Power tends to confuse itself with virtue, and a great nation is peculiarly susceptible to the idea that its power is a sign of God's favor.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that those in power may mistakenly believe that their strength or authority is inherently virtuous and divinely sanctioned.
J. William Fulbright's quote highlights the danger of equating power with moral righteousness. He warns that nations, when powerful, are often prone to assume that their might signifies a special approval from a higher authority, which can lead to a disconnect between their actions and ethical principles, potentially resulting in justifications for unjust behavior under the guise of virtue.
In practice
In a lecture on political morality, a professor might use this quote to illustrate the complexities of power dynamics.
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.
We have the power to do any damn fool thing we want to do, and we seem to do it about every ten minutes.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.
Every global concern - economic, environmental or security-related - can be addressed more effectively when the U.S. and China work together.
God made everything out of nothing. But the nothingness shows through.
Motion is always a relative thing. I move in relation to something else. Any particle in this universe can change in relation to any other particle; but take the whole universe as one, and in relation to what can it move? There is nothing besides it. So this infinite Unit is unchangeable, immovable, absolute, and this is the Real Man.
There is an immense, painful longing for a broader, more flexible, fuller, more coherent, more comprehensive account of what we human beings are, who we are and what this life is for.
So let me tell you what I think about gods. I think a real god is not going to be so scared or angry that he tries to keep other people down…A real god doesn’t care about control. A real god already has control of everything that needs controlling. Real gods would want to teach you how to be just like them.
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