The action we take and the decisions we make in this decade will have consequences far into this century. If America shows weakness and uncertainty, the world will drift toward tragedy. That will not happen on my watch.
George W. BushRead
Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror. The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing, have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness and a quiet, unyielding anger.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the tragic loss of life due to acts of terror, capturing the deep emotional impact of such events.
George W. Bush's quote expresses the profound sorrow and disbelief experienced by individuals in the wake of significant tragedies, specifically referencing terrorist attacks that resulted in massive loss of life. It conveys a sense of collective pain and the moral outrage that arises in response to such heinous acts, emphasizing the lasting emotional scars that accompany these moments of crisis.
Themes
TerrorSadnessAngerLossTragedy
In practice
Example use cases
During a memorial service for victims of terror attacks, this quote could be shared to evoke a collective emotional response.
More from George W. Bush
All quotes →Freedom itself was attacked this morning by a faceless coward, and freedom will be defended.
George W. BushRead
Use power to help people. For we are given power not to advance our own purposes nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power and it is to serve people.
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Adoption was such a positive alternative to abortion, a way to save one life and brighten two more: those of the adoptive parents.
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We are not deceived by their pretenses to piety. We have seen their kind before. They are the heirs of all the murderous ideologies of the 20th century. By sacrificing human life to serve their radical visions - by abandoning every value except the will to power - they follow in the path of fascism, and Nazism, and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way, to where it ends: in history's unmarked grave of discarded lies.
George W. BushRead
Tonight, I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me."
George W. BushRead
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