Patrick Mendis Quotes & Sayings

Americans consider the United States an exceptional nation; so do the Chinese people think of their Middle Kingdom. — Patrick Mendis

Within this historic and optimistic future in mind, I have made no value judgment of the destiny bestowed on each nation. For all this, however, leadership matters; so do the institutional structures and the system of political governance. — Patrick Mendis

China has no choice but to emulate the power of America's founding ideas and its journey through the universal values of democratic freedom and individual rights. — Patrick Mendis

Today's connoisseurs of Sino-American relations seem to view the relationship through a dystopian prism; their gloomy commentaries are largely an assemblage of snapshots on contemporary interactions or day-to-day developments without a historical context. — Patrick Mendis

Sooner or later, if left unaddressed, this natural human tendency will undermine the entire CPC pyramid like a chamber of magma lying beneath a mammoth volcano. — Patrick Mendis

The Chinese construction of South Asia's tallest edifice, the Lotus (a Lotus Sutra in Buddhism) Tower, both points to Beijing's Peaceful Rise and unsettles some onlookers. For the nervous India and the United States, the cleverly designed and highly sophisticated rising communications tower is more than a Buddhist symbol of Peaceful Rise. — Patrick Mendis

The Chinese dream is an American dream embedded in a Confucian cocoon. — Patrick Mendis

Unlike Saudi Arabia, Russia, and China, the United States was created by an enlightened band of Founding Fathers with a global vision for the new republic. — Patrick Mendis

The United States is the result of an enlightened philosophy; China is the outcome of traditions and history. — Patrick Mendis

The evolution of national unity and equal rights is all about what America represents as a nation today: a manifestation of the historical episodes of Jefferson and Henry as well as the Civil War, the Women's Suffrage movement, and the Civil Rights struggles. — Patrick Mendis

Although the rule of law has been codified in the Chinese constitution, a Confucian DNA is pervasively rooted in traditional mindsets as a superior system. — Patrick Mendis

Individual identities and national destines were shaped by the tripod of history, geography, and philosophy. — Patrick Mendis

In Confucian thought, individuals practice moral virtue both by restraining themselves and pursuing their own interests. This is a dual push-and-pull process. In today's China, the latter is taken care of by capitalism and commerce. The former, however, needs to be taken care of by the rule of law. Otherwise, the system of governance is corrupted by unrestrained individual desires and selective enforcement of 'virtue' or law. — Patrick Mendis

America acknowledged the greatness of Confucius through a trio of ancient lawgivers - Moses flanked by Confucius to his right and Solon on his left - on the monument to "Justice, the Guardian of Liberty" displayed on the eastern pediment of the U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. — Patrick Mendis

To achieve these Jeffersonian ends, Alexander Hamilton - Jefferson's philosophical rival - devised an ingenious strategy that entailed a strong manufacturing base, a national banking system, a centralized federal government, and an export-led economic scheme protected by the U.S. Navy. — Patrick Mendis

The philosophic goal in China was a search for harmony and perfection, not the discovery of truth by reasoning. In China's Confucian society, the best pathway to perfection was the development of a virtuous life. — Patrick Mendis

Long before Christopher Columbus, the celebrated Chinese navigator Zheng He travelled through the south and westward maritime routes in the Indian Ocean and established relations with more than thirty countries in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. — Patrick Mendis

China is constantly reinventing itself and so is the United States. — Patrick Mendis

A convergence exists in the search for human excellence on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. — Patrick Mendis

To achieve the ultimate Confucian objective - a virtuous society - America has favored the rule of laws over Confucian-style virtues. — Patrick Mendis

Outcome-oriented China has enjoyed the fruits of Hamiltonian prosperity; nevertheless, it also endured great human sacrifice and personal agonies along the way to affluence. — Patrick Mendis

President George Washington's namesake capital, once a marketplace for slave auctions, is now synonymous with democracy and freedom; so is the iconic Jefferson, who wanted to build an "Empire of Liberty" for the world. — Patrick Mendis

Americans could achieve Jefferson's democratic freedoms through Hamilton's economic development strategies and trade policies. — Patrick Mendis

Natural law is superior as it allows for the pursuit of virtue genuinely initiated from within and themselves. — Patrick Mendis

This two-track plan of nationalism and development (in China) is a historically powerful weapon. — Patrick Mendis

Democratically-oriented Jeffersonian inspiration has prevailed throughout history and certainly been more admired than capitalistic Hamiltonian-style motivations of greed and power. — Patrick Mendis

Both nations have an idea of Manifest Destiny and a concept of the Monroe Doctrine in their ideological arsenal, and both are continental powers with political and cultural influence that extends far beyond their national borders. — Patrick Mendis

Today's China is an artifact of an extended and contentious history while the relatively young American Republic is a daring project informed by the enlightenment philosophy espoused by the Founding Fathers. — Patrick Mendis

The traditional Confucian structure that invoked ideals of perfect human virtue for harmony must incorporate the rule of law for the modern era. — Patrick Mendis

Unlike Confucius, Madison maintained that people have a limited capacity to control their passions themselves and act virtuously when their individual interests conflict with others. — Patrick Mendis

If American misjudgments and actions that evolved into human tragedies - i.e., racism, sexism, and other bigotries - are guiding lights, the Chinese leadership must ultimately yield its power to the sovereignty of its people. — Patrick Mendis

It is difficult and even dangerous to make predictions - especially about the future - of the bilateral relationship. — Patrick Mendis

As Pacific Ocean nations, competition and cooperation between the two nations will create a new atmosphere - leading to the Birth of a 'Pacific' New World Order - that is more engaging and less confrontational; this can be characterized by the presence of force without war. — Patrick Mendis

History is the archaeology of the present and future. — Patrick Mendis

There are seemingly parallel origins of Nature's God in America and China's Mandate of Heaven. These twin concepts created socio-political forces for public good and orderly governance, and a unique cultural ethos (related to the Creator of the Universe in America and the Son of Heaven in China) is deeply rooted in both societies. Each concept is physically yet stealthily manifested in the architectural designs of the two capital cities, Beijing and Washington. — Patrick Mendis

For ardent believers in Chinese exceptionalism, the Confucian tradition of political stability and centralized state power is the critical factor in the realization of a 'harmonious society. — Patrick Mendis