--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A renewed commitment to the freedom and…" description: "\"A renewed commitment to the freedom and opportunity of our people is the touchstone of our time. In this new century, where tests are many and challeng..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/792/bill-owens-24460_century_a-renewed-commitment-to-the-freedom-and_236614.jpg" --- # A renewed commitment to the freedom and opportunity of our… ![“A renewed commitment to the freedom and opportunity of our people is the touchstone of our time. In this new century, where tests are many and challenges change with the shifting of the wind, we must hold fast to the principles that have made our nation the envy of the world.” quote by Bill Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/792/bill-owens-24460_century_a-renewed-commitment-to-the-freedom-and_236614.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/792/bill-owens-24460_century_a-renewed-commitment-to-the-freedom-and_236614.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/792/bill-owens-24460_century_a-renewed-commitment-to-the-freedom-and_236614.jpg) > “A renewed commitment to the freedom and opportunity of our people is the touchstone of our time. In this new century, where tests are many and challenges change with the shifting of the wind, we must hold fast to the principles that have made our nation the envy of the world.” [Bill Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-owens/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A call to uphold national principles of freedom and opportunity amid changing challenges. **In simple terms:** Maintain core values despite new tests. Key Takeaway Defend liberty and opportunity. Themes freedom opportunity national identity resilience principles Mood determined optimistic Type political inspirational When to use this quote - policy making - public discourse - education reform - community building Key Concepts civic duty political philosophy social cohesion Questions to Reflect On - What principles are most at risk? - How can we adapt them today? A Different Perspective May overlook systemic inequities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Challenges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/challenges/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Commitment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commitment/) [Envy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/envy/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Hold fast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hold-fast/) [Nation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nation/) [Opportunity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opportunity/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/) [Tests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tests/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Touchstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/touchstone/) [Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wind/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Virtually everywhere in the world, people still wake up and want their country to be more like the United States than any other nation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliot-spitzer/virtually-everywhere-in-the-world-people-still-wake-up-and-want-their/) [Eliot Spitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliot-spitzer/) > [“When faced with challenges, if you can not CHANGE the situation, NEVER WORRY, replace worry with FAITH. 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They should love and honor the Constitution of the United States,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/to-their-duty-to-god-youth-should-realize-their-duty-to-our-country/) [Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/) > [American nation was not founded on political principles. This nation was founded on spiritual principles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-rubio/american-nation-was-not-founded-on-political-principles-this-nation/) [Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-rubio/) > [When you tell people you're a playwright, their eyes sort of glaze over. But when you say you write the 'Fantastic Four' or 'Spider-Man,'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-aguirre-sacasa/when-you-tell-people-you-re-a-playwright-their-eyes-sort-of-glaze/) [Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-aguirre-sacasa/) > [I feel like bands should be growing, living, functioning entities and to crystallize a band into a single album, and for that to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-albini/i-feel-like-bands-should-be-growing-living-functioning-entities-and/) [Steve Albini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-albini/) > [Calamity is man's true touchstone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-william-fletcher/calamity-is-man-s-true-touchstone/) [John William Fletcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-william-fletcher/) ## More by Bill Owens > [Actions, not words, are the ultimate results of leadership.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-owens/actions-not-words-are-the-ultimate-results-of-leadership/) [Bill Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-owens/) > [Government can't create wealth, but it can create the conditions for private enterprise to flourish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-owens/government-can-t-create-wealth-but-it-can-create-the-conditions-for/) [Bill Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-owens/) > [It is the solemn obligation of a leader always to be a leader. Even when - perhaps especially when - you don't feel like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-owens/it-is-the-solemn-obligation-of-a-leader-always-to-be-a-leader-even/) [Bill Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-owens/) > [While one party may possess the levers of power, one party does not possess a monopoly on good ideas. Good lawmaking, after all, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-owens/while-one-party-may-possess-the-levers-of-power-one-party-does-not/) [Bill Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-owens/) > [Freedom is contagious. 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No government, no matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-owens/families-are-the-tie-that-reminds-us-of-yesterday-provide-strength/) [Bill Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-owens/) > [It will take years to bring Iraq the democracy it deserves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-owens/it-will-take-years-to-bring-iraq-the-democracy-it-deserves/) [Bill Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-owens/) > [This year, we must address the Colorado Paradox. We have more college degrees per capita than any state. Yet we lag the nation in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-owens/this-year-we-must-address-the-colorado-paradox-we-have-more-college/) [Bill Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-owens/) > [True leadership lies in guiding others to success. In ensuring that everyone is performing at their best, doing the work they are pledged to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-owens/true-leadership-lies-in-guiding-others-to-success-in-ensuring-that/) [Bill Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-owens/) > [Leadership is an active role; 'lead' is a verb. But the leader who tries to do it all is headed for burnout, and in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-owens/leadership-is-an-active-role-lead-is-a-verb-but-the-leader-who-tries/) [Bill Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-owens/) > [In this new century, our commitment to family and to faith, to community and opportunity, to freedom and to hope, will be the light…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-owens/in-this-new-century-our-commitment-to-family-and-to-faith-to/) [Bill Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-owens/) > [We must renew our efforts to keep our communities safe, from the dangers of terrorists from foreign lands and from common criminals here at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-owens/we-must-renew-our-efforts-to-keep-our-communities-safe-from-the/) [Bill Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-owens/) > [If you ask me to compromise on principle, I will get out the veto pen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-owens/if-you-ask-me-to-compromise-on-principle-i-will-get-out-the-veto-pen/) [Bill Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-owens/) > [I believe the Patriot Act strikes the right balance needed to protect our freedom and security.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-owens/i-believe-the-patriot-act-strikes-the-right-balance-needed-to-protect/) [Bill Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-owens/) [Explore all 24 Bill Owens quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-owens/) ## More Century quotes > [I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-know-always-that-i-am-an-outsider-a-stranger-in-this-century-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ \[The Dalai Lama\] told me some years ago, "I've made every concession to China, and I've been as open and tolerant as I could,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/the-dalai-lama-told-me-some-years-ago-i-ve-made-every-concession-to/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [Anybody looking for a quiet life has picked the wrong century to born in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anybody-looking-for-a-quiet-life-has-picked-the-wrong-century-to-born/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The poetry from the eighteenth century was prose; the prose from the seventeenth century was poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/the-poetry-from-the-eighteenth-century-was-prose-the-prose-from-the/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Talented people can predict with great accuracy what's about to happen just a tiny bit ahead of their competitors. It might be two seconds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-maney/talented-people-can-predict-with-great-accuracy-what-s-about-to/) [Kevin Maney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-maney/) > [The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. Its strains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/the-world-s-history-is-a-divine-poem-of-which-the-history-of-every/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-b-wells/the-nineteenth-century-lynching-mob-cuts-off-ears-toes-and-fingers/) [Ida B. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-b-wells/) > [At no time in the past century has public distrust of the government been so broadly distributed across the political spectrum, as it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-zimmermann/at-no-time-in-the-past-century-has-public-distrust-of-the-government/) [Phil Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-zimmermann/) > [While husbands and lovers in the stories are of all kinds, ranging from sympathetic to disgusting, women are invariably deceivers: inconstant, unscrupulous, quarrelsome, querulous,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-tuchman/while-husbands-and-lovers-in-the-stories-are-of-all-kinds-ranging/) [Barbara Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-tuchman/) > [The young people today are the 21st century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-scorsese/the-young-people-today-are-the-21st-century/) [Martin Scorsese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-scorsese/) > [The wisdom of our actions in the first three years of peace will determine the course of world history for half a century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-wallace/the-wisdom-of-our-actions-in-the-first-three-years-of-peace-will/) [Henry A. Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-wallace/) > [For me, the melancholy of the late XXth Century is walking late at night by the Mont Blanc pen store and seeing these things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/for-me-the-melancholy-of-the-late-xxth-century-is-walking-late-at/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [In a general way, the literature of the twentieth century is essentially psychological; and psychology consists of describing states of the soul by displaying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/in-a-general-way-the-literature-of-the-twentieth-century-is/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [Consequently, citizen legislators, rotating back to their communities after a short period of public service—considered an indispensable and routine characteristic and design of representative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/consequently-citizen-legislators-rotating-back-to-their-communities/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 5,406 Century quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A renewed commitment to the freedom and opportunity of our people is the touchstone of our time. 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