Post by Pegasus on Jan 17, 2006 18:43:38 GMT
"THIS I BELIEVE"
Robert A. Heinlein wrote these words in 1952 and delivered them to a
national radio audience in a broadcast interview by Edward R. Murrow.
His
wife, Virginia Heinlein, read them when she accepted on his behalf
NASA's
Distinguished Public Service Medal on October 6, 1988, awarded him
posthumously.
--
I am not going to talk about religious beliefs but about matters so
obvious that it has gone out of style to mention them. I believe in my
neighbors. I know their faults, and I know that their virtues far
outweigh their faults.
Take Father Michael down our road a piece. I'm not of his creed, but I
know that goodness and charity and loving kindness shine in his daily
actions. I believe in Father Mike. If I'm in trouble, I'll go to him.
My next-door neighbor is a veterinary doctor. Doc will get out of bed
after a hard day to help a stray cat. No fee - no prospect of a fee -
I
believe in Doc.
I believe in my townspeople. You can knock on any door in our town
saying, "I'm hungry," and you will be fed. Our town is no exception.
I've found the same ready charity everywhere. But for the one who
says,
"To heck with you - I got mine," there are a hundred, a thousand who
will
say, "Sure, pal, sit down."
I know that despite all warnings against hitchhikers I can step up to
the
highway, thumb for a ride and in a few minutes a car or a truck will
stop
and someone will say, "Climb in Mac - how far you going?"
I believe in my fellow citizens. Our headlines are splashed with crime
yet for every criminal there are 10,000 honest, decent, kindly men. If
it
were not so, no child would live to grow up. Business could not go on
from day to day. Decency is not news. It is buried in the
obituaries,
but is a force stronger than crime. I believe in the patient gallantry
of
nurses and the tedious sacrifices of teachers. I believe in the unseen
and unending fight against desperate odds that goes on quietly in
almost
every home in the land.
I believe in the honest craft of workmen. Take a look around you.
There
never were enough bosses to check up on all that work. From
Independence
Hall to the Grand Coulee Dam, these things were built level and square
by
craftsmen who were honest in their bones.
I believe that almost all politicians are honest ... there are
hundreds
of politicians, low paid or not paid at all, doing their level best
without thanks or glory to make our system work. If this were not true
we
would never have gotten past the 13 colonies.
I believe in Rodger Young. You and I are free today because of endless
unnamed heroes from Valley Forge to the Yalu River. I believe in - I
am
proud to belong to - the United States. Despite shortcomings from
lynchings to bad faith in high places, our nation has had the most
decent
and kindly internal practices and foreign policies to be found anywhere
in
history.
And finally, I believe in my whole race. Yellow, white, black, red,
brown. In the honesty, courage, intelligence, durability, and goodness
of
the overwhelming majority of my brothers and sisters everywhere on this
planet. I am proud to be a human being. I believe that we have come
this
far by the skin of our teeth. That we always make it just by the skin
of
our teeth, but that we will always make it. Survive. Endure. I
believe
that this hairless embryo with the aching, oversize brain case and the
opposable thumb, this animal barely up from the apes will endure. Will
endure longer than his home planet - will spread out to the stars and
beyond, carrying with him his honesty and his insatiable curiosity, his
unlimited courage and his noble essential decency.
This I believe.
Robert A. Heinlein, 1952.
Robert A. Heinlein wrote these words in 1952 and delivered them to a
national radio audience in a broadcast interview by Edward R. Murrow.
His
wife, Virginia Heinlein, read them when she accepted on his behalf
NASA's
Distinguished Public Service Medal on October 6, 1988, awarded him
posthumously.
--
I am not going to talk about religious beliefs but about matters so
obvious that it has gone out of style to mention them. I believe in my
neighbors. I know their faults, and I know that their virtues far
outweigh their faults.
Take Father Michael down our road a piece. I'm not of his creed, but I
know that goodness and charity and loving kindness shine in his daily
actions. I believe in Father Mike. If I'm in trouble, I'll go to him.
My next-door neighbor is a veterinary doctor. Doc will get out of bed
after a hard day to help a stray cat. No fee - no prospect of a fee -
I
believe in Doc.
I believe in my townspeople. You can knock on any door in our town
saying, "I'm hungry," and you will be fed. Our town is no exception.
I've found the same ready charity everywhere. But for the one who
says,
"To heck with you - I got mine," there are a hundred, a thousand who
will
say, "Sure, pal, sit down."
I know that despite all warnings against hitchhikers I can step up to
the
highway, thumb for a ride and in a few minutes a car or a truck will
stop
and someone will say, "Climb in Mac - how far you going?"
I believe in my fellow citizens. Our headlines are splashed with crime
yet for every criminal there are 10,000 honest, decent, kindly men. If
it
were not so, no child would live to grow up. Business could not go on
from day to day. Decency is not news. It is buried in the
obituaries,
but is a force stronger than crime. I believe in the patient gallantry
of
nurses and the tedious sacrifices of teachers. I believe in the unseen
and unending fight against desperate odds that goes on quietly in
almost
every home in the land.
I believe in the honest craft of workmen. Take a look around you.
There
never were enough bosses to check up on all that work. From
Independence
Hall to the Grand Coulee Dam, these things were built level and square
by
craftsmen who were honest in their bones.
I believe that almost all politicians are honest ... there are
hundreds
of politicians, low paid or not paid at all, doing their level best
without thanks or glory to make our system work. If this were not true
we
would never have gotten past the 13 colonies.
I believe in Rodger Young. You and I are free today because of endless
unnamed heroes from Valley Forge to the Yalu River. I believe in - I
am
proud to belong to - the United States. Despite shortcomings from
lynchings to bad faith in high places, our nation has had the most
decent
and kindly internal practices and foreign policies to be found anywhere
in
history.
And finally, I believe in my whole race. Yellow, white, black, red,
brown. In the honesty, courage, intelligence, durability, and goodness
of
the overwhelming majority of my brothers and sisters everywhere on this
planet. I am proud to be a human being. I believe that we have come
this
far by the skin of our teeth. That we always make it just by the skin
of
our teeth, but that we will always make it. Survive. Endure. I
believe
that this hairless embryo with the aching, oversize brain case and the
opposable thumb, this animal barely up from the apes will endure. Will
endure longer than his home planet - will spread out to the stars and
beyond, carrying with him his honesty and his insatiable curiosity, his
unlimited courage and his noble essential decency.
This I believe.
Robert A. Heinlein, 1952.