Joshua Lederberg Quotes

The public interest is more than the sum total of the interest groups.

Pluralism has run wild. We have become so blinded by the notion that there is no national interest, only special interests, that we are incapable of pursuing policies designed to be of general benefit.

The wisdom of the few may be the light of mankind, but the interest of the few is not the profit of mankind, nor of a commonwealth.

Citizenship in a diverse society means living with our deepest differences and committing ourselves to work for public policies that are in the best interest of all individuals, families, communities and our nation.

We cannot allow events that might divide us in a small way to distract from the common values and the common interests that unite us in big ways.

… men who are governed by self-interest will combine, whether white or black, and the generous and selfless will similarly unite

We can hope that men will understand that the interest of all are the same, that hope lies in cooperation. We can then perhaps keep PEACE.

Of all the fictions we heard last week in Tampa, the one I find most troubling is this: If we all just go our own way, our nation will be stronger for it. Because if we sever the threads that connect us, the only people who will go far are those who are already ahead.

As separate people, we are weak, but we could be a peaceful, powerful nation.

I believe in cooperating for the common good.

All you now do is pursue your private objectives within society. Instead of us being a community, everybody is asked to seek their own personal ends. It's called competition. And competition is antagonism.

It's not about division. It's not about politics. My concern is how do we come together?

In our personal ambitions we are individualists. But in our seeking for economic and political progress as a nation, we all go up or else all go down as one people.

No doubt unity is something to be desired, to be striven for, but it cannot be willed into being by mere declarations.

Agreeing to share prosperity, rather than let it divide us, is infinitely preferable to the alternative.

Every American is dependent on every other American; that no segment of our people can prosper without the prosperity of all; that in truth we must all go forward together.

Everyone thinks chiefly of his own, hardly ever of the public interest.

The only public good is that which assures the private good of the citizens.

We too often prefer the individual thrill to collective responsibility.

In a democracy, government is a means by which we can act together to protect what is important to us and to promote our common values.

Government is a progressive instrument for the common good.

We need property dedicated to the general benefit in addition to that intended for private use.

We are all members of one body …. The benefit of one is the benefit of all.

I was dismayed by ... the terrible divisiveness isolating so many citizens from the great American community that makes us a people rather than an assortment of factions.

Join cooperatively with one another, put aside self-interest, and take on service to the public …