If freedom makes social progress possible, so social progress strengthens and enlarges freedom. The two are inseparable partners in the great adventure of humanity.
Robert KennedyRead
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.
Interpretation
Political freedoms are foundational to the development of other freedoms in society.
Robert Kennedy highlights the importance of political freedoms in the United States, suggesting that when individuals are afforded the right to express their political beliefs, it lays the groundwork for broader freedoms in various aspects of life. He underscores a belief that the liberty to engage in political discourse fosters an environment where other rights and freedoms can flourish.
In practice
During a speech on civil rights, I might use this quote to emphasize the connection between political and civil liberties.
If freedom makes social progress possible, so social progress strengthens and enlarges freedom. The two are inseparable partners in the great adventure of humanity.
Elections remind us not only of the rights but the responsibilities of citizenship in a democracy.
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.
The United States was born in revolution and nurtured by struggle. Throughout our history, the American people have befriended and supported all those who seek independence and a better way of life.
It is an absolute and virtually divine perfection to know how to enjoy our being rightfully.
It is unconceivable that the whole Universe was merely created for us who live in this third-rate planet of a third-rate moon.
I thank Thee first because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse they did not take my life; third, because although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth because it was I who was robbed, and not I who robbed.
Sometimes the shadow stays next to the Light. Sometimes it disappears into the Light
You carry your snare everywhere and spread your nets in all places. You allege that you never invited others to sin. You did not indeed, by your words, but you have done so by your dress and your deportment.
The whites, too, shall pass - perhaps sooner than other tribes. Continue to contaminate your bed and you will one night suffocate in your own waste.
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