“To Americans of another color he said:
‘This nation… was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.… It ought to be possible for every American to enjoy the privileges of being an American without regard to his race or color… to have the right to be treated as he would wish to be treated, as one would wish his children to be treated.… This nation, for all its hopes and all its boasts, will not be fully free until all its citizens are free.’
“To those who have been our adversaries he said, at American University:
‘… If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.
‘This generation of Americans has already had enough—more than enough—of war and hate and oppression.… We shall do our part to build a world of peace where the weak are safe and the strong are just. We are not helpless before that task or hopeless of its success. Confident and unafraid, we labor on—not toward a strategy of annihilation but toward a strategy of peace.’
“To the American people he said, upon conclusion of the Test Ban Treaty:
‘Let us, if we can, step back from the shadows of war and seek out the way of peace. And if that journey is one thousand miles, or even more, let history record that we, in this land, at this time, took the first step.’
“And finally, to all the world, his message on the Cuban crisis one year ago last month contained this simple prophetic sentence:
‘The cost of freedom is always high—but Americans have always paid it… ’ ”