Former President Jimmy Carter has passed away at the age of 98, following six months of receiving hospice care at home.
The Democrat, who served in the White House from 1977 to 1981, was the longest-living ex-president in United States history. He is survived by his wife Rosalynn Carter, along with their four children; John, James, Donnel and Amy, along with 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. His death was announced Sunday afternoon.
Carter's life after the presidency was distinguished by faith, advocacy, and service. The former peanut farmer authored more than 30 books addressing subjects such as conflict resolution, religion and patriotism. A Nobel Peace Prize laureate, he taught Sunday school at his church in Plains, Georgia, until his health declined.
Through the Carter Work Project, the former president and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, partnered with Habitat for Humanity for years to build, renovate and repair more than 4,300 homes for people facing housing insecurity in 14 countries between 1984 and 2019.
Read on for some of the most memorable quotes from the 39th president of the United States.
"Because we are free we can never be indifferent to the fate of freedom elsewhere. Our moral sense dictates a clear-cut preference for these societies which share with us an abiding respect for individual human rights. We do not seek to intimidate, but it is clear that a world which others can dominate with impunity would be inhospitable to decency and a threat to the well-being of all people."—Jimmy Carter during his inaugural address on January 20, 1977
"When our mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters are considered both different and inferior in the eyes of the God we worship, this belief tends to permeate society and everyone suffers."—Jimmy Carter in his 2014 book, A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence and Power
"A person should have as our goal complete agape (self-sacrificial love). The most we can expect from a society is to institute simple justice."—Jimmy Carter in his 2018 book, Faith: A Journey for All
"War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn to live together in peace by killing each other's children."—Jimmy Carter in his Nobel Lecture on December 10, 2002
"Failure is a reality; we all fail at times, and it's painful when we do. But it's better to fail while striving for something wonderful, challenging, adventurous, and uncertain than to say, 'I don't want to try because I may not succeed completely.'"—Jimmy Carter in his 1997 book, Sources of Strength, Meditations on Scripture
"The excessive punishment of prisoners and the use of the death penalty in the United States, alone in the developed world, have continued to fall most heavily on the poor, mentally ill, and people of color. It was on this subject that I made the best speech of my life."—Jimmy Carter in his 2015 book, A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety
"It seems somewhat illogical to say, "You have violated God's commandment 'Thou shalt not kill,' so therefore I will kill you."—Jimmy Carter in his 2005 book, Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis
"America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense, it is the other way around. Human rights invented America."—Jimmy Carter in his Farewell Address on January 14, 1981
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