I pledge you, pledge myself, to a New Deal for the American people. Let us all here assembled constitute ourselves prophets of a new order of competence and of courage. This is more than a political campaign; it is a call to arms. Give me your help, not to win votes alone, but to win in this crusade to restore America to its own people.
Interpretation
Roosevelt's quote emphasizes a commitment to transforming America through a collective effort for a better future.
In this quote, Franklin D. Roosevelt expresses his dedication to instituting a 'New Deal' for the American populace, highlighting the importance of unity and shared purpose in overcoming challenges. He positions this movement beyond mere political strategy, framing it as a vital mission to empower the people and restore the nation's values and integrity. By invoking the notion of a 'call to arms,' he calls for active participation from citizens, emphasizing that true change requires collective courage and competence.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about community service initiatives.
There has been one persistent theme through all Axis propaganda. This theme has been that Americans are admittedly rich, that Americans have considerable industrial power - but that Americans are soft and decadent, that they cannot and will not unite and work and fight. ... Let them tell that to the Marines!
The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.
A war of ideas can no more be won without books than a naval war can be won without ships. Books, like ships, have the toughest armor, the longest cruising range, and mount the most powerful guns.
Better the occasional faults of a government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.
A world turned into a stereotype, a society converted into a regiment, a life translated into a routine, make it difficult for either art or artists to survive. Crush individuality in society and you crush art as well. Nourish the conditions of a free life and you nourish the arts, too.
It's impossible to change the social without changing the personal - you have to put your money where your mouth is. And if you're not making those challenges at home, it's unlikely you'll make them in a larger setting.
You need to be a little crazy to change the world, and you can’t really fake it.
If you look at a great city, one of its amazing features is that you're going to find all sorts of things that you might not specifically have chosen in advance. And they will change your day. Maybe your month. Maybe your whole life.
Young people, when informed and empowered, when they realize that what they do truly makes a difference, can indeed change the world.
With this emergence of big data and social mobility, you will, in fact, see the death of 'average,' Instead, you will see the era of you.
The English prison system is altogether mediaeval and outworn. In some of its details, the system has improved since they began to send the Suffragettes to Holloway. I may say that we, by our public denunciation of the system, have forced these slight improvements.
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