Our fate as a nation and our future
as a people rest not upon one citizen, but upon all citizens.
This is the majesty and the meaning of this moment.
For every generation, there is a destiny. For some, history
decides. For this generation, the choice must be our own.
Even now, a rocket moves toward Mars. It reminds us that the world
will not be the same for our children, or even for ourselves m a
short span of years. The next man to stand here will look out on a
scene different from our own, because ours is a time of change--
rapid and fantastic change bearing the secrets of nature,
multiplying the nations, placing in uncertain hands new weapons
for mastery and destruction, shaking old values, and uprooting old
ways.
Our destiny in the midst of change will rest on the unchanged
character of our people, and on their faith.
THE AMERICAN COVENANT
They came here--the exile and the stranger, brave but frightened--
to find a place where a man could be his own man. They made a
covenant with this land. Conceived in justice, written in liberty,
bound in union, it was meant one day to inspire the hopes of all
mankind; and it binds us still. If we keep its terms, we shall
flourish.
JUSTICE AND CHANGE
First, justice was the promise that all who made the journey would
share in the fruits of the land.
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