Expressions Plus

The article provides quotes from two Kansans: Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower and Mike Pompeo. Ike was the World War II veteran and army general who became the 34th president of the United States of America from 1953 to 1961. Mike was the army veteran and 4-term congressman from Kansas who became the US Secretary of State from 2018-2020.

CHILDREN

“Now, the education of our children is of national concern, and if they are not educated properly, it is a national calamity.” – Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

“In this connection, I should mention our enormous national debt. We must begin to make some payments on it if we are to avoid passing on to our children an impossible burden of debt.” – Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

“I say with all the earnestness that I can command, that if American mothers will teach our children that there is no end to the fight for better relationships among the people of the world, we shall have peace.” – Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

“… the people who care most about a child’s education: the parents.” – Mike Pompeo

“Pray hard for your children, dedicate yourself to being a good example for them.  You won’t get it right every day.  I certainly didn’t, but be focused on that.  Be disciplined as – to the extent you can be about that.  Know that that little boy or that little girl is watching closely not only you but how you interact with your spouse and they are modeling the things that you do.  And bring the Lord into their life.  If you do those things and do – and try to do them well every day, you’re likely to end up with a child that matures in a way that you’ll be very, very proud of when the years move on.” – Mike Pompeo

“Children are literally the lifeblood of our families, our society, and our nation.  They should be cherished, never sacrificed for the sake of convenience.” – Mike Pompeo

EDUCATION

“The true purpose of education is to prepare young men and women for effective citizenship in a free form of government.” – Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

“Education is really bread and butter citizenship. It is just necessary to the developing of citizens that can perform their duties properly.” – Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

“As a parent and former Secretary of State, I know that American security and prosperity depend on our ability to inculcate in each new generation of Americans a genuine understanding of why the American way of life matters.” – Mike Pompeo

“America’s educational system should reflect the principles that have made America the most exceptional nation in the world: freedom and competition.” – Mike Pompeo

FAITH

“Faith is the mightiest force that man has at his command. It impels human beings to greatness in thought and word and deed.” – Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

“The churches of America are citadels of our faith in individual freedom and human dignity. This faith is the living source of all our spiritual strength. And this strength is our matchless armor in our world-wide struggle against the forces of godless tyranny and oppression.” – Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

“This faith is the abiding creed of our fathers. It is our faith in the deathless dignity of man, governed by eternal moral and natural laws. This faith defines our full view of life. It establishes, beyond debate, those gifts of the Creator that are man's inalienable rights, and that make all men equal in His sight.” – Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

“Why is it that America is unrivaled in our commitment to freedom? I think I know an answer. Our founders built our country on a commitment to essential rights, unalienable rights… that come from these amazing documents, our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution and our nation’s foreign policy must be grounded in those central understanding.” – Mike Pompeo

“To those serving in harm’s way, it is the certain knowledge of everlasting life after this existence that conveys undaunted courage to the weary and implacable resolve to the reticence of some.  Indeed, it is faith that imbues fearlessness – we all know this. This is the truth George Washington understood when he commanded a force of farmers, hunters, merchants to victory over the greatest Army and Navy that the world had at that time known.” – Mike Pompeo

“Faith and prayer have been integral to our democracy since Day 1 [Founding Day of America]. We need prayer to keep our democracy!” – Mike Pompeo

FAMILY

“I am not here, of course, as one pretending to any expertness on questions of youth and children -- except in the sense that, within their own families, all grandfathers are experts on these matters.” – Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

“I say with all the earnestness that I can command, that if American mothers will teach our children that there is no end to the fight for better relationships among the people of the world, we shall have peace.” – Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

“And in the Pompeo family, I’ve been compared to my grandpa. His name was Earl, Earl Mercer. Now Grandpa Earl always said what was on his mind. He was pretty rough cut, Kansas. He worked hard. He never won a Mr. Congeniality contest, even in Mitchell County.” – Mike Pompeo

“It is absolutely the case that the family is the central unit of successful civilizations.  We’ve seen that through time immemorial.” – Mike Pompeo

FOREIGN POLICY

“We cannot safely confine government programs to our own domestic progress and our own military power. We could be the wealthiest and the most mighty nation and still lose the battle of the world if we do not help our world neighbors protect their freedom and advance their social and economic progress. It is not the goal of the American people that the United States should be the richest nation in the graveyard of history.” – Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

“[We] must show a capacity for real leadership by making clear that our nation’s security and prosperity – and that of our allies – depend on our combined ability to project strength and deter our shared adversaries. Therefore, we must articulate a foreign policy that serves the American people’s interests first while not resorting to retrenchment or isolationism.” – Mike Pompeo

FREEDOM

“Freedom under law is like the air we breathe.” – Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

“The general limits of your freedom are merely these: that you do not trespass upon the equal rights of others.” – Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

“For history does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.” – Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

“Weakness, indecisiveness, disengagement on the world stage, these things invite conflict. Let’s learn this lesson. Timidity is provocative. Evil emboldens tyrants….” – Mike Pompeo

“Liberty is freedom. Liberty is freedom from molestation by an oppressive government or authority.” – Mike Pompeo

“Virtue is the prerequisite for freedom for it provides the boundary that enables exercise, without unduly limiting or infringing upon the rights of others.” – Mike Pompeo

FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE and FREE SPEECH vis-à-vis CENSORSHIP

“Censorship, in my opinion, is a stupid and shallow way of approaching the solution to any problem. Though sometimes necessary, as witness a professional and technical secret that may have a bearing upon the welfare and very safety of this country, we should be very careful in the way we apply it, because in censorship always lurks the very great danger of working to the disadvantage of the American nation.” – Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

“We need to stand for free speech, open inquiry, and the competition of ideas.” – Mike Pompeo

GOVERNMENT and PUBLIC SERVICE

“We cannot safely confine government programs to our own domestic progress and our own military power. We could be the wealthiest and the most mighty nation and still lose the battle of the world if we do not help our world neighbors protect their freedom and advance their social and economic progress. It is not the goal of the American people that the United States should be the richest nation in the graveyard of history.” – Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

“Throughout America’s adventure in free government, our basic purposes have been to keep the peace; to foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity and integrity among people and among nations. To strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people. Any failure traceable to arrogance, or our lack of comprehension or readiness to sacrifice would inflict upon us grievous hurt both at home and abroad.” – Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

“A free people cannot survive the unrelenting growth of government.  Pervasive regulation, taxes, and government controls don’t just cause inflation – they erode the American commitment to the dignity of hard work, the fairness of playing by the rules, and goodness of doing what is right.” – Mike Pompeo

“The part that brings the most joy is always when you’re back in the state talking… Those moments, whether you were talking to a group of farmers out at a facility or you’re with manufacturing folks or families or people who are really challenged and were looking for the federal government to help provide them a path forward, those were the things that I remember most about my six years as a member of Congress. Not the votes, not the time in Washington, but the time back home.” – Mike Pompeo

HUMAN and CIVIL RIGHTS

“Our civil and social rights form a central part of the heritage we are striving to defend on all fronts and with all our strength. I believe with all my heart that our vigilant guarding of these rights is a sacred obligation binding upon every citizen. To be true to one's own freedom is--in essence--to honor and respect the freedom of all others.” – Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

“I believe that the United States as a government, if it is going to be true to its own founding documents, does have the job of working toward that time when there is no discrimination made on such inconsequential reason as race, color, or religion.” – Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

“The vital importance of religious freedom to the American way of life is why we should celebrate the Court’s recent affirmation [2023] of religious liberty as a fundamental freedom that must not be encroached upon, whether by an employer or our government.” – Mike Pompeo

“We must make clear that any ideology assigning guilt or privilege based on race or gender is evil and un-American. We must reclaim and champion what America has always stood for - the proposition that all people are created equal, and that true success is achieved through virtue and hard work.” – Mike Pompeo

PRAYER

“We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love.” – Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

“O God our Father, thou searcher of men’s heart, help us to draw near to the sincerity and truth. May our religion be filled with gladness, and may our worship of thee be natural.” – Mike Pompeo

RELIGION

“The freedom of a citizen and the freedom of a religious believer are more than intimately related; they are mutually dependent. These two liberties give life to the heart of our Nation.” – Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

“They are the things that make us. They lift us, inspire us, save us. I’m Mike Pompeo, and this is who we are. Together, let’s make sure our religious freedom and our right to pray are never canceled.” – Mike Pompeo

VIRTUE

“A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.” – Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

“Virtue is the prerequisite for freedom for it provides the boundary that enables exercise, without unduly limiting or infringing upon the rights of others.” – Mike Pompeo

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