I am mortal. I want the nation to get used to freedom before I die.
Interpretation
The quote reflects a desire for freedom and democracy to be embraced by a nation before the speaker's death.
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk expresses a profound wish for his nation to fully adopt and appreciate freedom and democratic values during his lifetime. This statement highlights his understanding of the significance of liberty and the importance of fostering a culture of independence and self-governance, suggesting that the progress towards freedom is a legacy he hopes to see realized before the end of his own mortal journey.
In practice
During a speech on national independence day.
Would not obeying to my mother's warnings, who is at least 25 years older than me, be returning to the past? And rebelling against her would mean ruining my mother's, who, I am convinced that, is a virtuous high woman, heart and evaluations. I do not find this right, either.
I have no religion, and at times I wish all religions at the bottom of the sea. He is a weak ruler who needs religion to uphold his government; it is as if he would catch his people in a trap. My people are going to learn the principles of democracy, the dictates of truth and the teachings of science. Superstition must go. Let them worship as they will; every man can follow his own conscience, provided it does not interfere with sane reason or bid him against the liberty of his fellow-men.
God is my witness that up to now, my only aspiration in life is to be a useful element within the army! I have for long been convinced that, to safeguard the country and give happiness to the people, it is necessary first of all to prove once more to the world that our army is still the old Turkish army.
The necessary thing for anyone to be happy and contented as long as he lives is working for the ones who will come after him rather than working for himself... One can reach the true delight and happiness in the life only by working for the existence, honor, and happiness of the future generations.
On the meeting point of two worlds, the ornament of Turkish homeland, the treasure of Turkish history, the city cherished by the Turkish nation, Δ°stanbul, has its place in the hearts of all citizens.
A nation which makes the final sacrifice for life and freedom does not get beaten.
Every government is a parliament of whores. The trouble is, in a democracy, the whores are us.
If you had to work in the environment of Washington, D.C., as I do, and watch those men who are so imprisoned and so confined by their eighteenth-century thought patterns, you would know that if anybody is going to be liberated, it's men who must be liberated in this country.
I don't think we can have democracies that work where most of the people are not benefiting economically, where most of the people are worried about their job security.
We are paying a heavy political price for 20 years in which, as a party, we have played down our criticism of capitalism and soft-peddled our advocacy of socialism
The legal right of the Southern people to reclaim their fugitives I have constantly admitted. The legal right of Congress to interfere with their institution in the states, I have constantly denied.
Looking back on 200 years of feminist agitation in this country, we've got to get it that the moral high ground doesn't get us anything. Pleading with powerful men never gets us what we need. Talking doesn't do it. Being right doesn't do it. Hardball politics does it ... and a political strategy.
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