Americans have a severe disease - worse than AIDS. It's called the winner's complex.
Mikhail GorbachevRead
I think the United States is sick. It suffers from the sickness, the disease of being the victor and it needs to cure itself from this disease.
Interpretation
This quote discusses the idea that victory can lead to a detrimental mindset, suggesting a need for self-reflection and healing.
Mikhail Gorbachev's quote reflects on the paradox of victory, indicating that despite being triumphant, a nation can become 'sick' from its own success. This sickness may manifest as arrogance, neglect of moral responsibilities, or a failure to acknowledge the consequences of past actions. Gorbachev advocates for introspection and suggests that true strength lies in addressing these issues rather than reveling in victory.
In practice
During a national debate, one might quote this to emphasize the need for humility in leadership.
Americans have a severe disease - worse than AIDS. It's called the winner's complex.
Gentlemen, comrades, do not be concerned about all you hear about Glasnost and Perestroika and democracy in the coming years. They are primarily for outward consumption. There will be no significant internal changes in the Soviet Union, other than for cosmetic purposes. Our purpose is to disarm the Americans and let them fall asleep.
The soviet people want full-blooded and unconditional democracy.
To me, nature is sacred. Trees are my temples and forests are my cathedrals.
New approaches are needed, new orientations in both thought and action. We must make the transition to a new civilization...We are talking of a transition toward a new civilization. No one knows what it will be like. What is important is to orient in that direction... I am convinced that a new civilization will inevitably take on certain features that are characteristic of, or inherent in, the socialist ideal.
According to Lenin, socialism and democracy are indivisible.... The essence of perestroika lies in the fact that it unites socialism with democracy and revives the Leninist concept of socialist construction both in theory and in practice. We want more socialism and, therefore, more democracy.
It seems to me that television is exactly like a gun. Your enjoyment of it is determined by which end of it you're on.
Life is a mess. And theology must be lived out in the midst of that mess.
From nothing else but the brain come joys, delights, laughter and sports, and sorrows, griefs, despondency, and lamentations
You may readily judge whether you are a child of God or a hypocrite by seeing in what direction your soul turns in seasons of severe trial. The hypocrite flies to the world and finds a sort of comfort there. But the child of God runs to his Father and expects consolation only from the Lord's hand.
The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.
An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens . . . There has never been a moment of my life in which I should have relinquished for it the enjoyments of my family, my farm, my friends and books.
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