A man either lives life as it happens to him, meets it head-on and licks it, or he turns his back on it and starts to wither away.
Gene RoddenberryRead
The strength of a civilization is not measured by its ability to fight wars, but rather by its ability to prevent them.
Interpretation
A civilization's true strength lies in its capability to maintain peace rather than engage in conflict.
This quote by Gene Roddenberry suggests that the worth of a society should not be determined merely by its military prowess or ability to engage in warfare, but rather by its capacity to foster peace and prevent conflicts. It emphasizes the importance of diplomacy, understanding, and proactive measures in maintaining societal stability and harmony.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about conflict resolution and peacebuilding.
A man either lives life as it happens to him, meets it head-on and licks it, or he turns his back on it and starts to wither away.
'Star Trek' episodes always insisted that humanity is on its bumpy way to what will be a glorious future in the 23rd century, in which we will have left most of our old selfishness - and old hatreds and prejudices - far behind us.
The network told me to get rid of Number One, the woman first lieutenant, and also get rid of 'that Martian fellow'... meaning, of course, Spock. I knew I couldn't keep both, so I gave the stoicism of the female officer to Spock, and married the actress who played Number One. Thank God it wasn't the other way around. I mean Leonard's cute, but...
For me science fiction is a way of thinking, a way of logic that bypasses a lot of nonsense. It allows people to look directly at important subjects.
Star Trek says that it has not all happened, it has not all been discovered, that tomorrow can be as challenging and adventurous as any time man has ever lived.
I believe in humanity. We are an incredible species. We're still just a child creature, we're still being nasty to each other. And all children go through those phases. We're growing up, we're moving into adolescence now. When we grow up - man, we're going to be something!
Whether I praise or criticize someone's action, I imply that I am their judge, that I'm engaged in rating them or what they have done.
Denunciations of the manipulativeness of advertisers can unfortunately all too easily be turned on their heads into denunciations of the gullibility of consumers. Both are forms of scapegoating, neither accomplishes anything.
We are all ruled in what we do by impulses; and these impulses are so organized that our actions in general serve for our self preservation and that of the race.
A well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free people.
We now think it hilarious that medieval streets were used as open sewers. Equally, our descendants will say: 'You won't believe this, but people were once allowed to hurl a couple of tons of dangerous metal around smashing into each other.'
For a long time I was convinced that the conflict between Jewish people and black people in this country was a media event.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.