America is an open society, more open than any other in the world. People of every race, of every color, of every culture are welcomed here to create a new life for themselves and their families. And what do these people who enter into the American mainstream have in common? English, our shared common language.

The United States, a land of immigrants from every corner of the world, has been strengthened and unified because its newcomers have historically chosen ultimately to forgo their native language for the English language. We have all benefited from the sharing of ideas, of cultures and beliefs, made possible by a common language. We have all enriched each other.

In the age of television, image becomes more important than substance.

McDonalds in Tokyo is a terrible revenge for Pearl Harbor.

The last thing a scientist would do is cling to a map because he inherited it from his grandfather, or because it was used by George Washington or Abraham Lincoln.

Language is a unifying instrument which binds people together. When people speak one language they become as one, they become a society.

Notice the difference between what happens when a man says to himself, I have failed three times, and what happens when he says, I am a failure.