Eric Liu Quotes

Like the 'little emperors' of one-child China, too many Boomers were taught early that the world was made (or saved) for their comfort and enjoyment. They behaved accordingly, with a self-indulgence that was wholly rational, given their situation.
Eric Liu

Made, Situation, Early

Many smart folks seem to think that if you just get your metaphors and messages right, you'll win. That if you start describing what you favor as a 'moral value' - 'affordable health care is a moral value' etc., - then you'll appeal to red-state voters.
Eric Liu

Health, Smart, Care

Much of our national debate proceeds as if China and America were locked in a zero-sum game in which one's loss is precisely the other's gain.
Eric Liu

Game, America, Loss

My grandfather was a general in the Nationalist Chinese Air Force during World War II, and I grew up hearing the pilot stories and seeing pictures of him in uniform.
Eric Liu

War, Him, Pictures

Race in America has always centered on our mutual agreement not to see each other. White or non-white. Black or non-black. Mongoloid, Hindoo. We've always bought into to the crudest, humanity-denying forms of sorting.
Eric Liu

Black, America, Race

Republicans say they want citizenship to truly mean something. Let's be equal-opportunity about it and test everyone, including those very Republicans and others whose forbears came here generations ago.
Eric Liu

Mean, Others, Here

Six decades ago, as Mao's Communists seized power, the question in Washington was, 'Who lost China?' Now, as his capitalist descendants stand astride the world stage and Washington worries about decline, it seems to be, 'Who lost America?'
Eric Liu

Power, Lost, America

Sometimes when I listen to fellow progressives, I wonder if the only lesson we took away from the '04 elections is that politics is a word game.
Eric Liu

Politics, Game, Sometimes

Talk of citizenship today is often thin and tinny. The word has a faintly old-fashioned feel to it when used in everyday conversation. When evoked in national politics, it's usually accompanied by the shrill whine of a descending culture-war mortar.
Eric Liu

Politics, Today, Talk

The Boomers have modeled a set of bad habits, and one grand gesture is not going to unwind all those bad habits.
Eric Liu

Bad, Habits, Grand

The Boomers will eventually have to accept that it is not possible to stay forever young or to stop aging. But it is possible, by committing to show up for others in community after community, to earn a measure of immortality.
Eric Liu

After, Others, Young

The nativism behind the push to repeal or amend the Fourteenth is ugly and obvious.
Eric Liu

Ugly, Behind, Push

'The Purpose-Driven Life' is not just a mega-bestselling work of Christian faith; it is the thing that every voter, secular or not, yearns for.
Eric Liu

Life, Faith, Work

The summer of 1991, I took $2,000 of my savings and a desktop program, and I asked my friends to write 800 words about something they cared about. I got eight or nine articles and put them together. It was no frills, black and white, no graphics. I printed them out and just dumped piles around D.C.
Eric Liu

Black, Words, Together

There have been, in recent years, many Asian American pioneers in the public eye who've defied the condescendingly complimentary 'model minority' stereotype: actors like Lucy Liu, artists like Maya Lin, moguls like Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh. They are known, often admired.
Eric Liu

American, Often, Public

Throughout this country's history there have of course been systematic efforts to create an official underclass.
Eric Liu

History, Country, Create

To be sure, the United States has profound problems, not least our faltering educational and physical infrastructure.
Eric Liu

Problems, Sure, United

Today's multiracial Americans are at greater liberty to choose how they'd like to be seen, and under less pressure to pass for white.
Eric Liu

Today, Liberty, Less

Today, public understanding of our past and our system of government is pitifully low.
Eric Liu

Government, Today, Past

True fans of the Constitution, like true fans of the national pastime, acknowledge the critical role of human judgment in making tough calls. We don't expect flawless interpretation. We expect good faith. We demand honesty.
Eric Liu

Faith, Good, True

We all want merit to mean something, and we all may be tempted to reduce that meaning to something measurable and concrete like an SAT score. The reality, though, is that who deserves entry into an institution depends on what the institution exists to do.
Eric Liu

Reality, Mean, May

We live in a great country. It's time again to get religion about it.
Eric Liu

Religion, Time, Great

Why does an iPhone cost only a couple hundred dollars? Because, as the stage performer Mike Daisey depicted in an arresting one-man show called 'The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs,' Apple's shiniest products are made by a shadowy company in China called Foxconn.
Eric Liu

Made, Why, Show

Why should citizenship be a matter of birth? The premise held by those who want to end birthright citizenship is that some people deserve it and some do not - that the status shouldn't be handed out automatically. Frankly, that's a premise worth considering.
Eric Liu

End, Why, Matter

You cannot mistake Bush's clarity of purpose. He believes in a story about freedom and opportunity that makes his followers feel like they aren't just ticking their days down but are part of something larger than themselves.
Eric Liu

Freedom, Down, Cannot

Share with your Friends

Everyone likes a good quote - don't forget to share.

Biography

Nationality: American

Type: Writer

Born: 1968

Links

Find on Amazon: Eric Liu

Cite this Page: Citation

Popular Topics

Friendship Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Inspirational Quotes

Related Authors

Elbert Hubbard
Dr. Seuss
Napoleon Hill
Robert A. Heinlein
Dale Carnegie
H. L. Mencken
Ray Bradbury
Orison Swett Marden
More

Get Social with BrainyQuote

BrainyQuote Desktop

BrainyQuote Mobile

Site

Quote of the Day

Social

BQ on Pinterest

Syndication

Funny Quote Feed

Love Quote Feed

Nature Quote Feed

About Us