We must, even in our honest political fervor, fear neither partisan criticism nor self-criticism. For the pretense of perfection is not one of the ma… - Dwight D. Eisenhower

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We must, even in our honest political fervor, fear neither partisan criticism nor self-criticism. For the pretense of perfection is not one of the marks of good public servants. And we; must, even in our zeal to defeat the enemies of freedom, never betray ourselves into seizing their weapons to make our own defense. A people or a party that is young and sober and confident and free has no need of censors to purify its thought or stiffen its will. For the kind of America in which we; believe is too strong ever to acknowledge fear-and too wise ever to fear knowledge. This is the kind of America-and the kind of Republican Party-in which I believe. I do not know how to define it with political labels. Such labels are, in our age, cheap and abundant. But they mean as little as they cost. We are many things. We are liberal-for we do believe that, in judging his own daily welfare, each citizen, however humble, has greater wisdom than any government, however great. We are progressive-for we are less impressed with the difficulties we observed yesterday than the opportunities we envision tomorrow. And we are conservative-for we can conceive of no higher commission that history could have conferred upon us than that which we humbly bear-the preservation, in this time of tempest and of peril, of the spiritual values that alone give dignity and meaning to man's pilgrimage on this earth.

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About Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight David Eisenhower (14 October 1890 – 28 March 1969), also widely known by his nickname "Ike", was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe, and achieved the rare five-star rank of General of the Army. He was responsible for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 1942–1943 and the successful invasion of Normandy in 1944–1945 from the Western Front.

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Also Known As

Birth Name: David Dwight Eisenhower
Also Known As: Ike
Alternative Names: Dwight David Eisenhower President Eisenhower D. Eisenhower Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower Dwight Eisenhower Ike Eisenhower
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Additional quotes by Dwight D. Eisenhower

So it is that the laws most binding us as a people are laws of the spirit—proclaimed in church and synagogue and mosque. These are the laws that truly declare the eternal equality of all men, of all races, before the man-made laws of our land. And we are profoundly aware that—in the world—we can claim the trust of hundreds of millions of people, across Africa and Asia—only as we ourselves hold high the banner of justice for all.

All of us have heard this term "preventive war" since the earliest days of Hitler. I recall that is about the first time I heard it. In this day and time, if we believe for one second that nuclear fission and fusion, that type of weapon, would be used in such a war — what is a preventive war? I would say a preventive war, if the words mean anything, is to wage some sort of quick police action in order that you might avoid a terrific cataclysm of destruction later. A preventive war, to my mind, is an impossibility today. How could you have one if one of its features would be several cities lying in ruins, several cities where many, many thousands of people would be dead and injured and mangled, the transportation systems destroyed, sanitation implements and systems all gone? That isn't preventive war; that is war. I don't believe there is such a thing; and, frankly, I wouldn't even listen to anyone seriously that came in and talked about such a thing. ... It seems to me that when, by definition, a term is just ridiculous in itself, there is no use in going any further. There are all sorts of reasons, moral and political and everything else, against this theory, but it is so completely unthinkable in today's conditions that I thought it is no use to go any further.

It is unwise to make education too cheap. If everything is provided freely, there is a tendency to put no value on anything. Education must always have a certain price on it; even as the very process of learning itself must always require individual effort and initiative.

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