Wisdom of Past Presidents Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J. November 7, 2016 This long very long presidential year has put our nation through a ringer of distress. Citizens of one nation cannot possible grasp political details of another. Still, it is fairly safe to say that many across the globe are participating as keen observers of the overall events currently unfolding here regarding the presidential election. How many of us have experienced a battery of negative feelings: exhaustion, bad temper, confusion, fear, and sadness? How will we restore a measure of equanimity to our lives and to our nation after this election? The sacrament of the present moment remains one cogent response to this question. There is no substitute for doing what we re supposed to do putting our hands to our daily work, to the grind if you will so that quiet satisfaction can once again hold sway. The Latin proverb serves well: age quod agis, (pronounced ah-jay quod ah-jees) that is, do what you re supposed to do, or just do what you re doing. The sacrament of the present moment. What s a Nation to Do? When elections are decided, we need to pray for our own consolation of spirit and that of our nation. And of course, there is prayer, however difficult, for opposing parties. Is this an impossibility? Didn t Jesus command us to pray for our enemies and for those who treat us poorly? This short essay presents several excerpts meant to lift us beyond rancor and divisiveness and the harsh words that have crossed the airways. Most of these selections have been written by
our past U.S. presidents offering a moment of grace and inspiration to the spirit. There are others which are perhaps familiar or which are fixed in our memory through regular meditation. Words of consoling wisdom offered by our past Presidents come as welcome relief. George Washington Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who make excuses. The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph. Thomas Jefferson Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom. "Preach... a crusade against ignorance; establish and improve the law for educating the common people. Let our countrymen know that the people alone can protect us against these evils [of monarchial government]." Abraham Lincoln With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. Theodore Roosevelt "We must dare to be great; and we must realize that greatness is the fruit of toil and sacrifice and high courage." Franklin Delano Roosevelt "Yours is not the task of making your way in the world, but the task of remaking the world which you will find before you." Harry S. Truman It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.
Dwight D. Eisenhower Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it. A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both. You do not lead by hitting people over the head that s assault, not leadership. John Fitzgerald Kennedy "Life is never easy. There is work to be done and obligations to be met obligations to truth, to justice, and to liberty." I see little of more importance to the future of our country and our civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist. I look forward to an America which will reward achievement in the arts as we reward achievement in business or statecraft. I look forward to an America which will steadily raise the standards of artistic accomplishment and which will steadily enlarge cultural opportunities for all of our citizens. I look forward to an America which commands respect throughout the world not only for its strength but for its civilization as well. And I look forward to a world which will be safe not only for democracy and diversity but also for personal distinction. And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together what we can do for the freedom of man. Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own. Lyndon B. Johnson "If we succeed, it will not be because of what we have, but it will be because of what we are; not because of what we own, but, rather because of what we believe." Gerald Ford "The founding of our Nation was more than a political event; it was an act of faith, a promise to Americans and to the entire world. The Declaration of Independence declared that people can govern themselves, that they can live in freedom with equal rights, that they can respect the rights of others." Ronald Reagan
The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things." George H.W. Bush "No problem of human making is too great to be overcome by human ingenuity, human energy, and the untiring hope of the human spirit." George W. Bush "Life takes its own turns, makes its own demands, writes its own story, and along the way, we start to realize we are not the author." Barack Obama "One voice can change a room. And if one voice can change a room, then it can change a city. And if it can change a city, it can change a state. And if it can change a state, it can change a nation, and if it can change a nation, it can change the world. Your voice can change the world."... IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America e hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. The Serenity Prayer God grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. St. Thomas Aquinas Law is an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community.
St. Thomas More (at his trial in 1535) I die the King s good servant but God s first.