"We - even we here - hold the power, and bear the responsibility."
At the very beginning of the book, Power quotes Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States. In this quote, Lincoln is talking about the power America has, which Power applies to genocides in the 20th Century. In the book, Power argues that America has must take some responsibility for what happens around the world, and ought to have condemned such atrocities.
"When, on September 12, 2001, the United States turned for help to its friends around the world, Americans were gratified by the overwhelming response. When the Tutsi cried out (or the Armenians, Jews, Cambodians, Bosnians, Kurds), by contrast, every country in the world turned away."
In this quote, Power suggests that when America underwent its own national crisis in 2001 with the September 11 attacks, they received help and support from countries across the world. However, when other countries were afflicted by terrible attributes, America did not reach out the same helping hand towards them.
"No US President has ever made genocide prevention a priority, and no US President has ever suffered politically for his indifference to its occurrence. It is thus no coincidence that genocide rages on."
In this quote, Power states that genocide has not ever been made a priority in American politics. She condemns past presidents for not seeing genocides as a key issue and argues that this is the reason genocides continue to happen. If the US would have strongly condemned the events of the past this might not still be happening.
