Al Gore: Trending quotes (page 4)

“The strength of American democracy is shown most clearly through the difficulties it can overcome.”

Al Gore

Quotes, Concession speech (2000)
Context: I know that many of my supporters are disappointed. I am too. But our disappointment must be overcome by our love of country.
And I say to our fellow members of the world community, let no one see this contest as a sign of American weakness. The strength of American democracy is shown most clearly through the difficulties it can overcome.

Democracy

“For the first time in American history, the Executive Branch of our government has not only condoned but actively promoted the treatment of captives in wartime that clearly involves torture, thus overturning a prohibition established by General George Washington during the Revolutionary War.”

Al Gore

Quotes, The Assault on Reason (2007)
Context: For the first time in American history, the Executive Branch of our government has not only condoned but actively promoted the treatment of captives in wartime that clearly involves torture, thus overturning a prohibition established by General George Washington during the Revolutionary War.
It is too easy — and too partisan — to simply place the blame on the policies of President George W. Bush. We are all responsible for the decisions our country makes. We have a Congress. We have an independent judiciary. We have checks and balances. We are a nation of laws. We have free speech. We have a free press. Have they all failed us? Why has America's public discourse become less focused and clear, less reasoned? Faith in the power of reason — the belief that free citizens can govern themselves wisely and fairly by resorting to logical debate on the basis of the best evidence available, instead of raw power — remains the central premise of American democracy. This premise is now under assault.

War , History , Time

“The planet is in distress and all of the attention is on Paris Hilton.”

Al Gore

“In a time of social fragmentation, vulgarity becomes a way of life. To be shocking becomes more important - and often more profitable - than to be civil or creative or truly original.”

Al Gore

Life , Way , Time

“The democratization of knowledge by the print medium brought the Enlightenment. Now, broadband interconnection is supporting decentralized processes that reinvigorate democracy.”

Al Gore

Quotes, The Assault on Reason (2007)

Democracy , Support , Knowledge

“It is, in other words, time for a national oil change. That is apparent to anyone who has looked at our national dipstick.”

Al Gore

Quotes, NYU Law School speech (2006)

Change , Time

“What happened at the prison, it is now clear, was not the result of random acts by "a few bad apples," it was the natural consequence of the Bush Administration policy that has dismantled those wise constraints and has made war on America's checks and balances.”

Al Gore

Quotes, NYU Speech (2004)

War , Nature

“Of course, the popular vote was in my favour, and the outcome in the electoral college was not driven by an effort to count every vote that was cast, because the counting was truncated by a Supreme Court decision. In the American system, unfortunately there is no intermediate step between a Supreme Court decision and violent revolution.
Given those two remaining alternatives, I took the advice of Winston Churchill, who said that the American people generally do the right thing after first exhausting every available alternative. Choosing to live under the rule of law seemed to be the only alternative remaining, even though I strongly, strongly disagreed with the Supreme Court decision. Historians and scholars will put that decision in its own separate category.”

Al Gore

"So, Al Gore, what's the one thing we can all do to tackle climate change?" in The Independent (7 July 2007) http://environment.independent.co.uk/climate_change/article2742779.ece.

People , Law , Decision , Effort

“George W. Bush promised us a foreign policy with humility. Instead, he has brought us humiliation in the eyes of the world.
He promised to "restore honor and integrity to the White House." Instead, he has brought deep dishonor to our country and built a durable reputation as the most dishonest President since Richard Nixon.
Honor? He decided not to honor the Geneva Convention. Just as he would not honor the United Nations, international treaties, the opinions of our allies, the role of Congress and the courts, or what Jefferson described as "a decent respect for the opinion of mankind." He did not honor the advice, experience and judgment of our military leaders in designing his invasion of Iraq. And now he will not honor our fallen dead by attending any funerals or even by permitting photos of their flag-draped coffins.”

Al Gore

Quotes, NYU Speech (2004)

World , Photo , Housing , Dead

“The great Norwegian playwright, Henrik Ibsen, wrote, "One of these days, the younger generation will come knocking at my door." The future is knocking at our door right now. Make no mistake, the next generation will ask us one of two questions. Either they will ask: "What were you thinking; why didn't you act?" Or they will ask instead: "How did you find the moral courage to rise and successfully resolve a crisis that so many said was impossible to solve?"”

Al Gore

Nobel Prize lecture http://nobelpeaceprize.org/en_GB/laureates/laureates-2007/gore-lecture/, 10 December 2007.

Courage , Question , Thinking , Future

“This is an opportunity for bipartisanship and transcendence, an opportunity to find our better selves and in rising to meet this challenge, create a better brighter future — a future worthy of the generations who come after us and who have a right to be able to depend on us.”

Al Gore

Quotes, NYU Law School speech (2006)

Future , Dependency

“If yesterday marked the five month anniversary of the darkest day in American history, today — the Day After — must mark the anniversary of one of the greatest days in American history: because on September 12, a bruised and battered nation began to fight back. Some fought back by rushing to aid and rescue the few surviving victims of the tragedy — and to aid and comfort the grieving and bereaved.”

Al Gore

Quotes, Our Larger Tasks (2002)

History , Fight

“We need not only open trading systems, but systems that work for people around the world — taking into account not only the bottom line, but the well-being of working men and women, the protection of children against sweatshop labor, and the protection of the environment.”

Al Gore

Quotes, IPI speech (2000)

Women , Men , Children , People

“Over a year ago I changed my diet to a vegan diet, really just to experiment to see what it was like. And I felt better, so I continued with it. Now, for many people, that choice is connected to environmental ethics and health issues and all that stuff, but I just wanted to try it to see what it was like. In a visceral way, I felt better, so I've continued with it and I'm likely to continue it for the rest of my life.”

Al Gore

" Al Gore on Medicine's Inconvenient Truths http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/820985#vp_7", interview with Eric Topol, page 7 of 8, in Medscape (7 March 2014)

Life , People , Health , Way

“Any new dominant communications medium leads to a new information ecology in society that inevitably changes the way ideas, feelings, wealth, power and influence are distributed and the way collective decisions are made.”

Al Gore

Quotes, The Assault on Reason (2007)

Way , Feeling , Communication , Idea

“Disrespect, the feeling that what one has to offer in life has been rejected, the feeling that one has joined history's losers can make us as human beings more vulnerable to evil.”

Al Gore

Quotes, Our Larger Tasks (2002)

Life , Feeling , History , Evil

“It was clear to me that men and women were equal — if not more so.”

Al Gore

A joke used during his campaign speeches, about childhood impressions of hearing his parents arguing; as quoted in "Gore Campaign, Trailing Among Women, Sharpens Its Pitch to Them" by Melinda Henneberger in The New York Times (6 July 1999) http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E02E2DE1E3DF935A35754C0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
As quoted in "The 2000 Campaign : The Vice President" by David Barstow in The New York Times (12 August 2000) http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9404EFD6153FF931A2575BC0A9669C8B63.
Variant: When my sister and I were growing up, there was never any doubt in our minds that men and women were equal, if not more so.

Women , Men

“The unpleasant truth is that President Bush's utter incompetence has made the world a far more dangerous place and dramatically increased the threat of terrorism against the United States. Just yesterday, the International Institute of Strategic Studies reported that the Iraq conflict " has arguably focused the energies and resources of Al Qaeda and its followers while diluting those of the global counterterrorism coalition." The ISS said that in the wake of the war in Iraq Al Qaeda now has more than 18,000 potential terrorists scattered around the world and the war in Iraq is swelling its ranks.”

Al Gore

Quotes, NYU Speech (2004)

War , Truth , World , Study

“In the world of television, the massive flows of information are largely in only one direction, which makes it virtually impossible for individuals to take part in what passes for a national conversation. Individuals receive, but they cannot send. They hear, but they do not speak. The "well-informed citizenry" is in danger of becoming the "well-amused audience."”

Al Gore

Quotes, The Assault on Reason (2007)

World , Parting

“Just moments ago, I spoke with George W. Bush and congratulated him on becoming the 43rd president of the United States. And I promised him that I wouldn't call him back this time. I offered to meet with him as soon as possible so that we can start to heal the divisions of the campaign and the contest through which we've just passed.”

Al Gore

Quotes, Concession speech (2000)

Time