Peggy Noonan Quotes

Powerful Peggy Noonan for Daily Growth

About Peggy Noonan

Peggy Noonan is an esteemed American author, speechwriter, and political commentator, renowned for her insightful analysis on politics and culture. Born on July 28, 1950, in South Orange, New Jersey, Noonan grew up in a working-class family with Irish roots. She attended Fairfield University and later studied at Trinity College, Dublin, where she was inspired by the rich cultural heritage of Ireland. Noonan's professional career took off when she began working for Ronald Reagan during his 1980 presidential campaign. Her compelling speeches, infused with emotional depth and a strong sense of American ideals, significantly contributed to Reagan's success. After his presidency, Noonan continued her collaboration with him on his autobiography, "An American Life." In the 1990s, Noonan published several critically acclaimed books, including "What I Saw at the Revolution," a collection of political commentaries, and "When Character Was King: A Tale of Two Presidents," which compares the leadership styles of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. In 2017, Noonan published "The Time of Our Lives," a memoir reflecting on her life experiences and observations of American politics over the past few decades. Throughout her career, Noonan has been recognized for her eloquent prose, deep understanding of political dynamics, and ability to capture the essence of leadership and character in American politics. Noonan currently serves as a contributor for The Wall Street Journal and often appears on television shows discussing current events and political affairs. Her work continues to inspire and influence discussions on leadership, values, and American identity.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"We are the ones we've been waiting for."

This quote, penned by Peggy Noonan, is a call to action and self-empowerment. It suggests that the solution to our problems, the change we seek, lies within each of us as individuals. In essence, it encourages people to take responsibility for their own lives, communities, and the world at large, rather than waiting for someone else to solve them. The message is one of empowerment, urging us to be proactive in making positive changes instead of passively hoping others will do so.


"The future starts tomorrow, but it is always here in the present if we decide to act."

This quote suggests that while the future is an abstract concept often associated with tomorrow or a distant point in time, it can manifest in the present when we choose to take action. In other words, the power to shape our future lies in the decisions and actions we make today. The message encourages individuals to be proactive, seize opportunities, and create positive change instead of merely waiting for the future to arrive.


"Happiness is the unexpected telephone call or the meeting on a street corner...the moment when the universe gives us far more than we could have dared to ask."

This quote suggests that true happiness often comes in the form of unplanned moments, like an unexpected phone call or a chance encounter on a street corner. It implies that these moments are not just pleasant surprises but instances where one receives more than they could have reasonably hoped for, highlighting the serendipitous nature of joy and the beauty of life's unexpected gifts.


"We are not children of our circumstances. We are children of our choices."

This quote by Peggy Noonan highlights the power of personal agency. It suggests that while circumstances may shape us to some extent, we ultimately define ourselves through the choices we make. Our lives are not mere products of external factors but rather reflections of our decisions, values, and actions. The message is one of empowerment, encouraging individuals to take charge of their own destinies and understand that they have the power to shape their own lives and identities.


"The opposite of a great truth is also a great truth."

This quote by Peggy Noonan emphasizes that for every universally accepted fact or principle (a "great truth"), there's another equally powerful idea or counterpoint that offers balance or perspective ("the opposite"). Understanding both sides is essential to achieving a well-rounded, informed, and thoughtful perspective.


The battle for the mind of Ronald Reagan was like the trench warfare of World War I: never have so many fought so hard for such barren terrain.

- Peggy Noonan

Mind, World War I, Reagan, Trench

TV gives everyone an image, but radio gives birth to a million images in a million brains.

- Peggy Noonan

Image, TV, Images, Million

The president - every president - works for us. We don't work for him. We sometimes lose track of this, or rather get the balance wrong. Respect is due and must be palpable, but now and then you have to press, to either force them to be forthcoming or force them to reveal that they won't be.

- Peggy Noonan

Reveal, Rather, Works, Now And Then

The 2008 election settled nothing, not even for a while. Our national politics are reflecting what appears to be going on geologically, on the bottom of the oceans and beneath the crust of the Earth: the tectonic plates are moving.

- Peggy Noonan

Politics, Election, Beneath, Oceans

Candor is a compliment; it implies equality. It's how true friends talk.

- Peggy Noonan

True, How, True Friends, Implies

I love eulogies. They are the most moving kind of speech because they attempt to pluck meaning from the fog, and on short order, when the emotions are still ragged and raw and susceptible to leaps.

- Peggy Noonan

Love, Still, Ragged, Leaps

There is nothing wrong with being a declared liberal or conservative and conducting a sympathetic interview with a political figure who shares your views.

- Peggy Noonan

Conservative, Figure, Interview

Memo to future presidents: Never stake your entire survival on the painful passing of a bad bill. Never take the country down the road to 'Demon Pass.'

- Peggy Noonan

Country, Bad, Pass, Down The Road

What Andrew Cuomo said is, truly, a scandal. It's a scandal if he actually thinks it - that those who hold conservative views on abortion, gun rights and marriage are extreme, anathema and have no place in the state.

- Peggy Noonan

Gun, Conservative, Abortion, Andrew

My generation, faced as it grew with a choice between religious belief and existential despair, chose marijuana. Now we are in our Cabernet stage.

- Peggy Noonan

Generation, Religious, Faced

Abortion is either OK or it's not.

- Peggy Noonan

Abortion, Either, OK

You don't tell people who disagree with you they'd be better off somewhere else. And you don't reduce them to stereotypes; you address them as fully formed people worthy of respect. You try to persuade them.

- Peggy Noonan

Stereotypes, Address, Reduce, Formed

If you commit a big crime then you are crazy, and the more heinous the crime the crazier you must be. Therefore you are not responsible, and nothing is your fault.

- Peggy Noonan

Big, Nothing, More, Crazier

I ought to pray as much as God's on my mind, because then I'd pray a lot. All I can tell you is God is real, and so that infuses everything.

- Peggy Noonan

Mind, Tell, Then, Ought

I think miracles exist in part as gifts and in part as clues that there is something beyond the flat world we see.

- Peggy Noonan

Think, I Think, Part, Clues

If you join government, calmly make your contribution and move on. Don't go along to get along; do your best and when you have to - and you will - leave, and be something else.

- Peggy Noonan

Will, Move, Something Else, Calmly

Sincerity and competence is a strong combination. In politics, it is everything.

- Peggy Noonan

Strong, Politics, Competence, Sincerity

Beware the politically obsessed. They are often bright and interesting, but they have something missing in their natures; there is a hole, an empty place, and they use politics to fill it up. It leaves them somehow misshapen.

- Peggy Noonan

Politics, Beware, Natures, Missing

Presidents have a right to certain prerogatives, including the expectation of a certain deference. He's the president; this is history. But we seem to have come a long way since Ronald Reagan was regularly barked at by Sam Donaldson, almost literally, and the president shrugged it off.

- Peggy Noonan

Reagan, Almost, Presidents, Long Way

Let's cause some senators distress.

- Peggy Noonan

Some, Distress, Cause, Senators

Part of courage is simple consistency.

- Peggy Noonan

Courage, Simple, Part, Consistency

All great political families have myths: stories they tell themselves about how history happened.

- Peggy Noonan

Tell, How, Stories, Families

Don't fall in love with politicians, they're all a disappointment. They can't help it, they just are.

- Peggy Noonan

Love, Disappointment, Help, Politicians

Democracy involves that old-fashioned thing called working it out.

- Peggy Noonan

Working, Involves, Thing, Old-Fashioned

Speeches are not magic and there is no great speech without great policy.

- Peggy Noonan

Great, Magic, Speech, Speeches

A great speech is literature.

- Peggy Noonan

Great, Literature, Speech

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