Jimmy Carter 90th Birthday: Quotes from Former US President on Slavery, Discrimination and War

Former US president Jimmy Carter is turning 90 on 1 October.

Carter served as the 39^th president from 1977 until 1981. Following his efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, such as the one between Israel and Egypt, and promote democracy principles and the recognition of human rights, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

Here is a look at some of his most famous quotes.

Before Presidency:

I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over - Gubernatorial Inaugural Address, 1971

Any system of economics is bankrupt if it sees either value or virtue in unemployment - Acceptance speech, Democratic National Conference, 1976

 

During Presidency

Penalties against drug use should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself - Message to Congress, 1977

Our pursuit of human rights is part of a broad effort to use our great power and our tremendous influence in the service of creating a better world, a world in which human beings can live in peace, in freedom, and with their basic needs adequately met. – Speech at a White House meeting commemorating the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1978

Owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning. We’ve learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose - Malaise Speech, 1979

After Presidency

Iraq is an unjust war. I thought then, and I think now, that the invasion of Iraq was unnecessary and unjust. And I think the premises on which it was launched were false - News conference at the Baptist World Alliance’s centenary conference in Birmingham, 2005.

I don’t think that Israel has any legal or moral justification for their massive bombing of the entire nation of Lebanon - Interview with German newspaper Der Spiegel, 2006.

There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president - Speech at a town hall meeting held at his presidential centre in Atlanta, Georgia, 2009.

It would be a fruitless search to look through the Scriptures and find one single instance where Jesus did not treat women either equal or superior to men. –  Quote contained in “Jimmy Carter 3.0: Building a post-presidential legacy” by Adelle M. Banks, 2014

I never knew of any word or action of Jesus Christ that discriminated against anyone - Carter said after being asked about LGBT rights at Grand Rapids Community College’s Ford Fieldhouse, 2014.

The abuse of women around the world is the worst, unaddressed issue that the world faces today. And those of us in the more advanced countries don’t know much about horrible abuse of girls whose genitals are mutilated when they’re very young, children who are killed because a girl is raped by strangers and her family kills her to protect their own nation’s honour – Interview with CNBC Meets, 2014.

Even in the United States, human slavery now is greater than it ever was during the 18th or 19th century. In Atlanta, Georgia, we have between 200-300 girls sold into sexual slavery every month - Interview with CNBC Meets, 2014.

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Jimmy Carter 90th Birthday: Quotes from Former US President on Slavery, Discrimination and War

Jimmy Carter 90th Birthday: Quotes from Former US President on Slavery, Discrimination and War