If we lived within our means - by being prudent - the 7 billion people in the world could have everything they needed. Global politics should be moving in that direction. But we think as people and countries, not as a species.
Interpretation
Living within our means can ensure that everyone has what they need, but our mindset often limits progress.
In this quote, Jose Mujica emphasizes the importance of prudence and sustainable living for the global population. He suggests that if humanity collectively prioritizes responsible consumption over individualistic and nationalist tendencies, we could meet the basic needs of all people, fostering a sense of unity and shared responsibility rather than divisiveness based on borders and personal desires.
In practice
In a speech on climate change, this quote can illustrate the need for collective action.
My goal is to achieve a little less injustice in Uruguay, to help the most vulnerable and to leave behind a political way of thinking, a way of looking at the future that will be passed on and used to move forward. There's nothing short-term, no victory around the corner. I will not achieve paradise or anything like that. What I want is to fight for the common good to progress. Life slips by. The way to prolong it is for others to continue your work.
We can almost recycle everything now. If we lived within our means, by being prudent, the 7 billion people in the world could have everything they needed. Global politics should be moving in that direction. But we think as people and countries, not as a species.
I can live well with what I have.I'm called 'the poorest president', but I don't feel poor. Poor people are those who only work to try to keep an expensive lifestyle, and always want more and more.
I'm not the poorest president. The poorest is the one who needs a lot to live. My lifestyle is a consequence of my wounds. I'm the son of my history. There have been years when I would have been happy just to have a mattress.
I'm called 'the poorest president', but I don't feel poor.
When you have a lot of solitude, any living thing becomes a companion.
Only the fairy tale equates changelessness with happiness...Permanence means paralysis and death. Only, in movement, with all its pain, is life.
You don't need to invade a place or install a new government to help bring about a positive change.
I sit here as the first African-American attorney general, serving the first African-American President of the United States. And that has to show that we have made a great deal of progress. But there's still more we have to travel along this road so we get to the place that is consistent with our founding ideals.
Don't be concerned that things appear to be falling apart: this has to happen in order for something new and wonderful to emerge.
Dying is a matter of slapstick and pratfalls. The ageing process is not gradual or gentle. It rushes up, pushes you over and runs off laughing. No one should grow old who isn't ready to appear ridiculous.
We cannot 'fix' the police without a revolution of values and radical change to the basic structure of our society.
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