Barack Obama

Name: An Honest Government, A Hopeful Future
Author: Barack Obama

An Honest Government, A Hopeful Future (2006)

Summary

“An Honest Government, A Hopeful Future”, published in 2006, is a work by Barack Obama. It explores elements such as empathy, advice and culture.

Quotes from An Honest Government, A Hopeful Future (Barack Obama)

Barack Obama, An Honest Government, A Hopeful Future (2006)

“ There's no community service requirement in the real world; no one forcing you to care. You'll be free to live in neighborhoods with people who are exactly like yourself, and send your kids to the same schools, and narrow your concerns to what's going in your own little circle.
Not only that - we live in a culture that discourages empathy. A culture that too often tells us our principle goal in life is to be rich, thin, young, famous, safe, and entertained. A culture where those in power too often encourage these selfish impulses. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Barack Obama, An Honest Government, A Hopeful Future (2006)

“ It's because you have an obligation to yourself. Because our individual salvation depends on collective salvation. And because it's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential - and become full-grown.
As I think about all of the good each of you has the potential to do in this world, I'm reminded of this image. It's the image of young Americans - teenagers and college kids not much older than you - from all over the country, watching the Civil Rights Movement unfold before them on their television sets. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Barack Obama, An Honest Government, A Hopeful Future (2006)

“ That the inner-city children who are trapped in dilapidated schools can't learn and won't learn and so we should just give up on them entirely. That the innocent people being slaughtered and expelled from their homes half a world away are somebody else's problem to take care of.
I hope you don't listen to this. I hope you choose to broaden, and not contract, your ambit of concern. Not because you have an obligation to those who are less fortunate, although you do have that obligation. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Barack Obama, An Honest Government, A Hopeful Future (2006)

“ At a time when too many in the media have written off your generation as apathetic or uninvolved, you're proving not only that you care very deeply about the future of this country, but that you're willing to do something about it. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Barack Obama, An Honest Government, A Hopeful Future (2006)

“ And over time, a community changed. And so had we.
The last piece of advice is to cultivate a sense of empathy.
There's a lot of talk in this country about the federal deficit. But I think we should talk more about our empathy deficit - the ability to put ourselves in someone else's shoes; to see the world through those who are different from us - the child who's hungry, the laid-off steelworker, the immigrant woman cleaning your dorm room. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Barack Obama, An Honest Government, A Hopeful Future (2006)

“ Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it's not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won't. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Barack Obama, An Honest Government, A Hopeful Future (2006)

“ I have a feeling that many of you might be in a similar boat when it comes to politics and organizing and activism after college, and so today I'd just like to offer you a few pieces of advice that might be able to help you on your way.
The first is to take risks.
When I told people that after college, I planned on being a community organizer and working in low-income neighborhoods, they thought I was crazy. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Barack Obama, An Honest Government, A Hopeful Future (2006)

“ The fact that you're here and participating in Campus Progress means that most of you have already done this better than most ever will. But as you go on in life, cultivating this quality of empathy will become harder, not easier. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Barack Obama, An Honest Government, A Hopeful Future (2006)

“ With all the work you've done and the organizations you've been involved in, you'll have boundless opportunities when you graduate. And it's very easy to just take that diploma, forget about all this progressive politics stuff, and go chasing after the big house and the large salary and the nice suits and all the other things that our money culture says you should buy. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Barack Obama, An Honest Government, A Hopeful Future (2006)

“ You look like a nice clean-cut young man, and you've got a nice voice. So let me give you a piece of advice - forget this community organizing business. You can't change the world, and people won't appreciate you trying. ”

Barack Obama

Summary

Quotes from An Honest Government, A Hopeful Future (Barack Obama)

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