gh it requires sacrifice, it brings a deeper
fulfillment. We find the fullness of life not only in options, but in
commitments. And we find that children and community are the commitments
that set us free.

Our public interest depends on private character, on civic duty and
family bonds and basic fairness, on uncounted, unhonored acts of decency
which give direction to our freedom.

Sometimes in life we are called to do great things. But as a saint of
our times has said, every day we are called to do small things with
great love. The most important tasks of a democracy are done by
everyone.

I will live and lead by these principles: to advance my convictions
with civility, to pursue the public interest with courage, to speak for
greater justice and compassion, to call for responsibility and try to
live it as well.

In all these ways, I will bring the values of our history to the care of
our times.

What you do is as important as anything government does. I ask you to
seek a common good beyond your comfort; to defend needed reforms against
easy attacks; to serve your nation, beginning with your neighbor. I ask
you to be citizens: citizens, not spectators; citizens, not subjects;
responsible citizens, building communities of service and a nation of
character.

Americans are generous and strong and decent, not because we believe
in ourselves, but because we hold beliefs beyond ourselves. When this
spirit of citizenship is missing, no government program can replace it.
When this spirit is present, no wrong can stand against it.

After the Declaration of Independence was signed, Virginia statesman
John Page wrote to Thomas Jefferson: "We know the race is not to the
swift nor the battle to the strong. Do you not think an angel rides in
the whirlwind and directs this storm?"

Much time has passed since Jefferson arrived for his inauguration. The
years and changes accumulate. But the themes of this day he would know:
our nation's grand story of courage and its simple dream of dignity.

We are not this story's author, who fills time and eternity with his
purpose. Yet his purpose is achieved in our duty, and our duty is
fulfilled in service to one another.

Never tiring, never yielding, never finishing, we renew that purpose
today, to make our country more just and generous, to affirm the dignity
of our lives and every life.

This work continues. This story goes on. And an angel still rides in the
whirlwind and dir