Curated Quotations

Eric Liu

Quotations

  • “My grandfather was a general in the Nationalist Chinese Air Force during World War II, and I grew up hearing the pilot stories and seeing pictures of him in uniform.” -Eric Liu

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  • “We live in a great country. It’s time again to get religion about it.” -Eric Liu

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  • “We tend to think of politics as bad, full of dirty tricks, negative ads, big campaigns, but I am here to explore the original meaning of politics, which is positive and has to do with balancing competing interests and looking for solutions.” -Eric Liu

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  • “Sometimes when I listen to fellow progressives, I wonder if the only lesson we took away from the ’04 elections is that politics is a word game.” -Eric Liu

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  • “Throughout this country’s history there have of course been systematic efforts to create an official underclass.” -Eric Liu

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  • “Many smart folks seem to think that if you just get your metaphors and messages right, you’ll win. That if you start describing what you favor as a ‘moral value’ – ‘affordable health care is a moral value’ etc., – then you’ll appeal to red-state voters.” -Eric Liu

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  • “You cannot mistake Bush’s clarity of purpose. He believes in a story about freedom and opportunity that makes his followers feel like they aren’t just ticking their days down but are part of something larger than themselves.” -Eric Liu

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  • “‘The Purpose-Driven Life’ is not just a mega-bestselling work of Christian faith it is the thing that every voter, secular or not, yearns for.” -Eric Liu

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  • “Have you ever watched someone become American? Last week, at a national citizenship conference I organize, thirty immigrants from 17 countries swore an oath and became citizens of the United States. It was a stirring experience for the hundreds of people in the room.” -Eric Liu

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  • “In the end no segregationist scheme has withstood the force of a simple idea: equality under law.” -Eric Liu

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  • Here’s a proposal, offered only partly in jest: no resident of the United States, whether born here or abroad, should get to be a citizen until age 18, at which time each such resident has to take a test. – Eric Liu

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