Peter Beinart Quotes & Sayings

I think the most inspiring thing that Americans can do for the rest of the world is struggle against the evils in our own society. — Peter Beinart

I've heard people in the Middle East tell me that the most inspiring thing for them as people struggling against dictatorship in the Middle East is the memory of the civil rights movement. — Peter Beinart

There are real threats but there's a difference between recognizing real threats and an irrational kind of apocalyptic threat. — Peter Beinart

Our sense of optimism, our can-do spirit, that's a source of great strength in America. But when there are no limits at all and we've gone through whole periods where we think everything has gone right, that's when disaster tends to strike. — Peter Beinart

I hope Barack Obama puts another woman on the Supreme Court. And this time, I hope it's a woman with kids. — Peter Beinart

When you talk about the security and safety of average Americans it doesn't do average Americans a lot of good to expand America's military footprint if the daily lives of average Americans are being undermined by the fact that we're no longer able to compete in a global economy. I think that's the kind of human security we have to pay more attention to. — Peter Beinart

I think ultimately Obama's ability to rebuild America's image in the world will depend less on his personal good will and more his ability to rebuild an American economic model that seems stable and humane and dynamic. — Peter Beinart

Foreign policy is a little bit like a guy who goes to Las Vegas. If you win too much, then you eventually bet the mortgage. You start to think you are infallible. — Peter Beinart

Fears don't exist in isolation. They tend to rise and fall depending on what people think they can do about them. — Peter Beinart

I think the tragedy of Barack Obama's presidency is that although a lot of people around the world really admire Barack Obama a lot, they don't admire the American political and economic model as much as they used to. — Peter Beinart

For more than a half-century, anti-intellectualism has had a pretty good run in presidential politics. In fact, Republicans would never have gotten where they are without it. — Peter Beinart

It's easy to see why conservatives would be salivating at the thought of a Hillary primary challenge. Presidents who face serious primary challenges - Ford, Carter, Bush I - almost always lose. The last president who lost reelection without a serious primary challenge, by contrast, was Herbert Hoover. But in truth, the chances that Obama will face a primary challenge are vanishingly slim, and the chances that he will lose reelection only slightly higher. No wonder conservatives are fantasizing about Hillary Clinton taking down Barack Obama. If she doesn't, it's unlikely they will. — Peter Beinart

The top line is that hubris is a disease that comes from success. — Peter Beinart