We need an America with the wisdom of experience. But we must not let America grow old in spirit.

Unfortunately, our affluent society has also been an effluent society.

We should have learnt by now that laws and court decisions can only point the way. They can establish criteria of right and wrong. And they can provide a basis for rooting out the evils of bigotry and racism. But they cannot wipe away centuries of oppression and injustice - however much we might desire it.

The right of citizens to bear arms is just one guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard against the tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible.

We need an America with the wisdom of experience. But we must not let America grow old in spirit.

The ugliness of bigotry stands in direct contradiction to the very meaning of America.

When people generally are aware of a problem, it can be said to have entered the public consciousness. When people get on their hind legs and holler, the problem has not only entered the public consciousness -- it has also become a part of the public conscience. At that point, things in our democracy begin to hum.