Motto and Maxim
The maxim of Rau was “to reconcile, not divide”.
As his personal motto, Rau adopted the Confessing Church dictum “teneo, quia teneor” (I hold because I am held).
In his acceptance speech after his election, Rau claimed “A patriot I will be” because “a patriot is someone who loves his fatherland, a nationalist is someone who despises the fatherlands of the others”. The quote can be attributed to the French writer Romain Gary.
Read more about this topic: Johannes Rau
Famous quotes containing the words motto and/or maxim:
“I always say, my motto is “Art for my sake.” If I want to write, I write—and if I don’t want to, I won’t. The difficulty is to find exactly the form one’s passion—work is produced by passion with me ... Mwants to take.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“Let this great maxim be my virtue’s guide—In part she is to blame that has been tried: He comes too near that comes to be denied.”
—Mary Wortley, Lady Montagu (1689–1762)