So long as we govern our nation by the letter and spirit of the Bill of Rights, we can be sure that our nation will grow in strength and wisdom and freedom.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of adhering to the principles of the Bill of Rights to ensure the nation's growth and freedom.
Dwight D. Eisenhower highlights the significance of the Bill of Rights as a guiding framework for governance. By upholding both the literal text and the underlying principles of these rights, a nation can foster strength, wisdom, and freedom, which are essential for its development and democracy. The quote serves as a reminder that justice and liberty are only secured through the observance and respect of foundational rights.
In practice
In a lecture on constitutional law, the quote can be used to stress the importance of civil liberties.
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.
That I am a national figure because I was the first person in 192 years to be at once a congressman, black, and a woman proves, I would think, that our society is not yet either just or free.
What is it but a cunningly devised scheme to take from one State and to give to another - to replenish the treasury of some of the States from the pockets of the people of the others; in reality, to make them support the governments and pay the debts of other States as well as their own?
All political power comes from the barrel of either guns, pussy, or opium pipes, and people seem to like it that way.
When will Labour learn that you cannot build Jerusalem in Brussels.
We all remember the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the worst oil spill in U.S. history. What is less well known is that BP is claiming a 9.9 billion tax deduction on the money they had to spend cleaning up their own mess and paying for damages they caused. That is absurd.
Government without a tough and vibrant media is not an option for the United States of America.
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