Barbara Jordan

“One thing is clear to me: We, as human beings, must be willing to accept people who are different from ourselves.”

“I never intended to become a run-of-the-mill person.”

“Let there be no illusions about the difficulty of forming this kind of a national community. It's tough, difficult, not easy. But a spirit of harmony will survive in America only if each of us remembers that we share a common destiny.”

“We must not become the new puritans and reject our society. We must address and master the future together. It can be done if we restore the belief that we share a sense of national community, that we share a common national endeavor. It can be done.”

“More is required of public officials than slogans and handshakes and press releases. More is required. We must hold ourselves strictly accountable. We must provide the people with a vision of the future.”

“I felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake. But through the process of amendment, interpretation, and court decision, I have finally been included in 'We, the people.'”

“We are a people in a quandary about the present. We are a people in search of our future. We are a people in search of a national community.”

“Our concept of governing is derived from our view of people. It is a concept deeply rooted in a set of beliefs firmly etched in the national conscience, of all of us.”

“We are a people trying not only to solve the problems of the present: unemployment, inflation... but we are attempting on a larger scale to fulfill the promise of America.”

“Life is too large to hang out a sign: 'For Men Only.'”

“We have a positive vision of the future founded on the belief that the gap between the promise and reality of America can one day be finally closed. We believe that.”

“There is no executive order; there is no law that can require the American people to form a national community. This we must do as individuals and if we do it as individuals, there is no President of the United States who can veto that decision.”

“But this is the great danger America faces. That we will cease to be one nation and become instead a collection of interest groups: city against suburb, region against region, individual against individual. Each seeking to satisfy private wants.”

“It is reason, and not passion, which must guide our deliberations, guide our debate, and guide our decision.”

“Education remains the key to both economic and political empowerment.”

“Do not call for black power or green power. Call for brain power.”

“Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap.”

“We call ourselves public servants but I'll tell you this: we as public servants must set an example for the rest of the nation. It is hypocritical for the public official to admonish and exhort the people to uphold the common good.”

“We are a party of innovation. We do not reject our traditions, but we are willing to adapt to changing circumstances, when change we must. We are willing to suffer the discomfort of change in order to achieve a better future.”

“The citizens of America expect more. They deserve and they want more than a recital of problems.”