Breastroke is an athletic event, butterfly is a political statement.

A commencement is a time of joy. It is also a time of melancholy. But then again, so is life.

We are a continuum. Just as we reach back to our ancestors for our fundamental values, so we, as guardians of that legacy, must reach ahead to our children and their children. And we do so with a sense of sacredness in that reaching.

From a viable economy to the full funding of Headstart, from a clean environment to true equality for women, from a strong military to a commitment to racial brotherhood, from schools that are honored to streets free of excessive violence.

It was a myth that's often perpetuated at commencement that holds that only hope and promise lie beyond the halls of academe. Don't worry, be happy. Everything is fine.

Let's try winning and see what it feels like. If we don't like it, we can go back to our traditions.

No one on his deathbed ever said, "I wish I had spent more time on my business."