"Our answer is the world's hope; it
is to rely on youth. The cruelties and the obstacles of this swiftly
changing planet will not yield to obsolete dogmas and outworn slogans. It
cannot be moved by those who cling to a present that is already dying, who
prefer the illusion of security to the excitement of danger which comes from
the most peaceful progress.
"This world demands the qualities of youth, not a time of life but
a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance
of courage over timidity, the appetite for adventure over the life of ease.
"A young monk began the Protestant reformation, a young general extended
the empire of Macedonia to the borders of the earth, and a young woman reclaimed
the territory of France.
It was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World and a 32-year-old
Thomas Jefferson who proclaimed that all men were created equal.
"'Give me a place to stand and I will move the world,' said Archimedes.
"These men moved the world and so can we all. Few will have the greatness
to bend history, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events,
and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this
generation."
- - - Robert Kennedy.