I feel impelled to speak today in a language that in a sense is new-one which I, who have spent so much of my life in the military profession, would have preferred never to use. That new language is the language of atomic warfare.
Interpretation
Eisenhower emphasizes the gravity of discussing atomic warfare as a new and troubling necessity.
In this quote, Dwight D. Eisenhower expresses his reluctance to address the subject of atomic warfare, a language he associates with the heavy burden of military conflict. He conveys the urgency of the topic while simultaneously revealing his personal conflict as a military leader who wished to avoid such discussions, highlighting the moral complexities of modern warfare.
In practice
In a speech about the dangers of nuclear weapons during a peace rally.
If a man's associates find him guilty of being phony, if they find that he lacks forthright integrity, he will fail. His teachings and actions must square with each other. The first great need, therefore, is integrity and high purpose.
The libraries of America are and must ever remain the home of free and inquiring minds. To them, our citizens-of all ages and races, of all creeds and persuasions-must be able to turn with clear confidence that there they can freely seek the whole truth, unvarnished by fashion and uncompromised by expediency.
You don't lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership.
When pressure mounts and strain increases everyone begins to show the weaknesses in his makeup. It is up to the Commander to conceal his: above all to conceal doubt, fear, and distrust.
Some years ago I became president of Columbia University and learned within 24 hours to be ready to speak at the drop of a hat, and I learned something more, the trustees were expected to be ready to speak at the passing of the hat.
I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.
Property monopolized or in the possession of a few is a curse to mankind.
I'm interested in anything about revolt, disorder, chaos, especially activity that appears to have no meaning. It seems to me to be the road toward freedom.
The whole world might know you and acclaim you, but someone in the past, forever unreachable, forever unknowing, spoils it all.
Politics disappears; it vanishes. What remains constant is human life. So I try to develop a perspective in my writing where politics is just one of the pieces of furniture in this furnished world. It is not the purpose. It is not the goal.
All spirits are enslaved which serve things evil
Many have become chess masters - no one has become the master of chess.
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