Day of Affirmation Address

There is discrimination in this world, as well as slavery, slaughter, and starvation. Governments repress their people, and millions are trapped in poverty while nations grow rich, lavishing wealth on armaments. These are different evils, but they are the common works of man. They reflect the imperfection of human justice, the inadequacy of human compassion, and our lack of sensibility towards the suffering of our fellow beings. But we can, perhaps, remember—even if only for a time—that those who live with us are our brothers. They share with us the same short moment of life, and they seek, as we do, nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and happiness, winning whatever satisfaction and fulfillment they can. Surely this bond of common faith, this bond of being human, can begin to teach us something. Surely we can learn to look at those around us as fellow men, and surely we can begin to work, little by little, to bind up the wounds among us and to become, in our hearts, brothers and countrymen once again.

The answer is not a time of life but a state of mind—a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, and the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. The cruelties and obstacles of the swiftly changing planet will not yield to obsolete dogmas and worn-out slogans. They cannot be moved by those who cling to a present that has already died, preferring the illusion of security to the excitement and danger that come with even the most peaceful progress. It is a revolutionary world we live in, and this generation—at home and around the world—has thrust upon it a greater burden of responsibility than any generation before it.

Some believe there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills. Yet many of the world's great movements of thought and action have flowed from the work of a single person. A young man began the Protestant Reformation; a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the Earth; a young woman reclaimed the territory of France; a young Italian explorer discovered the New World; and the 32-year-old Thomas Jefferson proclaimed that all men are created equal. These men and women moved the world, and so can we.

Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. In the total of all those acts, we will write the history of this generation. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope. These ripples, crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

If you are willing to brave the disapproval of your fellows, the censure of your colleagues, and the wrath of society, moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is an essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that is ripe for change. I believe that in this generation, those who have the courage to enter the moral arena will find themselves with companions in every corner of the globe.

There is the temptation to follow the easiest path, the pursuit of personal ambition, or the financial success so grandly spread before those who enjoy the privilege of education. But that is not the road history has marked out for us. Like it or not, we live in times of danger and uncertainty, but they are also more open to the creative energy of humanity than any other time in history. All of us will ultimately be judged, and as the years pass, we will surely judge ourselves on the effort we have contributed to building a new world society and the extent to which our ideals and goals have shaped that event.

Our future may lie beyond our vision, but it is not completely beyond our control. It is the shaking impulse of America, the nature of fate, and the irresistible tides of history, matched to reason and principle, that will determine our destiny. There is pride in that—perhaps even arrogance—but there is also experience and truth. In any event, it is the only way we can live.

That is the way he lived, and that is what he left us. My brother need not be idealized or enlarged beyond measure, but he should be remembered simply as a good and decent man. He saw suffering and tried to heal it; he saw injustice and tried to stop it. And as I take him to his rest today, I pray that what he wished for others may one day come to pass for all the world. As he said many times, "Some men see things as they are and say, 'Why?' I dream things that never were and say, 'Why not?' "

This speech, delivered by Robert F. Kennedy on June 6, 1966, at the University of Cape Town, South Africa