Duty to the state

“We have to change the definition of citizenship so you can't pat yourself on the back for paying your taxes, obeying the law, taking care of your family, and being a good voter. You have to be a public servant as a private citizen. The interdependent world demands it.” – William J. Clinton (July 5, 2008)

"The truth is we are growing more isolated in our communities because we are living more and more only with people we agree with. And we are growing more isolated in our political debates because we have access to more information than ever before, but we look at the television news and we read the Web sites of people who confirm what we think already. This is not good in a democracy.” – William J. Clinton (July 5, 2008)

“We’re going to live with risk for a very long period of time. We need to develop a set of rules that are somewhere between complacency and hysteria.” – Michael Chertoff, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security (July 3, 2008)

“Make achievement the constant and time the variable. If you look to other nations, this is what they’re doing. To achieve success, you’ve got to have longer school years. – Cory Booker, mayor, Newark, NJ (July 6, 2008)

“Public attitudes about our courts, they’re not good. … One-third of Americans can’t name the three branches of government. How are we going to solve our problems if we don’t know how the government works? We have to use technology to teach our young people about our government structures.” – Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (June 30, 2008)

Quotes culled from a press release about this year's Aspen Ideas Festival, June 30-July 6. In their words, "For more than 50 years, the Aspen Institute has been the nation's premier gathering place for leaders from around the globe and across many disciplines to engage in deep and inquisitive discussion of the ideas and issues that both shape our lives and challenge our times."

I hope to start commenting once I get my breath back. "We must be public servants as private citizens." Whew. "Rules that are somewhere between complacency and hysteria." Hey! Cut it out, I'm trying to breathe here ...