The damage done to this country by its own misconduct in the last few months and years, to its very heart and soul, is far greater and longer lasting than any damage that any terrorist could possibly inflict upon us.
Theodore C. SorensenRead
Our surest protection against assault from abroad has been not all our guards, gates and guns, or even our two oceans, but our essential goodness as a people. Our richest asset has been not our material wealth but our values.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that a nation's true strength lies in its moral values rather than its physical defenses or wealth.
Theodore C. Sorensen suggests that the moral integrity and essential goodness of a society provide a more reliable form of protection against external threats than military capabilities or geographic advantages. This perspective shifts the focus from materialism and military might to the inherent values that define a people's character and resilience in the face of challenges.
Themes
GoodnessValuesProtectionStrengthIntegrity
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on national security, you might quote this to emphasize the importance of ethical values.
More from Theodore C. Sorensen
All quotes →We have contingency plans for war, but none for peace.
Theodore C. SorensenRead
Public opinion rarely considers the needs of the next generation or the history of the last. It is frequently hampered by myths and misinformation, by stereotypes and shibboleths, and by an inate resistance to innovation.
Theodore C. SorensenRead
Similar quotes
The harp that once through Tara's halls The soul of music shed, Now hangs as mute on Tara's walls As if that soul were fled. So sleeps the pride of former days, So glory's thrill is o'er; And hearts that once beat high for praise Now feel that pulse no more.
Charles LambRead
There is a beautiful transparency to honest disciples who never wear a false face and do not pretend to be anything but who they are.
Brennan ManningRead
The gospel of grace nullifies our adulation of televangelists, charismatic superstars, and local church heroes. It obliterates the two-class citizenship theory operative in many American churches. For grace proclaims the awesome truth that all is gift. All that is good is ours, not by right, but by the sheer bounty of a gracious God.
Brennan ManningRead
The destruction of the past is perhaps the greatest of all crimes.
Simone WeilRead
Because the European does not know his own unconscious, he does not understand the East and projects it into everything he fears and despises in himself.
Carl JungRead
Mind, I am not preaching anything contrary to accepted morality. I am not advocating free love in this or any other case. Society must go on, I suppose, and society can only exist if the normal, if the virtuous, and the slightly deceitful flourish, and if the passionate, the headstrong, and the too-truthful are condemned to suicide and madness.
Ford Madox FordRead