“Normal science, the activity in which most scientists inevitably spend most all their time, is predicated on the assumption that the scientific community knows what the world is like. Normal science often suppresses fundamental novelties because they are necessarily subversive of its basic commitments.” KnowsWorldDoeFactsWisdomPoliticsCommunityEconomySuccessfulTheoryActivityNormalCommitmentScientistAimFundamentalsAssumptionLiberalismPuzzlesNoveltySubversive Author:Thomas Kuhn
“To live and work successfully with others requires more than faithfulness to one's concrete aims. It requires an intellectual commitment to a type of order in which, even on issues which to one are fundamental, others are allowed to pursue different ends. It is for this reason that to the liberal neither moral nor religious ideals are proper objects of coercion, while both conservatives and socialists recognize no such limits.” DifferentEndsReasonOrderReligiousMoralIssuesObjectsTypeLimitsIntellectualCommitmentIdealsAimFundamentalsPursueConcreteFaithfulnessCoercion Author:Friedrich August von Hayek
“The United States has an absolute, uncompromising commitment to Israel's security and an absolute conviction that Israel alone must decide the steps necessary to ensure that security. That is Israel's prerogative. We accept that. We endorse that. Whatever Israel decides cannot, will not, will never, not ever, alter our fundamental commitment to her security.” StatesUnitedAcceptingStepsUnited StatesSecurityCommitmentAbsolutesFundamentalsConvictionIsraelScaryPrerogativeUncompromising Author:Al Gore
“At the same time, old confrontations have taken on frightening urgency, especially the India-Pakistan conflict over Kashmir and the violent stalemate in the Middle East. Progress on these and other global challenges requires us to develop a larger strategy for American foreign policy, rooted in a fundamental commitment to move the world from interdependence to an integrated global community committed to peace and prosperity, freedom and security.” WorldMovingPeaceCommunityChallengesTakenProgressMiddleSecurityPolicyConflictCommitmentIndiaFundamentalsStrategyCommittedProsperityEastViolentForeign PolicyMiddle EastRootedFrighteningPakistanConfrontationUrgencyIntegratedInterdependenceKashmirAmerican Foreign PolicyGlobal CommunityStalemateIndia Pakistan Author:William J. Clinton
“Remember that according to the Bible, the heart is not primarily the emotions but rather the seat of our fundamental commitments and trusts, and therefore it is the control center of the whole life. So to preach to the heart means to go right for the commanding commitments of people's lives that drive their desires, thinking, feeling, and action.” PeopleThinkingHeartMeanWholeFeelingsActionRememberDesireEmotionCommitmentFundamentalsWhole LifeSeats Author:Timothy Keller
“At some fundamental level, religion does not allow for compromise. It insists on the impossible. If God has spoken, then followers are expected to live up to God's edicts, regardless of the consequences. To base one's life on such uncompromising commitment may be sublime; to base our policy making on such commitments would be a dangerous thing.” IfsMayDoeWould BeLevelsImpossibleDangerousPolicyCommitmentConsequenceFundamentalsExpectedCompromiseFollowersSublimeDangerous ThingsUncompromisingPolicy Making Book:The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream Source: The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
“While the machinery of law enforcement and indeed the nature of crime itself have changed dramatically since the Fourth Amendment became part of the Nation's fundamental law in 1791, what the Framers understood then remains true today - that the task of combating crime and convicting the guilty will in every era seem of such critical and pressing concern that we may be lured by the temptations of expediency into forsaking our commitment to protecting individual liberty and privacy.” MaySeemsTodayLawIndividualNationsLibertyCrimeChangedUnderstoodCommitmentConcernTasksFundamentalsRemainsCriticalTemptationGuiltyErasPrivacyAmendmentsFourthLaw EnforcementEnforcementMachineryIndividual LibertyExpediencyFramersFourth Amendment Author:William J. Brennan
“While a lot of people want to join the left to react against the mainstream or right, I in many ways react against the left - not a lot of its fundamental commitments, but its often dismal tone, righteousness, defeatism, etc.” PeopleWayWantLeftCommitmentFundamentalsToneEtcRighteousnessMainstream Author:Rebecca Solnit
“Our goal is to turn solar electric technologies into a commodity business like computer chips, and make them ubiquitous in the built environment. I'd couple this with a huge commitment to fundamental research in nanostructure to goose the next generation of more efficient, cheaper, dematerialized cells. And if I'm truly czar, I'd emphasize silicon technologies, as that approach is the one least likely to encounter material constraints in supplying an explosive global demand.” IfsTurnsNextGoalTechnologyEnvironmentGenerationsMaterialsHugeCoupleDemandComputerApproachResearchCommitmentBuiltFundamentalsCellsEncountersEfficientElectricCommodityChipsNext GenerationConstraintsCheaperGeeseExplosivesSiliconCzarsBuilt Environment Author:Denis Hayes
“I think it's important not to view Martin Luther King Jr. in a narrow political manner. His fundamental commitment is to a radical love of humanity, and especially of poor and working people. And that radical love leads him to a radical analysis of power, domination and oppression. What's difficult is to situate him ideologically under a particular category.” PeopleThinkingImportantPoliticalHumanityDifficultPoorViewsParticularKingsCommitmentFundamentalsOppressionRadicalAnalysisCategoriesDominationLuther Author:Cornel West
“Analogies have tied things together for me, personally. The fundamental one for me is the analogy between your relationship to your spouse and your relationship to your place. Both need to be a settled commitment and both involve continuous learning and adjusting.” NeedsTogetherCommitmentFundamentalsTiedOur RelationshipSpouseAnalogiesAdjustingContinuous LearningOne For Me Author:Wendell Berry
“In short, there are certain fundamental requisites for wise and resolute democratic leadership. It must build on hope, not on fear; on honesty, not on falsehood; on justice, not on injustice; on public tranquility, not on violence; on freedom, not on enslavement.” WorldWayHumansImportantTruthCertainSocialJusticeFreedomWiseProgressViolenceConditionsHonestyEssentialsAchievementCommitmentFundamentalsDemocraticInjusticeDevotionRighteousnessIngredientsFalsehoodFabricTranquilityStrandsEnslavementResoluteHuman ProgressAmerican Way Of LifeDemocratic Leadership Author:Edmund Ezra Day
“Leaders who fail to appreciate this fundamental precept of accountability must also fail to muster the profound commitment true leadership demands.” LeadershipLeaderFailingDemandCommitmentAppreciateFundamentalsProfoundAccountabilityTrue LeaderTrue LeadershipMuster Author:Peter Cosgrove
“Integrity is fundamental to being men. Integrity means being truthful, but it also means accepting responsibility and honoring commitments and covenants.” MenMeanResponsibilityAcceptingIntegrityCommitmentFundamentalsTruthfulCovenantBeing MeBeing TruthfulAccepting Responsibility Author:D. Todd Christofferson