Great Nations Quotes
1st Earl of Beaconsfield
This was much less a treaty of how the two nations would interact with each other, than a joint statement to the world of opposition to any nation interfering with the internal affairs of another country.
3rd Earl Russell of Kingston. At the time China was one of the poorest nations on earth, with a series of feeble politicians and leaders fighting each other for the ability to rob the people. Their ancient science and virtues had been forgotten and it was thought of by the West and Asians alike as a failed state. However, Russell observed this one characteristic that could be so important when the rest of the world was learning more and more about everything from science to history. The search for wisdom from wherever it may be also gave them an advantage over other cultures who were more chauvinistic about the origin of whatever they did or thought. Less than a century later China was a superpower, economically, artistically intellectually, scientifically and almost militarily. It only lagged democratically.
Although oft quoted, what Adams actually wrote in a letter to John Taylor (15 April 1814) was: “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy that did not commit suicide.” See related quote for citation.
Her experience in the United Nations made her realize that most of the foreign policies of the more powerful and sophisticated countries were stated in such complex, nuanced, and politically coded language, that most of the literate and educated people in many countries could not understand them. This was, and is today, often true of many government officials around the world.
This was an amazing prediction for the time. Most Europeans were not sure that the United States would even survive, and Russia was looked upon as the most backward nation in Europe. By the middle of the 20th century—over 100 years after Tocqueville wrote this—The United States and Russia were the two superpowers of the world.
