Speech on Peace and Global Unity

I speak of peace therefore

as the necessary rational end

of rational men.

I realize the pursuit of peace

is not as dramatic

as the pursuit of war,

and frequently the words of the pursuers

fall on deaf ears,

but we have no more urgent task. Let us not be blind to our

differences,

but let us also direct attention to our common interests

and the means by which those differences can be resolved.

And 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 small planet.

We all breathe the same air.

We all cherish our children's futures, and we are all mortal.

And that is the most important topic on earth,

peace.

What kind of a peace do I mean, and what kind of a peace do we seek?

Not a Pax Americana

enforced on the world by American weapons of war.

Not the peace of the grave

or the security of the slave.

I am talking about genuine peace,

the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living,

and the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope

and build a better life for their children.

Not merely peace for Americans,

but peace for all men and women.

Not merely peace in our time,

peace in all time.

And what is amazing, absolutely amazing,

is that Khrushchev heard it,

was carried away,

summoned the U.S. envoy, Kennedy's

envoy to Moscow, Avril Harriman,

and said, this is the finest speech by an American

president since

FDR. I want to make peace with your president.