Barbara Jordan

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. ”

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

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

What we have to do is strike a balance between the idea that government should do everything and the idea, the belief, that government ought to do nothing. Strike a balance. ”

In other times, I could stand here and give this kind of exposition on the beliefs of the Democratic Party and that would be enough. But today that is not enough. People want more. ”

We cannot improve on the system of government handed down to us by the founders of the Republic. There is no way to improve upon that. But what we can do is to find new ways to implement that system and realize our destiny. ”

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.' ”

There is no obstacle in the path of young people who are poor or members of minority groups that hard work and preparation cannot cure. ”

A government is invigorated when each of us is willing to participate in shaping the future of this nation. ”

For all of its uncertainty, we cannot flee the future. ”