"The world has gotten smaller and no country is going to succeed if part of its population is put on the sidelines because they’re discriminated against. [...] No society is going to succeed if half your population -- meaning women -- aren’t getting the same education and employment opportunities as men. So I think the key point for all of you, especially as young people, is you should embrace your culture. You should be proud of who you are and your background. And you should appreciate the differences in language and food. And how you worship God is going to be different, and those are things that you should be proud of. But it shouldn’t be a tool to look down on somebody else. It shouldn’t be a reason to discriminate. And you have to make sure that you are speaking out against that in your daily life, and as you emerge as leaders you should be on the side of politics that brings people together rather than drives them apart. That is the most important thing for this generation. And part of the way to do that is to be able to stand in other people’s shoes, see through their eyes. Almost every religion has within it the basic principle that I, as a Christian, understand from the teachings of Jesus. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Treat people the way you want to be treated. And if you’re not doing that and if society is not respecting that basic principle, then we’re going backwards instead of going forward. [...] And when you see astronauts from Japan or from the United States or from Russia or others working together, and they’re looking down at this planet from a distance you realize we’re all on this little rock in the middle of space and the differences that seem so important to us from a distance dissolve into nothing. And so, we have to have that same perspective -- respecting everybody, treating everybody equally under the law. That has to be a principle that all of you uphold."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Democratic Party (United States) politiciansColumbia University alumniAutobiographers from the United StatesAfrican AmericansHarvard University alumni
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barack_Obama
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Barack Obama
politician, lawyer, political writer
1961 · United States
1215 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Barack Obama →
Related Quotes
"Velike ribe male proždiru."
"Ein Heute ist besser als zehn Morgen."
"I don't know where his vendetta comes from but we're not going to let him make his bones by lambasting Las Vegas, tha…"
"America understands that there is one party in this country that is favor of health care reform and one party that is…"
"Barack Obama loves to get attached from the Left on being too moderate on the War on Terrorism. And there have been o…"
"With health reform and the so-called “public option” reportedly on life support (although some activists strongly dis…"
"The antiwar movement aspired to create a transgressive politics that challenged the institutions that generate war an…"
"The irony is that Barack Obama would not even be president if it were not for the courage of persecuted dissidents su…"
"Surveying the fall in support for the governments of Barack Obama, New York City's progressive Mayor Bill de Blasio, …"
"If Barack Obama was a state he'd be California. I mean, think about it: diverse, open, smart, independent, oppose tra…"