James William Fulbright (1905–95) was a United States Senator representing Arkansas from January 1945 until his resignation in December 1974. Fulbright was a Southern Democrat and a staunch multilateralist who supported the creation of the United Nations and the longest serving chairman in the history of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was also a segregationist who signed the Southern Manifesto. Fulbright opposed McCarthyism and the House Un-American Activities Committee and later became known for his opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War. His efforts to establish an international exchange program eventually resulted in the creation of a fellowship program which bears his name, the Fulbright Program.
Source: Wikipedia (via CC-BY-SA license) • READ: Works by J. William Fulbright
In a democracy dissent is an act of faith. Like medicine, the test of its value is not in its taste, but its effects.
—J. William Fulbright
Topics: Democracy
We must dare to think unthinkable thoughts.
—J. William Fulbright
Topics: Positive Attitudes, Optimism, Health
The junior senator from Wisconsin, by his reckless charges, has so preyed upon the fears and hatreds and prejudices of the American people that he has started a prairie fire which neither he nor anyone else may be able to control.
—J. William Fulbright
Topics: Prejudice
In the long course of history, having people who understand your thought is much greater security than another submarine.
—J. William Fulbright
Topics: Understanding
When public men indulge themselves in abuse, when they deny others a fair trial, when they resort to innuendo and insinuation, to libel, scandal, and suspicion, then our democratic society is outraged, and democracy is baffled. It has no apparatus to deal with the boor, the liar, the lout, and the antidemocrat in general.
—J. William Fulbright
It is amazing how soon one becomes accustomed to the sound of one’s voice, when forced to repeat a speech five or six times a day. As election day approaches, the size of the crowds grows; they are more responsive and more interested; and one derives a certain exhilaration from that which, only a few weeks before, was intensely painful. This is one possible explanation of unlimited debate in the Senate.
—J. William Fulbright
The citizen who criticizes his country is paying it an implied tribute.
—J. William Fulbright
Topics: Patriotism
Nature pitiless in a pitiless universe is certainly not concerned with the survival of Americans or, for that matter, of any of the two billion people now inhabiting this earth. Hence, our destiny, with the aid of God, remains in our own hands.
—J. William Fulbright
In our excessive involvement in the affairs of other countries, we are not only living off our assets and denying our own people the proper enjoyment of their resources; we are also denying the world the example of a free society enjoying its freedom to the fullest.
—J. William Fulbright
The biggest lesson I learned from Vietnam is not to trust our own government statements. I had no idea until then that you could not rely on them.
—J. William Fulbright
Topics: Government
We must dare to think ‘unthinkable’ thoughts. We must learn to explore all the options and possibilities that confront us in a complex and rapidly changing world. We must learn to welcome and not to fear the voices of dissent. We must dare to think about ‘unthinkable things’ because when things become unthinkable, thinking stops and action becomes mindless.
—J. William Fulbright
Topics: Thinking, Fear, Possibilities, Wisdom
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