WIST Quotations

Moyers, Bill -- “The Power of Democracy,” speech, Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, New York City (7 Feb 2007)

Dave — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 00:04:46 +0000

Here is the crisis of the times as I see it: We talk about problems, issues, policies, but we don’t talk about what democracy means — what it bestows on us — the revolutionary idea that it isn’t just about the means of governance but the means of dignifying people so they become fully free to claim their moral and political agency.

Bill Moyers (1934-2025) American journalist and public commentator
“The Power of Democracy,” speech, Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, New York City (7 Feb 2007)
(Source)

Accepting the Frank E. Taplin, Jr. Public Intellectual Award. Reprinted in Bill Moyers, Moyers on Democracy (2008).

Moyers, Bill -- Time (29 Oct 1965)

Dave — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 12:21:47 +0000

Ideas are great arrows, but there has to be a bow. And politics is the bow of idealism.

Bill Moyers (1934-2025) American journalist and public commentator
Time (29 Oct 1965)

Moyers, Bill -- Essay (2003-02-28), “Patriotism and the Flag,” NOW with Bill Moyers (PBS)

Dave — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 22:40:36 +0000

When I see flags sprouting on official lapels, I think of the time in China when I saw Mao’s Little Red Book on every official’s desk, omnipresent and unread.

Bill Moyers (1934-2025) American journalist and public commentator
Essay (2003-02-28), “Patriotism and the Flag,” NOW with Bill Moyers (PBS)
(Source)

Moyers quoted the comments a few years later in a speech to the National Conference for Media Reform (St Louis) (2005-05-15); the phrase is often cited to that occasion.

Moyers, Bill -- Essay (2003-02-28), “Patriotism and the Flag,” NOW with Bill Moyers (PBS)

Dave — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 15:28:25 +0000

Standing up to your government can mean standing up for your country.

Bill Moyers (1934-2025) American journalist and public commentator
Essay (2003-02-28), “Patriotism and the Flag,” NOW with Bill Moyers (PBS)
(Source)

Regarding patriotism and opposition to the impending war in Iraq. Moyers quoted the comments a few years later in a speech to the National Conference for Media Reform (St Louis) (2005-05-15); the phrase is often cited to that occasion.