Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
America will avoid unperceived struggles but will not retreat due to national determination and resources.
In plain terms
We won't start hidden fights, but we won't back down either.
What can you take from it?
Maintain resolve without unnecessary escalation.

Where it applies

  • political speeches
  • foreign policy debates
  • crisis management

Putting it to work

  • communicate resolve
  • avoid bluster
  • mobilize resources

Questions to consider

  • How do we define necessary versus unnecessary struggle?
  • What resources justify a non-retreat stance?

Another view

It may underestimate the costs of prolonged struggles.

More from Lyndon Johnson

  1. At times history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in man's unending search for freedom. So it was at Lexington and Con…

    Permalink to quote #3
  2. I do not find it easy to send the flower of our youth, our finest young men, into battle.

    Permalink to quote #5
  3. ... making a speech on economics is a lot like pissing down your leg. It seems hot to you, but it never does to anyone else.

    Permalink to quote #2

Related quotes

  1. The reality is that we are hated not because of our democracy, freedoms, and generous social security system; rather, we are hated because of our involvement i…

    Amir ButlerAmir Butler quote #2
  2. If most of those who took part in this one-dimensional debate were honest with themselves, they would admit that they do not in principle believe that the Unit…

    Christopher HitchensChristopher Hitchens quote #3
  3. Americans think of themselves collectively as a huge rescue squad on twenty-four-hour call to any spot on the globe where dispute and conflict may erupt.

    Eldridge CleaverEldridge Cleaver quote #4