Remarks at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia

As I'm sure all of you have surmised, coming back to Georgia and to this setting returns to me overwhelming memories of my past. As I sat here on this delightful day, I was reminded of the cottonfields in Sumter County during August when I was a boy, but Emory has added a new dimension—I particularly appreciate this delightful, insulated robe that they've provided for me to give this speech. [Laughter]

President Laney, I'm delighted to be here on your campus and the campus of the faculty and students and the alumni of a great university. It's always good to go to a college campus and know that the president is popular. I was overwhelmed with the degree of popularity when, at the luncheon which I attended—not quite long enough to eat—President Laney got almost as much applause when they mentioned his name as when they mentioned the name of Coca-Cola. [Laughter] That is my tribute, indeed.

My good friend Chairman D. W. Brooks reminded me of my stature as President. He talked about fishing, and then he was kind enough to mention rabbits in the same comment. [Laughter]

He joined with Chairman Henry Bowden in pointing out that when he had been to have lunch with me at the White House, that he had always had just a sandwich. And Henry Bowden pointed out that I had not changed my habits, that when he had lunch with me the last week that I was Governor, he also had just a sandwich. [Laughter]

Bishop Cannon did much better. As you can well imagine, being the gracious man of God that he is, he did not overlook an opportunity to pay true tribute to the highest elected officer of our land. He carefully chose, among all the events of my past, my interview with Playboy and described it— [laughter] —with some degree of relish and enthusiasm. It was indeed a delightful lunch for me.

I'm truly honored by Emory, an institution which, to a Christian, cannot fail but have a special meaning, an institution which is great in its own right, which is dynamic in its attitude toward the present and the future, an institution which, in a modern, fast-changing, technological world, would set aside the time and invite the President to a special occasion, that is, the dedication of a church, a place to worship God.

I'm going to make my speech brief. Former Attorney General Griffin Bell has given me a report, which may be apocryphal, about an event in the life of John Wesley. When asked what estate he would leave for posterity, he replied, "Just four silver teaspoons, and the Methodist Church." One of the persistent and most difficult challenges in our lives is to balance values, the transient against the permanent, and the less important against those which are vital.

In breaking ground for the William R. Cannon Chapel and Religious Center, we honor the things in life that are most precious, things that cannot be seen and which cannot be measured. We can measure the grandeur of a person's house or the size of a bank account or the acreage of one's land, or how fast one's net worth increases each year. We tend to dwell too much on such things, for they tell us very little about the real meaning of life. For that, we must turn to things which cannot be seen or which cannot be measured, to things like honesty, integrity, the strength of conscience, the love of God, service to others, humility, wisdom.

These things are invisible. They're beyond measurement, but they comprise life's true wealth. In these things, Bishop Billy Cannon is a very rich man, and his life has also brought richness and meaning to the lives of thousands of others, including my own.

I happen to be a Baptist, but I've been surrounded by Methodists all my life-my mother, my wife, some people. And when I was enjoying the highest official day of my life, being inaugurated as President of the United States of America, I chose, to give the invocation, a Georgian, Bishop Billy Cannon.

What's true in measuring values for an individual is also true for a nation. We can measure gross national product, imports and exports, the growth of industry and manufacturing. We can see with our own eyes how many tanks we have, how many nuclear warheads in our arsenal. We can be thankful for such strength and grateful for material blessings. But we know that these are not the most important characteristics of a nation's life. They do not hold us together as a unique people. They are not the essence of what makes us Americans.

The real meaning of America is not encompassed in the material wealth and the military power of our country, for we know that wealth and power can be a potential for evil as well as for good. We measure the real meaning of America, as in a human life, in our intangible values, values which do not change—our care for one another, our commitment to human freedom, our search for justice, our devotion to human rights and to world peace and the patriotism and the basic goodness of the people of our Nation.

These qualities cannot be measured. They're invisible. Yet, these are the true strengths of America which channel our wealth and our strength, not for evil, but for good.

These are the things that have drawn so many oppressed and friendless people to our shores and that have made America a beacon of freedom for millions of people around the world who have never met an American face to face. And these are the qualities that give hope and moral sustenance to many here at home in our own country for whom the ideals of America are still imperfectly realized-the poor among us, the minorities, those who may not speak English, those who lack proper education or adequate health care or who have talents which are yet unawakened.

We are the greatest and, I believe, the most free nation on Earth. Yet all of us know that we still have a long journey ahead before the powerful, transcendent ideals of America are fully translated into reality in the daily lives of all people in our country.

But if the history of America shows anything, it shows that America is capable of change. America is capable of change because we have the courage and because the conscience of America is strong.

All of the great movements of American history, from the Revolution to the abolition of slavery, from the struggle for women's suffrage to the peaceful crusade for civil rights in our own generation, all these movements and others like them have called upon the conscience of America. And we have found that because of that conscience, America changes, America makes progress, America comes ever closer to the realization of the majestic ideals on which this country was founded.

The conscience of America is rooted in its institutions and it's rooted in the ethics of the Judeo-Christian tradition. That tradition has many expressions, but within our religions, it's not enough. It's also rooted in our secular life as well, and that gap can constantly be bridged by human beings who search for the correlation of the two. It's varied expressions are as diverse as we American people ourselves, but underlying that diversity is a basic unity of belief and purpose.

I've spoken recently of a crisis of confidence in this country and a need for unity. Of course, we are proud of our diversity. Our pluralistic society is an important source of vitality and creativity of American life. And I would guess that the American society is the most diverse in the entire world. But we must not permit diversity to degenerate into division.

In a time of trial, we must not permit the legitimate contest of competing views to become a war of group against group, special .interest against special interest, and finally, each of us against all the others.

The motto of our country, as you know, is "E Pluribus Unum"—"Out of Many, One." We must, of course, continue to cherish the many—but the multifaceted nature of our people is exemplified in many. But in this time of crisis, both material and spiritual, we must learn to place greater emphasis on the "one"—on the shared values and the shared interests that unite us. For in a varied nation like our own, those transcendent values and that concern for the common good are the sole and indispensable basis for harmony and social cohesion.

In international councils, we can share with others this vision of a common humanity based on humanistic views.

I'm very sorry that Andrew Young, as President of the United Nations Security Council, was called back today to New York and was not able to be with us. He went to the United Nations 2 1/2 years ago at a time when many countries, especially in the developing world, looked upon the United States with fear and mistrust. His work has helped millions of poor and oppressed people throughout the world to understand that we support their longing for justice and for a better life.

He speaks from the heart, he speaks out of a deep commitment, he speaks out of religious conscience, and he speaks with a preacher's eloquence. The commitment to social justice and human rights that Andy Young has brought to his work as an American diplomat will continue to guide us in the months and years ahead.

As Andy leaves the United Nations, our common task as Americans is to look ahead with a sense of caring and concern for the social fabric of our own Nation and for the more peaceful, more fair, and more just world around us.

Controversial and sensitive issues must continue to be addressed with courage by our Government. Every American has a right, even a duty, to debate all public issues, including issues of foreign policy. Open debate and the free exchange of ideas are the heart and the soul of our political system. But differing political views, when and if they do exist, must not become the occasion for deep and damaging divisions between groups of citizens in our country.

Black Americans and Jewish Americans have worked side by side for generations in the service of human rights, social justice, and the general welfare. Both groups have a particular call on the conscience of each other and on the conscience of all of us. Both groups have suffered too much pain, too much persecution, too much bigotry to compound that suffering in any way. And both groups are part of something larger—the totality that we call America.

I spoke earlier of the need for unity, for a greater emphasis on the oneness of our Nation. Many nations today, as we well know, are in danger of being torn apart by ethnic divisions, by political rivalries, and by religious conflicts. We must seek resolution of differences, and we must stand with each other to prevent all these quarrels of the world from being imported into our own national life.

With the guidance of God we can be successful in this search for the accommodation of differences. We in the United States have learned to accommodate the diversity of our people, because all of us hold fast to our common identity, our identity as Americans. It's especially important to do that today, for we live in a time of wrenching change.

As we strive to meet the challenges of the energy crisis and of inflation, as we search for peace in a nuclear age, we must shape our national life in the light of those fundamental principles which do not change.

The well-known historian Arnold Toynbee teaches that civilizations grow in a rhythm of challenge and response, challenge and response. When civilizations reach their highest goals, he said, it's difficult decisions, difficult conditions rather than easy conditions that produce great achievements. And Toynbee further holds that great nations most often fail and fall not because of material weaknesses, but because of complacency and a failure to meet new challenges creatively.

I do not fear for the future of the United States. If there is one thing we are not, it's complacent. If sometimes we are confused, if sometimes we think we may have lost our way temporarily, it's because we are struggling to apply our transcendent values to new challenges of awesome complexity which no other peoples on Earth have been able to meet successfully. We are most likely in the forefront. The basic strength and creativity of our values remain undiminished, and as long as our national roots are imbedded in that rich soil, we prosper and we will triumph.

Throughout our history—I would like to say in closing—crisis has been the occasion for rethinking, for redirection, and resurgence. In the early and middle years of the 1700's, much of Western civilization languished in a crisis of the spirit. War and social upheaval had robbed many people of both will and purpose.

In the midst of that widespread moral depression came an international spiritual revival lead by men like John and Charles Wesley and George Whitefield. The subsequent moral upsurge began in the churches; they spilled over into the streets and found lodging in political movements in Europe and here among the American colonies.

Out of that movement of the spirit, based on spiritual things in the colonies, came our independence. The effect was so profound that years later John Adams would write, and I quote from him, "What do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and the hearts of the people-a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations....This radical change," he said, "in the principles, opinions, sentiments and affections of the people—that was the real American Revolution."

That crisis brought awakening; awakening brought creative and fresh directions. I pray that from our present material and spiritual crises, which are well recognized, that there may come a new sense of awakening and a new pursuit of more fulfilling ways to live and to work together as Americans.

Let us confess our failures; let us marshal our inner resources and move on, upward. If we are guided by the best of our common mandates, renewal of American spirit will come.

We in America will find a way to solve our material problems, and as we do, we can rejuvenate the spirit and the confidence of our country. And then may history record that our generation of Americans heeded the words that you have just heard in Isaiah 61—that we brought good tidings to the afflicted, proclaimed liberty to captives and comfort to all who mourn, that we repaired the ruined cities and the desolations of many generations, and that through us the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

That's my prayer. I know it's yours.

Thank you very much.