Jimmy Carter
(1924-)

39th US President, Humanitarian
1978 National Conservation Achievement Award

1994 National Freedom Award 1994 Audubon Medal

1994 Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize
1999 Presidential Medal of Freedom
2002 Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism
The Elders

birthdate: October 1               birthplace: Plains, Georgia

QUOTES

ECOLOGY
"I want to make it clear,if there is ever a conflict (between environmental quality and economic growth), I will go for beauty, clean air, water, and landscape."

Acknowledging the physical realities of our planet does not mean a dismal future of endless sacrifice. In fact, acknowledging these realities is the first step in dealing with them. We can meet the resource problems of the world -- water, food, minerals, farmlands, forests, overpopulation, pollution -- if we tackle them with courage and foresight.

Like music and art, love of nature is a common language that can transcend political or social boundaries.

ENERGY
Energy will be the immediate test of our ability to unite this Nation, and it can also be the standard around which we rally. On the battlefield of energy we can win for our Nation a new confidence, and we can seize control again of our common destiny.

We simply must balance our demand for energy with our rapidly shrinking resources. By acting now we can control our future instead of letting the future control us.

FORGIVENESS
"Forgiving is one of the most difficult things for a human being to do, but I think it means looking at some slight you feel, putting yourself in the position of the other person, and wiping away any sort of resentment and antagonism you feel toward them. Then let that other person know that everything is perfectly friendly and normal between you."

HOPE
I believe we have reason to be hopeful for our planet. We must follow our faiths and common sense, which I believe will guide us into the future.

HUMAN RIGHTS
"Everyone has a right to peaceful coexistence, the basic personal freedoms, the alleviation of suffering, and the opportunity to lead a productive life..."

America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense, it is the other way around. Human rights invented America.

HUNGER
"We know that a peaceful world cannot long exist, one-third rich and two-thirds hungry."

JUSTICE
It would be naïve to think that peace and justice can be achieved easily. No set of rules or study of history will automatically resolve the problems … However, with faith and perseverance, … complex problems in the past have been resolved in our search for justice and peace.

The law is not the private property of lawyers, nor is justice the exclusive province of judges and juries. In the final analysis, true justice is not a matter of courts and law books, but of a commitment in each of us to liberty and mutual respect.

LABOR
Every advance in this half-century-Social Security, civil rights, Medicare, aid to education, one after another-came with the support and leadership of American Labor.

LEADERSHIP
"A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It's a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity."

NO MORE WAR
War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children.

RECYCLING
"Solid wastes" are the discarded leftovers of our advanced consumer society. This growing mountain of garbage and trash represents not only an attitude of indifference toward valuable natural resources, but also a serious economic and public health problem.

MORE QUOTES:
If you fear making anyone mad, then you ultimately probe for the lowest common denominator of human achievement.

A simple and proper function of government is just to make it easy for us to do good and difficult for us to do wrong.

We've been through some sordid and embarrassing years and I felt like it was time for our country to hold a beacon light that would rally our citizens to a cause.

 

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