I respect Israel as hugely special, especially given all the

In the words of Volodymyr Zelensky, “I respect Israel as hugely special, especially given all the sensitivities around it. The Jews managed to build a country, to elevate it, without anything except people and brains,” we find a meditation not merely on nations, but on the power of human will. These words, spoken by a man himself tested by war and the struggle for sovereignty, echo with ancient wisdom: that the might of a people does not lie in their armies, their gold, or their land, but in their spirit and intellect. Zelensky’s admiration is not only political; it is moral. It recognizes that when the dust of history settles, the civilizations that endure are those built upon ideas, unity, and the unbreakable faith of their people.

The origin of this quote lies in Zelensky’s deep understanding of both adversity and resilience. As the leader of a nation fighting for its existence, he sees in Israel a mirror of his own people’s plight — a small nation surrounded by storms, surviving through ingenuity rather than sheer force. The Jews, scattered and exiled for centuries, returned to a land scarred by memory and built there a thriving society, one that rose not from abundance but from determination, intellect, and solidarity. In this, Zelensky beholds not just a political triumph, but a human miracle — the transformation of suffering into strength.

Throughout history, the ancients taught that greatness arises not from wealth, but from the harmony between mind and virtue. Consider the ancient city of Athens, which, though small and often besieged, became the cradle of philosophy, democracy, and art — not because it conquered others, but because it conquered ignorance. In a similar spirit, the Jewish people, after the ashes of the Holocaust, turned devastation into innovation. With no vast resources, they built farms from desert sands, universities from ruins, and armies from the sons and daughters of refugees. Like the phoenix of legend, Israel rose because its people carried within them the eternal flame of learning and faith.

In his words, Zelensky touches upon the sacred truth that “people and brains” — the combination of human hearts and minds — are the only resources that cannot be conquered. Nations may lose their borders, their treasuries, their monuments, but if they preserve education, culture, and unity, they can rise again from any ruin. The Jewish story is proof of this. It is the story of a people who survived every empire that sought to erase them — Babylonian, Roman, and Nazi — yet still live, still create, still bless the world with science, art, and wisdom. Such endurance is not born of luck, but of a spiritual discipline: the belief that the greatest wealth lies within the human soul.

Zelensky himself stands as a continuation of that ancient pattern. Leading a nation besieged by a larger power, he invokes the same principle: that brains can defy bombs, and that the strength of people united by purpose can surpass any army. Like Israel, Ukraine fights not merely for territory but for identity, for dignity, and for the right to determine its own story. Thus, his admiration for Israel is also a reflection of his own struggle, a declaration that even in the darkest night, the human mind and heart can forge dawn.

History gives us many examples of nations born from hardship. The early Americans, fleeing persecution, built a democracy through ideas rather than inheritance. The ancient Israelites, led by Moses, wandered for forty years, carrying no treasure but faith and knowledge of the law. These stories are not about victory through conquest, but through conviction. Zelensky’s quote calls us to remember that what truly elevates a nation is not its buildings or armies, but its commitment to justice, learning, and mutual respect — the pillars of civilization that no enemy can burn down.

And so, from this reflection arises a lesson for all generations: nurture your people, cultivate your minds, and treasure your unity. The world will test you — it will strip away comfort, wealth, and security — but if you possess wisdom, courage, and compassion, you will endure. Brains and people are the twin forces that can transform deserts into gardens and despair into hope. Build not only with your hands, but with your hearts. Teach your children to think, to question, to love truth. For as Zelensky reminds us, the greatest nations are not those that inherit the world — but those that rebuild it from nothing and make it shine once more.