Today's headlines and history's judgment are rarely the same.
Condoleezza RiceRead
There are those who would draw a sharp line between power politics and a principled foreign policy based on values. This polarized view - you are either a realist or devoted to norms and values - may be just fine in academic debate, but it is a disaster for American foreign policy. American values are universal.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the need to integrate values into foreign policy rather than separating them from political power.
Condoleezza Rice argues against the binary perspective that separates power politics from a principled foreign policy based on values. She believes that American values are universal and should guide foreign relations, rather than resorting to a strictly pragmatic approach that overlooks ethical considerations. This view suggests that diplomacy should reflect core principles and ethics to be effective on the global stage.
Themes
Foreign PolicyValuesPowerAmerican ValuesRealismPrincipled
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about international relations, one might cite this quote to argue for a values-driven approach.
More from Condoleezza Rice
All quotes βI think my father thought I might be president of the United States. I think he would've been satisfied with secretary of state. I'm a foreign policy person and to have a chance to serve my country as the nation's chief diplomat at a time of peril and consequence, that was enough.
Condoleezza RiceRead
What the United States has done is to be open to people who are fleeing tyranny, who are fleeing danger, but we have done it in a very careful way that has worked for us.
Condoleezza RiceRead
For the United States, supporting international development is more than just an expression of our compassion. It is a vital investment in the free, prosperous, and peaceful international order that fundamentally serves our national interest.
Condoleezza RiceRead
Today's headlines and history's judgment are rarely the same. If you are too attentive to the former, you will most certainly not do the hard work of securing the latter.
Condoleezza RiceRead
Does anybody think these people were just sitting around drinking tea?
Condoleezza RiceRead
Similar quotes
Our visit to this planet is short, so we should use our time meaningfully, which we can do by helping others wherever possible. And if we cannot help others, at least we should try not to create pain and suffering for them.
Dalai LamaRead
The worst evil is - and that's the product of censorship - is the self-censorship, because that twists spines, that destroys my character because I have to think something else and say something else, I have to always control myself.
Milos FormanRead
Like all people, we perceive the version of reality that our culture communicates. Like others having or living in more than one culture, we get multiple, often opposing messages. The coming together of two self-consistent but habitually incomparable frames of reference causes un choque, a cultural collision.
Gloria E. AnzaldaRead
Nowadays men lead lives of noisy desperation.
James ThurberRead
To be ruthless requires belief that our life on earth is but a brief prelude to an afterlife, or a temporary sacrifice before some utopia can be instituted._x000D_ _x000D_ Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains.
Eric HofferRead
When you are writing laws you are testing words to find their utmost power. Like spells, they have to make things happen in the real world, and like spells, they only work if people believe in them.
Hilary MantelRead