Governance requires adaptation to shifting circumstances, it often requires finding common ground with Americans who have a different vision than your own. It requires leaders who believe ... that their first responsibility to their constituents is to apply their best judgment.

Richard Lugar

Categorized in : People

We must perfect a worldwide system of accountability for nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

Richard Lugar

accountability nuclear perfect

There are no shortcuts to victory. We must commit ourselves to the slow, painstaking work of foreign policy day by day and year by year.

Richard Lugar

shortcuts victory years

I am convinced that the majority of American people do understand that we have a moral responsibility to foster the concepts of opportunity, free enterprise, the rule of law, and democracy. They understand that these values are the hope of the world.

Richard Lugar

responsibility law opportunity

We have the responsibility to ensure that our first impulse in foreign affairs is one of bipartisanship.

Richard Lugar

affair responsibility firsts

Grandchildren have taught me how important the future is. I try to look through their eyes and envision what's in their imagination. What's the world going to look like when they're my age? That really does take a huge imagination.

Richard Lugar

grandchildren eye imagination

As a practical matter, every immigrant needs to master English to be a full participating citizen and to have full economic opportunity.

Richard Lugar

citizens opportunity needs

I think there is a commitment on the part of the White House to racial justice in this country, and no ambiguity.

Richard Lugar

country commitment thinking

Despite elections and the experience of post-Soviet personal freedoms by the Russian people, the fate of democracy in Russia is perhaps more ambiguous now than at any time since the collapse of the Communist system.

Richard Lugar

fate russia people

The United States cannot feed every person, lift every person out of poverty, cure every disease, or stop every conflict. But our power and status have conferred upon us a tremendous responsibility to humanity.

Richard Lugar

united-states responsibility humanity

That first responsibility as a school board member - meals for latch-key children - was absolutely critical in my understanding of the extraordinary problems of poverty.

Richard Lugar

responsibility children school

Ethanol is a premier, high performance fuel. It has tremendous environmental benefits and is a key component to energy independence for our country.

Richard Lugar

independence keys country

I would like to raise my glass to friendship between Russia and the United States.

Richard Lugar

russia glasses friendship

By furthering the use of ethanol, farmers are presented with the opportunity to produce a cash crop by collecting their agricultural wastes.

Richard Lugar

agriculture use opportunity

If I could offer but one helpful hint to young Hoosiers hoping to better their odds for success in life, I would simply note the importance of thoughtful reading.

Richard Lugar

thoughtful odds reading

We believe - most polls indicate - a lack of support, a lack of confidence in the ability of the Congress to work. That is disturbing in terms of our general democracy.

Richard Lugar

confidence support democracy work

Very rarely does food enhance the conversation. If the food is really good, there'll be much less conversation because you'd be concentrating too much on the food.

Richard Lugar

good you conversation food

Declining overseas admissions costs us not only much needed revenues for colleges and universities, but much more importantly, we lose the best opportunity we have to introduce foreign students to all that America has to offer the world.

Richard Lugar

lose best opportunity world

The time frame is very small to disarm the militia, to bring about a security situation in which the governing council, the 24 Iraqis or however many others they appoint, can govern the country.

Richard Lugar

small situation time country

Americans who may be going to the largest embassy we've ever had.

Richard Lugar

ever going who may

It's very unlikely that we're going to send more troops to Iraq. We are going to have to train the Iraqis faster and harder.

Richard Lugar

send going more train