Jon Meacham Quotes - Page 2

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• From Jefferson to Jackson to Lincoln to FDR to Reagan, every great president inspires enormous affection and enormous hostility. We'll all be much saner, I think, if we remember that history is full of surprises and things that seemed absolutely certain one day are often unimaginable the next.

  Jon Meacham

  Thinking, Inspire, One Day

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• The attacks of September 11 - and subsequent acts of terror from London to Madrid to Fort Hood, Texas - embody the most repulsive of human instincts, the will to power at the price of the lives of others.

  Jon Meacham

  Texas, September 11, London

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• World War II ended the Great Depression with one of the great public-private industrial collaborations in the history of man.

  Jon Meacham

  War, Men, Collaboration

  "In Perspective: Jon Meacham on the delicate balance between public and private" by Jon Meacham, www.pbs.org. September 16, 2011.

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• I am an Episcopalian who takes the faith of my fathers seriously, and I would, I think, be disheartened if my own young children were to turn away from the church when they grow up. I am also a critic of Christianity, if by critic one means an observer who brings historical and literary judgment to bear on the texts and traditions of the church.

  Jon Meacham

  Children, Growing Up, Father

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• Steadiness of faith, was, in the long run, as illuminating and essential as sophistication of thought.

  Jon Meacham

  Running, Long, Essentials

  Jon Meacham (2008). “American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House”, p.24, Random House

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• Sometimes paranoids have enemies, and conspiracies are only laughable when they fail to materialize.

  Jon Meacham

  Enemy, Sometimes, Failing

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• Jefferson was the rare leader who stood out from the crowd without intimidating it.

  Jon Meacham

  Leader, Crowds, Intimidating

  Jon Meacham (2012). “Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power”, p.21, Random House

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• Among the many problems with taking the Bible literally is it reduces the most mysterious and complex of realities to simple - even simplistic - terms. Yes, scripture speaks of fire and damnation and eternal bliss, but the Bible is the product of human hands and hearts, and much of the imagery is allegorical, not meteorological.

  Jon Meacham

  Heart, Simple, Reality

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• It would be great if politics were fact-based, but it is not, and it is surely not nuance-based. What works in a classroom or a think tank does not work on Capitol Hill or in the White House. Obama sometimes seems to be running the Brookings Institution, not the country.

  Jon Meacham

  Running, Country, Thinking

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• There is nothing new under the sun.

  Jon Meacham

  Science, Old Things, Sun

  Jon Meacham (2012). “Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power”, p.355, Random House

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• Part of what I loved - and love - about being around older people is the tangible sense of history they embody. I'm interested in military history, for instance, because both my grandfathers fought in World War II. I'm interested in writing because one of those grandfathers wrote books.

  Jon Meacham

  Military, War, Book

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• In the fullness of time, I suspect that bigotry against homosexuals will seem as repugnant as racial prejudice does today. Or so one hopes.

  Jon Meacham

  Doe, Prejudice, Today

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• It is true that traditional Christianity is losing some of its appeal among Americans, but that is a religious, not political, matter. It is worth remembering that the Jeffersonian 'wall of separation' between church and state has always been intended to protect the church from the state as much as the state from the church.

  Jon Meacham

  Religious, Wall, Political

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• A lot of people, including business leaders, think the future belongs to China. Globalization is not a zero-sum game, but we need to hone our skills to stay in play.

  Jon Meacham

  Zero, Thinking, Games

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• Only the most unapologetic biblical fundamentalists, for instance, take every biblical injunction literally. If we all took all scripture at the same level of authority, then we would be more open to slavery, to the subjugation of women, to wider use of stoning. Jesus himself spoke out frequently against divorce in the strongest of terms.

  Jon Meacham

  Jesus, Divorce, Biblical

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• President Obama is now losing to 'Republican Nominee' in polls - no name needed.

  Jon Meacham

  Names, President, Losing

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• In the closed circle of the war cabinet, pounded by terrible report after terrible report, there had been uncertainty about whether he could fend off the drift to exploring a deal with Hitler. The determination of the larger group trumped the tentativeness of the smaller, and Churchill fulfilled his role as leader by disentangling himself from defeatism--one of his singular achievements at the end of May 1940.

  Jon Meacham

  Determination, War, Circles

  Jon Meacham (2003). “Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship”, p.58, Random House

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• Like the Bible-a document that often contradicts itself and from which one can construct sharply different arguments-theology is the product of human hands and hearts.

  Jon Meacham

  Heart, Hands, Different

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• The fact is that America has been at her most prosperous when government and the private sector have been not at war, but in a wary, if often underplayed, alliance. History is unmistakable on this point.

  Jon Meacham

  War, America, Government

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• The traditional religious right's failure to restore public-school prayer or pass an antiabortion constitutional amendment has likely helped fuel the spread of the more extreme dominionist school.

  Jon Meacham

  Religious, Prayer, School

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• The past always seems somehow more golden, more serious, than the present. We tend to forget the partisanship of yesteryear, preferring to re-imagine our history as a sure and steady march toward greatness.

  Jon Meacham

  Past, Greatness, History

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• An epic subject requires a writer of epic skill and scope, and we have a perfect pairing in Cleopatra and Stacy Schiff. Absorbing and illuminating, this new biography will endure.

  Jon Meacham

  Epic, Skills, Perfect

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• Barack Obama is many things; among them, he is a tough and even ferocious political warrior.

  Jon Meacham

  Warrior, Political, Tough

  "Why Obama Owns bin Laden" by Jon Meacham, www.realclearpolitics.com. April 30, 2012.

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• An important thing to remember about the press is there is no ideological bias.

  Jon Meacham

  Important, Remember, Bias

  "My Father, My President" by Doro Bush, (p. 218), October 2006.

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• While we remain a nation decisively shaped by religious faith, our politics and our culture are, in the main, less influenced by movements and arguments of an explicitly Christian character than they were even five years ago. I think this is a good thing - good for our political culture.

  Jon Meacham

  Christian, Religious, Character

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