“the greatest Americans
have not been born yet
they are waiting patiently
for the past to die”
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Saul Williams 14
American singer, musician, poet, writer, and actor 1972Related quotes
“One of his hobbies was to wait for the American Shakespeare — a hobby more patient than angling.”
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“I was born an American, I live like an American, I will die an American.”
“I was born an American; I will live an American; I shall die an American!”
Speech (July 17, 1850); reported in Edward Everett, ed., The Works of Daniel Webster (1851), p. 437
“He may not have been born with guts, but he didn't have to die without them.”
Source: Bridge to Terabithia
“Your greatest self has been waiting your whole life; don't make it wait any longer.”
Source: Life, the Truth, and Being Free (2010), p. 146
Post-Presidency, Nobel lecture (2002)
Context: The world has changed greatly since I left the White House. Now there is only one superpower, with unprecedented military and economic strength. The coming budget for American armaments will be greater than those of the next fifteen nations combined, and there are troops from the United States in many countries throughout the world. Our gross national economy exceeds that of the three countries that follow us, and our nation's voice most often prevails as decisions are made concerning trade, humanitarian assistance, and the allocation of global wealth. This dominant status is unlikely to change in our lifetimes.
Great American power and responsibility are not unprecedented, and have been used with restraint and great benefit in the past. We have not assumed that super strength guarantees super wisdom, and we have consistently reached out to the international community to ensure that our own power and influence are tempered by the best common judgment.
Within our country, ultimate decisions are made through democratic means, which tend to moderate radical or ill-advised proposals. Constrained and inspired by historic constitutional principles, our nation has endeavored for more than two hundred years to follow the now almost universal ideals of freedom, human rights, and justice for all.
“To be born is to have commenced to die.”
Naître, c'est seulement commencer à mourir.
"L'Horloge", line 24, in Poésies Complètes (Paris: Charpentier, 1845) p. 324; Lewis Nkosi Mating Birds (Nairobi: East African Publishing House, 1983) p. 46.
