when we have
stood briefly, but magnificently, united. In those times no prize was
beyond our grasp.

But we cannot dwell upon remembered glory. We cannot afford to drift. We
reject the prospect of failure or mediocrity or an inferior quality
of life for any person. Our Government must at the same time be both
competent and compassionate.

We have already found a high degree of personal liberty, and we are now
struggling to enhance equality of opportunity. Our commitment to human
rights must be absolute, our laws fair, our natural beauty preserved;
the powerful must not persecute the weak, and human dignity must be
enhanced.

We have learned that "more" is not necessarily "better," that even our
great Nation has its recognized limits, and that we can neither answer
all questions nor solve all problems. We cannot afford to do everything,
nor can we afford to lack boldness as we meet the future. So, together,
in a spirit of individual sacrifice for the common good, we must simply
do our best.

Our Nation can be strong abroad only if it is strong at home. And
we know that the best way to enhance freedom in other lands is to
demonstrate here that our democratic system is worthy of emulation.

To be true to ourselves, we must be true to others. We will not behave
in foreign places so as to violate our rules and standards here at home,
for we know that the trust which our Nation earns is essential to our
strength.

The world itself is now dominated by a new spirit. Peoples more numerous
and more politically aware are craving and now demanding their place in
the sun--not just for the benefit of their own physical condition, but
for basic human rights.

The passion for freedom is on the rise. Tapping this new spirit, there
can be no nobler nor more ambitious task for America to undertake on
this day of a new beginning than to help shape a just and peaceful world
that is truly humane.

We are a strong nation, and we will maintain strength so sufficient that
it need not be proven in combat--a quiet strength based not merely on
the size of an arsenal, but on the nobility of ideas.

We will be ever vigilant and never vulnerable, and we will fight our
wars against poverty, ignorance, and injustice--for those are the
enemies against which our forces can be honorably marshaled.

We are a purely idealistic Nation, but let no one confuse our idealism
with weakness.

Because we are free we can never be indifferent to the