Loyalty means nothing unless it has at its heart the absolute principle of self-sacrifice.
Woodrow WilsonRead
Settlements may be temporary, but the action of the nations in the interest of peace and justice must be permanent. We can set up permanent processes. We may not be able to set up permanent decisions.
Interpretation
While resolutions may change, the commitment to pursue peace and justice must endure.
This quote emphasizes the importance of maintaining a consistent effort towards achieving peace and justice, even if specific agreements or settlements are subject to change. Woodrow Wilson underscores the notion that while the outcomes of negotiations may vary, the dedication to fostering an environment where peace and justice prevail is a permanent and needed endeavor.
In practice
This quote is perfect for a speech about international diplomacy at a conference.
Loyalty means nothing unless it has at its heart the absolute principle of self-sacrifice.
Since trade ignores national boundaries and the manufacturer insists on having the world as a market, the flag of his nation must follow him, and the doors of the nations which are closed against him must be battered down. Concessions obtained by financiers must be safeguarded by ministers of state, even if the sovereignty of unwilling nations be outraged in the process. Colonies must be obtained or planted, in order that no useful corner of the world may be overlooked or left unused.
The history of liberty is the history of limitations on the power of government, not the increase of it. When we resist, therefore, the concentration of power, we are resisting the processes of death, because concentration of power is what always precedes the destruction of human liberties.
We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers.
The way to stop financial joyriding is to arrest the chauffeur, not the automobile.
Once lead this people into war, and they'll forget there ever was such a thing as tolerance. To fight, you must be brutal and ruthless, and the spirit of ruthless brutality will enter into the very fiber of our national life, infecting Congress, the courts, the policeman on the beat, the man in the street.
Of course, let us have peace, we cry, "but at the same time let us have normalcy, let us lose nothing, let our lives stand intact, let us know neither prison nor ill repute nor disruption of ties ... " There is no peace because there are no peacemakers. There are no makers of peace because the making of peace is at least as costly as the making of war - at least as exigent, at least as disruptive, at least as liable to bring disgrace and prison, and death in its wake.
I want peace. I want to see if somewhere there isn't something left in life of charm and grace.
Each moment is a chance for us to make peace with the world, to make peace possible for the world, to make happiness possible for the world.
Could I have but a line a century hence crediting a contribution to the advance of peace, I would yield every honor which has been accorded by war.
The only sure way to eliminate the threat posed by nuclear weapons is to eliminate the weapons themselves.
Justice is the only way to achieve peace and co-existence among the various components of Iraq.
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