The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it is the same problem you had last year.
John Foster DullesRead
Of all tasks of government the most basic is to protect its citizens against violence.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The primary duty of any government is to ensure the safety and security of its people from harm.
This quote by John Foster Dulles emphasizes that the fundamental responsibility of a government is to safeguard its citizens from violence and threats. It suggests that without security, all other functions of the government become secondary, highlighting the importance of a stable and protective environment for a society to thrive.
Themes
GovernmentProtectionCitizensViolenceSafety
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech advocating for stronger law enforcement to ensure public safety.
More from John Foster Dulles
All quotes →Mankind will never win lasting peace so long as men use their full resources only in tasks of war. While we are yet at peace, let us mobilize the potentialities, particularly the moral and spiritual potentialities, which we usually reserve for war.
John Foster DullesRead
The mark of a successful organization isn't whether or not it has problems, its whether it has the same problems it had last year.
John Foster DullesRead
Economic and military power can be developed under the spur of laws and appropriations. But moral power does not derive from any act of Congress. It depends on the relations of a people to their God. It is the churches to which we must look to develop the resources for the great moral offensive that is required to make human rights secure, and to win a just and lasting peace.
John Foster DullesRead
The U.S. has no friends, only interests.
John Foster DullesRead
The world will never have lasting peace so long as men reserve for war the finest human qualities. Peace, no less than war, requires idealism and self-sacrifice and a righteous and dynamic faith.
John Foster DullesRead
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If every soldier is authorized to make one mistake, then we lose the war.
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There are only four types of officer. First, there are the lazy, stupid ones. Leave them alone, they do no harm…Second, there are the hard- working, intelligent ones. They make excellent staff officers, ensuring that every detail is properly considered. Third, there are the hard- working, stupid ones. These people are a menace and must be fired at once. They create irrelevant work for everybody. Finally, there are the intelligent, lazy ones. They are suited for the highest office.
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