We have the power to do any damn fool thing we want to do, and we seem to do it about every ten minutes.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on human impulsiveness and the freedom of choice.
J. William Fulbright's quote captures the essence of human behavior, highlighting our tendency to act on whims and impulses without much consideration. It suggests that while we possess the power to make choices, we often make poor decisions hastily, underscoring a critique of our judgement and the consequences of our actions.
In practice
In a discussion about decision-making in a team meeting.
International educational exchange is the most significant current project designed to continue the process of humanizing mankind to the point, we would hope, that men can learn to live in peace-eventually even to cooperate in constructive activities rather than compete in a mindless contest of mutual destruction....We must try to expand the boundaries of human wisdom, empathy and perception, and there is no way of doing that except through education.
The price of empire is America's soul, and that price is too high.
Maturity requires a final accommodation between our aspirations and our limitations.
Finally, the Program aims, through these means, to bring a little more knowledge, a little more reason, and a little more compassion into world affairs and thereby to increase the chance that nations will learn at last to live in peace and friendship.
In a democracy, dissent is an act of faith.
The biggest lesson I learned from Vietnam is not to trust [our own] government statements.
The technique of positive thinking is not a technique that transforms you. It is simply repressing the negative aspects of your personality. It is a method of choice. It cannot help awareness; it goes against awareness. Awareness is always choiceless.
I became a better listener than I ever had been as a result of playing Jean Luc Picard because it was one of the things that he does terrifically well.
Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked.
True opinions can prevail only if the facts to which they refer are known; if they are not known, false ideas are just as effective as true ones, if not a little more effective.
Worrying about bills, food, or other problems leaves less capacity to think ahead or to exert self-discipline. So, poverty imposes a mental tax.
When you find that people are not telling you the truth---look out!
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