The Art of Peace

Many years ago, 1968 to be exact, Robert F. Kennedy delivered a speech to the Sigma Delta Chi Journalism Fraternity at the Ramada Inn in Portland, Oregon. In this talk Kennedy spoke of the art of peace, and the need for a peaceful constitution domestically and abroad.

Here are some of the quotes from Robert Kennedy's speech in 1968:

Robert F. Kennedy
(courtesy commons.wikipedia.org)

"In short, America in 1962 did not go to war, because in this and other ways we had practiced the art of peace. In this experience is a great lesson for the world and for America in 1968. America has been identified with power, and in that obsession we have forgotten our purposes. In truth, we are confronted by an extraordinary paradox. Our military strength and national wealth has multiplied beyond the wildest dreams of our fathers; yet the authority with which we speak, the respect in which we are held diminishes...

Our great strength- moral, political, economic, and military- must be used to seek peace with justice, to secure peace without fear... We cannot continue to deny and postpone the demands of our own people, while spending billions in the name of freedom for others. No nation can exert greater influence or power in the world than it can exercise over the streets of its own capital. No government can sustain international law and order unless it can do so at home. No country can lead the fight for social justice unless its commitment to its own people is credible and determined- unless it seeks jobs and not the dole for its men, unless it feels anguish as long as any of its children are hungry, unless it believes in opportunity for all its citizens.

Alfred Lord Tennyson once wrote: "The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks/ The long day wanes/ the low moon climbs/ the deep moans round with many voices./ Come my friends, 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world."

I come to you today to ask your help in building that newer world. With your support, with your commitment, with your confidence, we will do it." ~Robert Kennedy

demopublican.org is here to promote public awareness of the need for world peace.