“The Soviet Union has indeed been our greatest menace — not so much because of what it has done, but because of the excuses it has provided us for our own failures.”

— J. William Fulbright

In Fulbright of Arkansas: The Public Positions of a Private Thinker (1963), p. 118.

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J. William Fulbright 21

American politician 1905–1995

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“There are no limitations to excuses. It may give a moment relieve. But, anything outside that is the long-lasting sufferings of what was neglected to underscore before the excuses. So, we make excuses to justify our failures. Because, failure and success are the future life of a doer.”

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“If there is a feeling that something has been lost, it may be because much has not yet been used, much is still to be found and begun.”

Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980) poet and political activist

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“Why were the Europeans bothered about the Soviet Union at all? It was nothing to do with us. China had nothing to do with us. Why were we not building, without reference to the Soviet Union, a good society in our own countries? But no, we were all — in one way or another — obsessed with the bloody Soviet Union, which was a disaster. What people were supporting was failure. And continually justifying it.”

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“If our Creator has so bountifully provided for our existence here, which is but momentary, and for our temporal wants, which will soon be forgotten, how much more must He have done for our enjoyment in the everlasting world?”

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Reported in Biography of Rev. Hosea Ballou (1854) p. 261.

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“The Soviet Union has indeed been our greatest menace — not so much because of what it has done, but because of the excuses it has provided us for our own failures.”

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J. William Fulbright 21

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