphasizes the dual responsibilities of a government and its citizens. It asserts that while it is the government's role to safeguard the rights and well-being of the weak and vulnerable in society, it is equally important for those individuals to be able to seek and receive fair treatment in the judicial system. This highlights the fundamental principles of justice, equality, and support for the marginalized.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on social justice to highlight the importance of legal protections for marginalized communities.
More from Robert Kennedy
All quotes βElections remind us not only of the rights but the responsibilities of citizenship in a democracy.
Within the United States, we have put great emphasis upon political freedoms. Because it has been our experience that these freedoms can lead to others.
It is one thing to open job opportunities. It is another to train people to fill them, or to persuade American enterprise to seek Negro as well as white applicants.
Our attitude towards immigration reflects our faith in the American ideal. We have always believed it possible for men and women who start at the bottom to rise as far as the talent and energy allow. Neither race nor place of birth should affect their chances.
The Gross National Product measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile, and it can tell us everything about America - except whether we are proud to be Americans.
Similar quotes
The one thing I was always told is you absolutely have to tell truth to power. Whether you're a second lieutenant working with a captain and a lieutenant colonel, or a four-star general working with the Office Secretary of Defense and the White House, the decision makers have got to have ground truth.
As president, I was more successful; I had more opportunity than as prime minister. Why? I didn't have the power to give orders, to command, but I had the opportunity to call people to volunteer. In my period of presidency, I never heard the word 'no.'
Genuine leadership comes from the quality of your vision and your ability to spark others to extraordinary performance.
You have to work with people you don't like. You have to work with people who are working against your interests to try to bring them around. If you don't talk to them, you end up in the same place. And you never achieve anything.
The king shall singly deliberate over secret matters; for ministers have their own ministers, and these latter some of their own; this kind of successive line of ministers tends to the disclosure of counsels.
Those who purify your water, inspect your meat, and test your kids toys, as well as a huge number of nurses, teachers, and our soldiers, are public employees. The firefighters who don't hesitate to rush toward danger while you run away from it - they are all public employees.