Today is Jimmy Carter’s 97th birthday.
One of my favorite cinematic moments of the last few years is the portrayal of his Crisis of Confidence speech in Mike Mills’ 20th Century Women.
Carter once said,
A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It is a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity.
Words as poignant and important now as they were then.
joshua chamberlain 