City upon a Hill

phrase

A City upon a Hill is a phrase from the Salt and Light in Jesus's Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5:14, he tells his listeners, "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden." It has become popular with American politicians.

President Ronald Reagan used the image as well, in his 1984 acceptance of the Republican Party nomination[1] and in his January 11, 1989, farewell speech to the nation:

...I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it and see it still....[2]

References

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  1. "Remarks Accepting the Presidential Nomination at the Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas". Archived from the original on 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2014-08-18.
  2. Farewell Address to the Nation, Oval Office, January 11, 1989