America is not an establishment. It is not even a government of a constitution. It is a process.

To remain silent in the face of policies that one believes to be hurting the nation is not patriotism, but moral cowardice.

Dissent is not just something we can live with; it is something we cannot live without. It is not only consistent with patriotism,; it is the highest patriotism.

We must recognize that it is not nearly so helpful to do things for people as it is to create the conditions in which people can do things for themselves.

How can you represent a people if you don’t know what’s on their minds?

The president of the united States can restore respect for truth. He can renew this country’s commitment to justice, and he can find the compassion and decency that also live in each American.

No single nation has the power, the wisdom or the mission to be the world’s policeman, banker, or judge. These are the functions of the agencies of the international community.

Who really appointed us to play God for people elsewhere around the globe?

I believe that to help the economy we must first help people.

We desperately need housing, schools, day-care centers, health care, new transit systems, anti-pollution devices and environmental programs of many kinds. There’s enough work in this country for every man and woman who is capable of working if we set our values straight.

I don’t believe that the poor, our minority groups or any other group of Americans really want a dole. What they desire is a recognition of their worth as individuals and their right to an equal opportunity.

Liberty is not divisible. You cannot be free to support and not to oppose, to approve and not to criticize.

Liberty and justice for all…..”All means all.”

Looking back over our history, it is remarkable how often we honor men who in their own time were viewed as dangerous dissenters.

We must live up to the Constitution. Women have life, but they do not truly have freedom, and their pursuit of happiness is blocked at every turn if they do not concede happiness to be limited to the ‘little woman’ role.

I believe that Federal funds should not go to any institution that discriminates against women, not in admission, not in hiring, not in promotion, not in salary.

As we limit our women, so do we limit our nation.

The quality of any society can be measured by the manner in which it treats the older citizens.

Hunger is the silent enemy. It is a thief in the night that steals away the children in ten thousand villages around the globe. While we Americans worry about overweight and reducing pills, millions of our fellow human beings are fighting for survival.

For one American to suffer from malnutrition is an affront to all Americans.

Destruction of our environment may be the chief ‘spin-off’ of all technological innovation.

We’re not going to have another chance at replacing these God-given resources once they’re destroyed.

We are threatening the very basis of life by upsetting the fragile ecological balance of man’s environment.

1972 / McGovern: The Man and His Ideas

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