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
Islam is a vibrant faith. Millions of our fellow citizens are Muslim. We respect the faith. We honor its traditions. Our enemy does not. Our enemy doesn't follow the great traditions of Islam. They've hijacked a great religion.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the importance of respecting the true values of Islam while condemning the actions of those who misinterpret or misuse the faith.
George W. Bush emphasizes that Islam, as a vibrant and respected faith, is misrepresented by extremists who do not reflect the true traditions and values of the religion. He expresses a distinction between the peaceful beliefs of the majority of Muslims and the violent actions of a minority who have distorted the religion for their own purposes.
Themes
IslamFaithTraditionRespectExtremismPeace
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech addressing interfaith dialogue, one might use this quote to emphasize mutual respect.
More from George W. Bush
All quotes →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.
George W. BushRead
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.
George W. BushRead
Adoption was such a positive alternative to abortion, a way to save one life and brighten two more: those of the adoptive parents.
George W. BushRead
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
Similar quotes
I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.
Ralph EllisonRead
The secret thoughts of a man run over all things, holy, profane, clean, obscene, grave, and light, without shame or blame.
Thomas HobbesRead
The future always comes too fast and in the wrong order.
Alvin TofflerRead
I don't think you can measure wealth in dollars and cents. I really don't believe that at all because there are some things that money cannot buy. One of them is health. And the other is security in your relationships and friends.
Cicely TysonRead
For, after all, if it is from Christ that we are to learn how God relates himself to sin, suffering, evil, and death, it would seem that he provides us little evidence of anything other than a regal, relentless, and miraculous enmity; sin he forgives, suffering he heals, evil he casts out, and death he conquers. And absolutely nowhere does Christ act as if any of these things are part of the eternal work or purposes of God.
David Bentley HartRead
Mainstream cinema raises questions only to immediately provide an answer to them, so they can send the spectator home reassured. If we actually had those answers, then society would appear very different from what it is.
Michael HanekeRead