--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Conservatives, who have presumed that the…" description: "\"Conservatives, who have presumed that the key to preventing AIDS is abstinence-only education, and liberals, who have focused on distribution of condom..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/386/nicholas-d-kristof-4679_abstinence_conservatives-who-have-presumed-that-the_1768952.jpg" --- # Conservatives, who have presumed that the key to… ![“Conservatives, who have presumed that the key to preventing AIDS is abstinence-only education, and liberals, who have focused on distribution of condoms, should both note that the intervention that has tested most cost-effective in Africa is neither... Secular bleeding hearts and religious…” quote by Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/386/nicholas-d-kristof-4679_abstinence_conservatives-who-have-presumed-that-the_1768952.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/386/nicholas-d-kristof-4679_abstinence_conservatives-who-have-presumed-that-the_1768952.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/386/nicholas-d-kristof-4679_abstinence_conservatives-who-have-presumed-that-the_1768952.jpg) > “Conservatives, who have presumed that the key to preventing AIDS is abstinence-only education, and liberals, who have focused on distribution of condoms, should both note that the intervention that has tested most cost-effective in Africa is neither... Secular bleeding hearts and religious bleeding hearts will have to forge a common cause.” [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Effective AIDS prevention in Africa relies on comprehensive strategies, not just abstinence or condom distribution alone. **In simple terms:** Both sides need a shared, evidence‑based approach. Key Takeaway Combine education, testing, and treatment. Themes public health policy collaboration Mood concerned hopeful Type policy analytical When to use this quote - government programs - NGO initiatives - community outreach - school curricula Key Concepts cost‑effectiveness behavioral change global health Questions to Reflect On - How can opposing groups find common ground? - What evidence convinces skeptics? A Different Perspective Political ideologies can hinder pragmatic solutions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstinence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstinence/) [Bleeding heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bleeding-heart/) [Conservatives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservatives/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Focused](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/focused/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Intervention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intervention/) [Philanthropy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philanthropy/) [Religious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious/) [Secular](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secular/) ## Related quotes > [The Obama administration now has regulations that tells them that they can no longer promote marriage to these young girls. They can no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-santorum/the-obama-administration-now-has-regulations-that-tells-them-that/) [Rick Santorum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-santorum/) > [Abstinence-only education - the best STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease) and pregnancy delivery system that politicians have ever devised.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/abstinence-only-education-the-best-std-sexually-transmitted-disease/) [Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/) > [My austerities, fasting and prayers are, I know, of no value if I rely upon them for reforming me. My penance is the prayer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/my-austerities-fasting-and-prayers-are-i-know-of-no-value-if-i-rely/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I was a bleeding-heart liberal, until I got a job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-popper/i-was-a-bleeding-heart-liberal-until-i-got-a-job/) [John Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-popper/) > [I must warn you right here and now that I am a 'wet leftie,' a 'leftist' and also a member of the 'bleeding heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-leunig/i-must-warn-you-right-here-and-now-that-i-am-a-wet-leftie-a-leftist/) [Michael Leunig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-leunig/) > [If you look hard at it, if you look hard at the bleeding heart attitude to always throw money at issues, throw money at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-forrest/if-you-look-hard-at-it-if-you-look-hard-at-the-bleeding-heart/) [Andrew Forrest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-forrest/) > [“A mind can bleed a heart to death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/munia-khan/a-mind-can-bleed-a-heart-to-death/) [Munia Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/munia-khan/) > [“Then we had the irises, rising beautiful and cool on their tall stalks, like blown glass, like pastel water momentarily frozen in a splash,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/then-we-had-the-irises-rising-beautiful-and-cool-on-their-tall-stalks/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Soon the purple dark must bruise Lily and bleeding-heart and rose, And the little Cupid lose Eyes and ears and chin and nose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-justice/soon-the-purple-dark-must-bruise-lily-and-bleeding-heart-and-rose-and/) [Donald Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-justice/) > [I'm a 'bleeding-heart liberal,' one of those card-carrying Democrats that Rush Limbaugh thinks is a communist. And I'm proud of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-garner/i-m-a-bleeding-heart-liberal-one-of-those-card-carrying-democrats/) [James Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-garner/) > [“Puppy, I am getting so tired of listening to you whine about this,” he snarled at Zeke. “This isn’t rocket science. If you don’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-kagawa/puppy-i-am-getting-so-tired-of-listening-to-you-whine-about-this-he/) [Julie Kagawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-kagawa/) > [I'm an unapologetic, bleeding heart liberal who thinks the world should be fairer and kinder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kira-permunian/i-m-an-unapologetic-bleeding-heart-liberal-who-thinks-the-world/) [Kira Permunian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kira-permunian/) > [Life is not orderly. No matter how we try to make life so, right in the middle of it we die, lose a leg,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/life-is-not-orderly-no-matter-how-we-try-to-make-life-so-right-in-the/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [“Art is the magical act of one bleeding heart healing another.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akash-mandal/art-is-the-magical-act-of-one-bleeding-heart-healing-another/) [Akash Mandal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akash-mandal/) > [If all these guys think that nothing is going to come out for 100 years, they're going to act a whole lot more boldly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-gup/if-all-these-guys-think-that-nothing-is-going-to-come-out-for-100/) [Ted Gup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-gup/) ## More by Nicholas D. Kristof > [Random violence is incredibly infectious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/random-violence-is-incredibly-infectious/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [Our national leaders tend to try to protect the national interest as they see it. They may screw up in that, but they at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/our-national-leaders-tend-to-try-to-protect-the-national-interest-as/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [The north of the Central African Republic is now a war zone, with rival armed bands burning villages, kidnapping children, robbing travelers and killing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/the-north-of-the-central-african-republic-is-now-a-war-zone-with/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [Sometimes I wish eastern Congo could suffer an earthquake or a tsunami, so that it might finally get the attention it needs. The barbaric…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/sometimes-i-wish-eastern-congo-could-suffer-an-earthquake-or-a/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [Americans of faith should try as hard to save the lives of African women as the lives of unborn fetuses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/americans-of-faith-should-try-as-hard-to-save-the-lives-of-african/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [Palestinian militancy has accomplished nothing but increasing the misery of the Palestinian people. If Palestinians instead turned more to huge Gandhi-style nonviolence resistance campaigns,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/palestinian-militancy-has-accomplished-nothing-but-increasing-the/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [The news media's silence, particularly television news, is reprehensible. If we knew as much about Darfur as we do about Michael Jackson, we might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/the-news-media-s-silence-particularly-television-news-is/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [It’s time for a 21st-century abolitionist movement in the U.S and around the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/it-s-time-for-a-21st-century-abolitionist-movement-in-the-u-s-and/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [The bulk of the emails tend to come after a column. I can get about 2,000 after a column.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/the-bulk-of-the-emails-tend-to-come-after-a-column-i-can-get-about-2/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [American airstrikes...create risks, especially if our intelligence there is rusty. The crucial step, and the one we should apply diplomatic pressure to try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/american-airstrikes-create-risks-especially-if-our-intelligence-there/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [Let me be clear: I'm a believer in a robust military, which is essential for backing up diplomacy. But the implication is that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/let-me-be-clear-i-m-a-believer-in-a-robust-military-which-is/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [Every year 3.1 million Indian children die before the age of 5, mostly from diseases of poverty like diarrhea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/every-year-3-1-million-indian-children-die-before-the-age-of-5-mostly/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [One of the principles of journalism is you don't lie. You never lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/one-of-the-principles-of-journalism-is-you-don-t-lie-you-never-lie/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [You could perhaps better tell the story of a place by writing of a tiny village as a sort of prism into the bigger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/you-could-perhaps-better-tell-the-story-of-a-place-by-writing-of-a/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [All of a sudden their husband's dead and maybe a child is dead and they have absolutely nothing - and they're heading through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/all-of-a-sudden-their-husband-s-dead-and-maybe-a-child-is-dead-and/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) [Explore all 107 Nicholas D. Kristof quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) ## More Abstinence quotes > [Sexual activity, and the thoughts and fantasies of sex, use up a great portion of our vital force. When that force is conserved through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patanjali/sexual-activity-and-the-thoughts-and-fantasies-of-sex-use-up-a-great/) [Patanjali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patanjali/) > [Used with due abstinence, hope acts as a healthful tonic; intemperately indulged, as an enervating opiate. The visions of future triumph, which at first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fitzjames-stephen/used-with-due-abstinence-hope-acts-as-a-healthful-tonic-intemperately/) [James Fitzjames Stephen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fitzjames-stephen/) > [“Male masturbation is not a release, it is a squandering. Anyone who begins to no-fap will soon discover this. Like most things, we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-freestone/male-masturbation-is-not-a-release-it-is-a-squandering-anyone-who/) [Jack Freestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-freestone/) > [Atheism is a religion like abstinence is a sex position.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/atheism-is-a-religion-like-abstinence-is-a-sex-position/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [When a married person uses pornography, or is unfaithful, it compromises not just his (or her) purity, but also compromises the spouse's purity. As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-o-donnell/when-a-married-person-uses-pornography-or-is-unfaithful-it/) [Christine O'Donnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-o-donnell/) > [“Look, choosing to wait until marriage makes me feel empowered. But if the same choice cripples you, then it wasn't the right one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-allen/look-choosing-to-wait-until-marriage-makes-me-feel-empowered-but-if/) Rachael Allen > [Taking the pledge will not make bad liquor good, but it will improve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/taking-the-pledge-will-not-make-bad-liquor-good-but-it-will-improve-it/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It is better to lock up your heart with a merciless padlock, than to fall in love with someone who doesn't know what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/it-is-better-to-lock-up-your-heart-with-a-merciless-padlock-than-to/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [There is a great deal of political pressure to only talk about abstinence, and to deny support for condoms and education on using them.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/there-is-a-great-deal-of-political-pressure-to-only-talk-about/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [Abstinence-only education - the best STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease) and pregnancy delivery system that politicians have ever devised.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/abstinence-only-education-the-best-std-sexually-transmitted-disease/) [Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/) > [While one may lose much because of avarice, nothing was ever accomplished by abstinence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isuna-hasekura/while-one-may-lose-much-because-of-avarice-nothing-was-ever/) [Isuna Hasekura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isuna-hasekura/) > [“The secular, for all its goodness, does not defend itself very well against mindless and perpetual consumption. It cries out to be offered by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-farrar-capon/the-secular-for-all-its-goodness-does-not-defend-itself-very-well/) [Robert Farrar Capon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-farrar-capon/) > [I went to an all-girls Catholic school. And all the nuns just breathed down our necks "abstinence." And that's not the right thing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-mccarthy/i-went-to-an-all-girls-catholic-school-and-all-the-nuns-just-breathed/) [Jenny McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-mccarthy/) > [How do we want our air? Pure. How do we want our water? Pure. How do we want sex on our wedding night? Pure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-kelly/how-do-we-want-our-air-pure-how-do-we-want-our-water-pure-how-do-we/) Molly Kelly > [“There’s gratification in abstaining from the easy choice. Instant gratification can bring more suffering than pleasure. If I do the hard thing, the next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecily-wang/there-s-gratification-in-abstaining-from-the-easy-choice-instant/) Cecily Wang [Browse all 233 Abstinence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstinence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Conservatives, who have presumed that the key to preventing AIDS is abstinence-only education, and liberals, who have focused on distribution of condoms, should both note that the intervention that has tested most cost-effective in Africa is neither... Secular bleeding hearts and religious bleeding hearts will have to forge a common cause.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nicholas D. 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