Marguerite Bourgeoys (1620–1700) French colonist and foundress
The Writings of Marguerite Bourgeoys, p. 170
“First we try to preserve ourselves, until we see that we can't. Then we try to preserve our children, until we see we can't. Then we act to preserve our kin, and then our village or tribe, and when we see we can't preserve even them, then we act in order to preserve our memory. And if we can't do that, what is left?”
Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus (1996)
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Orson Scott Card586
American science fiction novelist 1951Related quotes
“We must act today in order to preserve tomorrow.”
Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American politician, 40th president of the United States (in office from 1981 to 1989)
1980s, First term of office (1981–1985), First Inaugural address (1981)
Context: You and I, as individuals, can, by borrowing, live beyond our means, but for only a limited period of time. Why, then, should we think that collectively, as a nation, we're not bound by that same limitation? We must act today in order to preserve tomorrow.
Martin Luther (1483–1546) seminal figure in Protestant Reformation
Source: Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (1535), Chapter 2
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (1708–1778) British politician
Speech in the House of Commons (26 January 1741), quoted in Basil Williams, The Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham. Volume I (London: Longmans, 1913), p. 82
1740s
“If the preservation of our freedom depends upon the courts then we are, indeed, lost,”
Henry Steele Commager (1902–1998) American historian
Source: Freedom, Loyalty, Dissent (1954), p. 6
Context: If the preservation of our freedom depends upon the courts then we are, indeed, lost, for in the long run neither courts nor Constitution can save us from our own errors, follies, or wickedness.
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) 32nd President of the United States
Speech at the Dedication of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, September 2, 1940
1940s
Liu Xiaobo (1955–2017) Chinese literary critic, writer, professor, and human rights activist
"On Living with Dignity in China"
No Enemies, No Hate: Selected Essays and Poems
“We take, and must continue to take, morally hazardous actions to preserve our civilization.”
Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971) American protestant theologian
The Irony of American History (1952)
Context: We take, and must continue to take, morally hazardous actions to preserve our civilization. We must exercise our power. But we ought neither to believe that a nation is capable of perfect disinterestedness in its exercise, nor become complacent about a particular degree of interest and passion which corrupt the justice by which the exercise of power is legitimatized.