Barbara Jordan
U.S. Representative from Texas, 1973–1979; Texas State Senator 1967–1973
And now, what are those of us who are elected public officials supposed to do? We call ourselves "public servants" but I'll tell you this: We as public servants must set an example for the rest of the nation. It is hypocritical for the public official to admonish and exhort the people to uphold the common good if we are derelict in upholding the common good. More is required -- More is required of public officials than slogans and handshakes and press releases. More is required. We must hold ourselves strictly accountable. We must provide the people with a vision of the future.
Recorded
Democratic National Convention, Madison Square Garden, New York, AmericanRhetoric.com, 12 July 1976
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Lee Kuan Yew
Prime Minister of Singapore, 1959–1990; Senior Minister 1990–2004; Minister Mentor 2004–2011
Having found suitable men, our next problem was to keep them and nurture them until they were ready. To do that I had to give them work of significance to do, and not treat them as apprentices. As I allotted them important tasks, some of the old guard became apprehensive for their own positions. They saw no reason why these bright, young, energetic men who had not contributed to the struggle, should come in and displace them before they were ready to go.
Recorded
Singapore Press Club, Petir (People's Action Party), reproducing the speech in full, 7 June 1996
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Desmond Tutu
Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town; chair of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission; Nobel Peace Prize, 1984
What is rewarding about the priesthood is, one, that you have an incredible privilege of being privy to some of the most extraordinary things about people. I mean, as their parish priest, you visit people who are sick, say, on their death bed and they tell you things that they probably have not shared with any other person. You are privileged to bring the Holy Sacrament to people at a time when they are probably at their lowest. But you also have the privilege of meeting up with people at their moment of great joy, when they are getting married, or when they have a child baptized.
Recorded
Academy of Achievement recorded interview, American Academy of Achievement, 12 June 2004
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Nicholas Kristof
Journalist and columnist, The New York Times; two-time Pulitzer Prize winner
I have a bunch of rules for myself. You stop at every village, you ask what the situation is like between this village and the next village, you look for fresh tire tracks. If there are any land mines in the area, then you always want to make sure you go on fresh tire tracks to reduce the risk of mines. You carry a certain amount of money so that if some soldiers with guns want to rob you — no fuss — you give them a decoy wallet or some other money to make them happy, and you just learn to kind of be soothing with unpleasant people.
Recorded
Academy of Achievement recorded interview, American Academy of Achievement, 3 July 2008
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Barack Obama
44th President of the United States, 2009–2017; United States Senator from Illinois 2005–2008
Nothing comes to my desk that is perfectly solvable. … Otherwise, someone else would have solved it. So you wind up dealing with probabilities. Any given decision you make you'll wind up with a 30 to 40 percent chance that it isn't going to work. You have to own that and feel comfortable with the way you made the decision. You can't be paralyzed by the fact that it might not work out.
Recorded
Michael Lewis, Vanity Fair, October 2012 issue, 11 September 2012
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Lynsey Addario
Photojournalist and war photographer; Pulitzer Prize winner, 2009
For a photographer — it’s like actually taking a picture is like five percent of what I do. And the rest is research, reading, contact, setting things up, making contact, getting access, making people feel comfortable, doing the reporting, doing the interviews, getting the captions. It’s not getting there physically, the logistics on the ground. I mean, literally, taking a picture is the easiest part of my job.
Recorded
Academy of Achievement recorded interview, American Academy of Achievement, 21 October 2017
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