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SOUTH AFRICA SPEECH (PG. 55)
"Give me a place to stand," said Archimedes, "and I will move the world." Few of us will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. And everyone here will ultimately be judged will ultimately judge himself on the effort he has contributed to building a new world society and the extent to which his ideals and goals have shaped that effort. President Kennedy was speaking to the young people of America, but beyond them to young people everywhere, when he said that the energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it and the glow from that fire can truly light the world." And, he added"With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own."
VIETNAM SPEECH (PG. 63)
Ten thousand miles from this chamber we are engaged in a violent conflict that has engulfed the land of Vietnam. Three Presidents have taken action in VietnamAs one who was involved in many of those decisions, I can testify thatif fault is to be found or responsibility assessed, there is enough to go round for allincluding myselfThe stakes are very high: They are the home of the child in a jungle village, the hunger of a man driven from his farm, the life of a young American even now preparing for the day's battle. There is great principle, and there is also human anguish. If we can protect the one and prevent the other, then there is no effort too great for us to make.
CHAVEZ SPEECH (PG. 77)
When we are really honest with ourselves, we must admit that our lives are all that really belong to us. So it is how we use our lives that determines what kind of men we are. It is my deepest belief that only by giving our lives do we find life. I am convinced that the truest act of courage, the strongest act of manliness, is to sacrifice ourselves for others in a totally nonviolent struggle for justice. To be a man is to suffer for others. God help us to be men.
POST MARTIN LUTHER KING SHOOTING SPEECH (PG. 86)
I have some bad news for you , for all of our fellow citizens, and people who love peace all over the worldand that is that Martin Luther King was shot tonight. Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice and for his fellow human beings, he died because of that effort. In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it is perhaps well to ask what kind of nation we are and what direction we want to move in. For those of you who are black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and distrust at the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I can only say that I feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man. But we have to make an effort in the United States, we have to make an effort to understand, to go beyond these rather difficult times. My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He wrote: "In our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God." What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of injustice towards those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black. Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and to make gentle the life of this world. Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and our people.
POST CALIFORNIA WIN (PG. 94)
We are a great country, an unselfish country and a compassionate country. And I intend to make that my basis for running over the period of the next few months. So my thanks to all of you and it's on to Chicago and let's win there.
FINAL SPEECH (PG. 96)
Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product, now, is over eight hundred billion dollars a year, but that GNP if we should judge America by that counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage.
It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl.
It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead, and armored cars for police who fight riots in our streets.
It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.
Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country
It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.