Afghanistan's borders are arbitrary, drawn to meet 19th-century political needs rather than to respect ethnic or religious patterns.
Stephen KinzerRead
Rwanda has emerged from the devastation of genocide and become more secure and prosperous than anyone had a right to expect.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Rwanda has transformed remarkably after a tragic past, achieving peace and progress.
This quote highlights Rwanda's dramatic recovery from the horrors of genocide, emphasizing the nation's unexpected success and stability in the aftermath of such devastation. It serves as a powerful example of resilience, showing how a country can rebuild and redefine itself despite immense challenges.
Themes
RwandaGenocideResilienceRecoverySuccess
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about overcoming adversity in life.
More from Stephen Kinzer
All quotes βGuerrilla leaders win wars by being paranoid and ruthless. Once they take power, they are expected to abandon those qualities and embrace opposite ones: tolerance, compromise and humility. Almost none manages to do so.
Stephen KinzerRead
Accepting that Arabs have the right to elect their own leaders means accepting the rise of governments that do not share America's pro-Israel militancy.
Stephen KinzerRead
After installing friendly leaders in Iran and Guatemala, the United States lost interest in promoting democracy in either country.
Stephen KinzerRead
Want to depose the government of a poor country with resources? Want to bash Muslims? Want to build support for American military interventions around the world? Want to undermine governments that are raising their people up from poverty because they don't conform to the tastes of Upper West Side intellectuals? Use human rights as your excuse!
Stephen KinzerRead
Every nation, like every individual, would like to believe it owes 'no apology' to anyone. Adults realise, however, that few among us are purely innocent or utterly blameless.
Stephen KinzerRead
Similar quotes
She was so busy forgetting, she couldn't take a single step into the future.
Alice HoffmanRead
If there are challenges thrown across, then some interesting, innovative solutions are found. Without challenges, the tendency is to go on the same way.
Ratan TataRead
Not so many years ago there was no simpler or more intelligible notion than that of going on a journey. Travel -movement through space -provided the universal metaphor for change. One of the subtle confusions -perhaps one of the secret terrors -of modern life is that we have lost this refuge. No longer do we move through space as we once did.
Daniel J. BoorstinRead
The movements which work revolutions in the world are born out of the dreams and visions in a peasant's heart on the hillside.
James JoyceRead
As we all know, sexism in the workplace is a serious issue. It's something that needs active disruption and change.
Whitney Wolfe HerdRead
When I'm working, on sets or stages, my contracts specify in the rider that no plastic bottles be used. When I'm playing with my band, we all use metal and non-plastic containers for drinking to be ecologically sensitive and show others that this is the way to go.
Jeff BridgesRead