Those Who Came Before Us Quotes

• We've got a responsibility to live up to the legacy of those who came before us by doing all that we can to help those who come after us.

  Michelle Obama

  Inspiring, Responsibility, Feminism

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• Those who came before us made certain that this country rode the first waves of the industrial revolution, the first waves of modern invention and the first wave of nuclear power. And this generation does not intend to founder in the backwash of the coming age of space. We mean to be part of it-we mean to lead it.

  John F. Kennedy

  Country, Mean, Space

  Address at Rice University on the Nation's Space Program, delivered 12 September 1962, Rice Stadium, Houston, Texas

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• It all goes back and back," Tyrion thought, "to our mothers and fathers and theirs before them. We are puppets dancing on the strings of those who came before us, and one day our own children will take up our strings and dance in our steads.

  George R. R. Martin

  Mother, Children, Father

  George R. R. Martin (2012). “George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones 5-Book Boxed Set (Song of Ice and Fire Series): A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, and and A Dance with Dragons”, p.2238, Bantam

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• Science is supposedly the method by which we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. In computer science, we all are standing on each others' feet.

  Gerald J. Popek

  Technology, Feet, Computer

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• Only by acknowledging the success and sacrifice made by those who came before us, can we fully understand what we must do to ensure the liberty of those who will succeed us.

  Yvette Clarke

  Sacrifice, Liberty, Succeed

  "Black History Is American History" by Rep. Yvette Clarke, www.huffingtonpost.com. April 10, 2010.

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• And I saw for the first time how, despite the isolation of our own lives, we are always connected to our ancestors; our bodies hold the memories of those who came before us, whether it is the features we inherit or a disposition that is etched into our soul.

  Alyson Richman

  Memories, Soul, Body

  Alyson Richman (2011). “The Lost Wife”, p.237, Penguin

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• A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.

  John F. Kennedy

  Christian, Peace, War

  Kennedy, John F. (1963). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1962”, p.163, Best Books on

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• We move through places every day that would never have been if not for those who came before us. Our workplaces, where we spend so much time--we often think they began with our arrival. That's not true.

  Mitch Albom

  Moving, Thinking, Workplace

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• I am poor, but I am rich. I have my children, I have a garden with roses, and I have my faith and the memories of those who have gone before me. What more is there?

  Pam Muñoz Ryan

  Life, Family, Faith

  Pam Muñoz Ryan (2012). “Esperanza Rising”, p.53, Scholastic Inc.

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• I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House - with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.

  John F. Kennedy

  Knowledge, Science, Thinking

  Remarks at dinner honoring Nobel Prize winners of the Western Hemisphere, Washington, D.C., 29 Apr. 1962

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• Any legend, any creature, any symbol we ever stumble on, already exists in a vast cosmic reservoir where archetypes wait. Shapes looming outside our Platonic cave. We naturally believe ourselves clever and wise, so advanced, and those who came before us so naïve and simple...when all we truly do is echo the order of the universe, as it guides us.

  Guillermo del Toro

  Wise, Clever, Believe

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• We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values.

  John F. Kennedy

  Peace, Truth, Philosophy

  Kennedy, John F. (1963). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1962”, p.163, Best Books on

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• The absurdist is concerned with the search for meaning in the Universe. He believes this search to be meaningless--hence the disintegration of plot, character, and language in absurdist drama. Order is a falsehood that we, God, those who came before us, have imposed on a random universe. However, the absurdist is confronted with a curious paradox: though he believes the Universe to be meaningless, he cannot abandon the search for meaning--or he will die.

  Walter Wykes

  Drama, Believe, Character

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• Shame on us if 100 years from now our grandchildren are living on a planet that has been irreparably damaged by Global Warming, and they ask, 'How could those who came before us, who saw this coming, have let this happen?'

  Joe Lieberman

  Grandchildren, Years, Saws

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