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

This, then, is the test we must set for ourselves; not to march alone but to march in such a way that others will wish to join us.

It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.

It is better to gain a foot than to stand still, even when you seek to gain a mile.

I do not feel that we should allow a shortage of funds to prevent cities from financing needed projects.

Fortunately, the time has long passed when people liked to regard the United States as some kind of melting pot, taking men and women from every part of the world and converting them into standardized, homogenized Americans. We are, I think, much more mature and wise today. Just as we welcome a world of diversity, so we glory in an America of diversity -- an America all the richer for the many different and distinctive strands of which it is woven.

There is a great deal of difference between living and surviving. You can survive in debauchery, even in sickness and despair. But you live with a spirit of vitality and a spirit of participation, of being wanted, and having something to contribute.