Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.
Ronald ReaganRead
The totalitarian world produces backwardness because it does such violence to the spirit, thwarting the human impulse to create, to enjoy, to worship.
Interpretation
Totalitarianism suppresses human creativity and spirit, leading to societal stagnation.
In this quote, Ronald Reagan suggests that totalitarian regimes inhibit fundamental human desires such as creativity, joy, and worship, which essentially leads to cultural and intellectual backwardness. By stifling these essential qualities, such oppressive governments prevent society from progressing and flourishing, illustrating the vital connection between freedom and human potential.
In practice
During a speech on human rights, one might use this quote to highlight the importance of creativity in a free society.
Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.
Our status as a free society and world power is not based on brute strength. When we've taken up arms, it has been for the defense of freedom for ourselves and for other peaceful nations who needed our help. But now, faced with the development of weapons with immense destructive power, we've no choice but to maintain ready defense forces that are second to none. Yes, the cost is high, but the price of neglect would be infinitely higher.
I'm spending more time at this library in four days than I did at the Eureka College Library in four years.
I'm not a politician by profession. I am a citizen who decided I had to be personally involved in order to stand up for my own values and beliefs. My candidacy is based on my record, and for that matter, my entire life.
My fellow citizens, our nation is poised for greatness. We must do what we know is right, and do it with all our might. Let history say of us: "These were golden years - when the American Revolution was reborn, when freedom gained new life, and America reached for her best."
We must have faith in the people of this country and faith in our principles.
Behold Jesus Christ crucified, Who is the only foundation of our hope; He is our Mediator and Advocate; the victim and sacrifice for our sins. He is goodness and patience itself; His mercy is moved by the tears of sinners, and He never refuses pardon and grace to those who ask it with a truly contrite and humbled heart.
Men, however distinguished by external accidents or intrinsick qualities, have all the same wants, the same pains, and, as far as the senses are consulted, the same pleasures.
There is a purpose to our lives, even if it is sometimes hidden from us, and even if the biggest turning points and heartbreaks only make sense as we look back, rather than as we are experiencing them. So we might as well live life as if - as the poet Rumi put it - everything is rigged in our favor.
A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism.
We live in a world in which data convey authority. But authority has a way of descending to certitude, and certitude begets hubris.
For both parties in a controversy, the most disagreeable way of retaliating is to be vexed and silent; for the aggressor usually regards the silence as a sign of contempt.
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