State of the Union AddressesNixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous)
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State of the Union Addresses
Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous)
Presidents -- United States -- Messages; United States -- Politics and government -- Sources
That is what we have done in the proposals that I have laid before the
Congress. They are rooted in basic principles that are as enduring as human
nature, as robust as the American experience; and they are responsive to
new conditions. Thus they represent a spirit of change that is truly
renewal.
As we look back at those old principles, we find them as timely as they are
timeless.
We believe in independence, and self-reliance, and the creative value of
the competitive spirit.
We believe in full and equal opportunity for all Americans and in the
protection of individual rights and liberties.
We believe in the family as the keystone of the community, and in the
community as the keystone of the Nation.
We believe in compassion toward those in need.
We believe in a system of law, justice, and order as the basis of a
genuinely free society.
We believe that a person should get what he works for--and that those who
can, should work for what they get.
We believe in the capacity of people to make their own decisions in their
own lives, in their own communities--and we believe in their right to make
those decisions.
In applying these principles, we have done so with the full understanding
that what we seek in the seventies, what our quest is, is not merely for
more, but for better for a better quality of life for all Americans.
Thus, for example, we are giving a new measure of attention to cleaning up
our air and water, making our surroundings more attractive. We are
providing broader support for the arts, helping stimulate a deeper
appreciation of what they can contribute to the Nation's activities and to
our individual lives.
But nothing really matters more to the quality of our lives than the way we
treat one another, than our capacity to live respectfully together as a
unified society, with a full, generous regard for the rights of others and
also for the feelings of others.
As we recover from the turmoil and violence of recent years, as we learn
once again to speak with one another instead of shouting at one another, we
are regaining that capacity.
As is customary here, on this occasion, I have been talking about programs.
Programs are important. But even more important than programs is what we
are as a Nation--what we mean as a Nation, to ourselves and to the world.
In New York Harbor stands one of the most famous statues in the world--the
Statue of Liberty, the gift in 1886 of the people of France to the people
of the United States. This statue is more than a landmark; it is a
symbol--a symbol of what America has meant to the world.
It reminds us that what America has meant is not its wealth, and not its
power, but its spirit and purpose--a land that enshrines liberty and
opportunity, and that has held out a hand of welcome to millions in search
of a better and a fuller and, above all, a freer life.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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