VARIETY CLUBS INTERNATIONAL

YOUR SERENE HIGHNESSES (GRACE AND RAINIER), YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS
(PRINCE CHARLES), MR. HALL, MR. FRANKOVICH, DISTINGUISHED
GUESTS, FRIENDS :

NANCY AND I THANK YOU WARMLY FOR YOUR GRACIOUS AND SPLENDID
HOSPITALITY, IN THIS MAGNIFICIENT SETTING, IN THE DISTINGUISHED
COMPANY OF SO MANY FRIENDS, AND SO MANY PEOPLE WE HAVE LONG ADMIRED,

I AM DEEPLY MOVED BY THE HONOUR YOU HAVE BESTOWED UPON ME; THE ROSTER
OF DISTINGUISHED MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE RECEIVED YOUR HUMANITARIAN
AWARD IN THE PAST IS INSPIRING. THEY INCLUDE GREAT
STATESMEN WHO HAVE SHAPED OUR POLITICAL LIVES, THINKERS WHO HAVE
BROADENED OUR HORIZONS, HUMANITARIANS WHO HAVE ENRICHED OUR CONSCIOUS-
NESS. THEY TESTIFY TO THE POWER AND THE REACH OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT. THEY
REMIND US THAT ALL GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS OF MANKIND WERE DREAMS BEFORE
THEY BECAME REALITIES; THAT THE VISIONARIES ARE THE ULTIMATE REALISTS.

WHEN THE SCOPE FOR CREATIVE ACTION IS GREATEST, THE KNOWLEDGE ON WHICH TO BASE SUCH ACTION IS AT A MINIMUM. WHEN KNOWLEDGE EXISTS, THE OPPORTUNITY FOR CREATIVE ACTION HAS USUALLY DISSAPEARED. TO TAKE AN EXAMPLE FROM POLITICAL HISTORY, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EASY IN 1936 TO RESIST HITLER, BUT HAD IT BEEN DONE, THE WORLD WOULD STILL DEBATE WHETHER HE WAS A MISUNDERSTOOD NATIONALIST OR A MANIAC BENT ON WORLD DOMINATION. BY 1941, EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD THAT THEY WERE DEALING WITH A MANIAC, BUT THE KNOWLEDGE WAS PURCHASED AT THE COST OF TENS OF MILLIONS OF LIVES. SO THE LEADER IN ANY FIELD MUST BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN VISION AND EXPERIENCE, BETWEEN HIS INTUITION OF THE FUTURE AND THE PRESSURES OF THE PRESENT.

VARIETY, CONNECTED AS IT IS WITH THE ARTS, UNDERSTANDS BETTER THAN ALMOST ANY OTHER GROUP THE LONELINESS OF THE CREATIVE ACT, THE AWSOME CHALLENGE OF REPEATING IT IN EVER CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES, WHEN ONE SUCCESS NEVER GUARANTEES THAT IT CAN BE REPEATED.

I AM HONOURED TO RECEIVE AN AWARD GIVEN ALSO TO THREE OF MY PREDECESSORS IN MY OLD POST AS SECRETARY OF STATE. FOR NEVER HAS MORE DEPENDED SO MUCH ON ONE COUNTRY. WITHOUT AMERICAN VIGILENCE THERE CAN BE NO SECURITY, WITHOUT OUR COMMITMENT THERE CAN BE NO PROGRESS, WITHOUT OUR DEDICATION THERE CAN BE NO HOPE. AND WE CANNOT DO WHAT IS NECESSARY ALONE. WE NEED THE INSPIRATION AND SUPPORT OF OUR OLD AND VALUED FRIENDS, ESPECIALLY IN EUROPE, WHO SHARE OUR VALUES AND WHOSE FORTITUDE AND COURAGE PRESERVED OUR FREEDOM IN TWO DESPERATE STRUGGLES IN THIS CENTURY. AND IN THIS CONNECTION, I WOULD LIKE TO PAY TRIBUTE TO OUR GREAT FRIEND TO WHOM ALL FREE PEOPLES OWE SO MUCH - THE GALLANT AND DISTINGUISHED LORD MOUNTBATTEN OF BURMA.

IN RECENT YEARS, SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE ON MANY TRADITIONAL GOALS OF DIPLOMACY, FROM REDUCING THE DANGERS OF GLOBAL WAR TO BUILDING THE FOUNDATION OF PEACEFUL INTERNATIONAL ORDER, AND TO EASING REGIONAL CONFLICTS. BUT THESE ACHIEVEMENTS ONLY SERVE TO UNDERLINE THAT A TIME OF UNPARALLELLED TECHNICAL PROGRESS HAS ALSO REFINED THE TOOLS OF OPPRESSION. MAN'S CAPACITY TO INFlict SUFFERING HAS UNFORTUNATELY KEPT PACE WITH HIS PRODUCTIVE CAPACITY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH. THE GREATEST CHALLENGE OF OUR PERIOD IS TO FOSTER A NEW AWARENESS OF OUR COMMON DESTINY AS HUMAN BEEINGS.

WE MUST NEVER FORGET THAT MAN IS THE MEASURE OF ALL WE DO. WE MUST NEVER FALL INTO THE HANDS OF SOULLESS BUREAUCRATS WHO APPLY THEIR REGULATIONS WITHOUT LOVE OR HATRED, MECHANICALLY, AND THEREFORE INHUMANELY. WE MUST LEAVE ROOM FOR COMPASSION AND GENEROSITY.

THE ABOLITION OF SUFFERING AND THE POSSIBILITY OF THE GOOD LIFE HAVE BEEN THE ANCIENT DREAMS OF MANKIND. FOR MILLENIA IT HAS BEEN A MIRAGE. THE MODERN AGE, FOR THE FIRST TIME, HAS FURNISHED US THE TOOLS TO MAKE IT A REALITY.

IT HAS BECOME PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE TO OVERCOME OPPRESSION, DISEASE, AND ECONOMIC BACKWARDNESS; HENCE, OUR CONSCIENCE MAKES IT ALSO OUR DUTY TO ACCOMPLISH IT.

ALL OVER THE WORLD, A GREAT HUMAN DRAMA IS TAKING PLACE. NEW NATIONS STRUGGLE, AGAINST VAST OBSTACLES, TO LIFT THEMSELVES FROM POVERTY AND DESPAIR TO TAKE THEIR PLACE IN THE WORLD COMMUNITY AND TO REALISE THE POTENTIAL OF THEIR PEOPLE. THEY SOMETIMES CHOOSE METHODS OF CONFRONTATION WHICH WE MUST RESIST. YET WE MUST NEVER FORGET THAT A WORLD IN WHICH A FEW NATIONS ARE ISLANDS OF WEALTH IN A SEA OF MISERY IS A SEED BED OF UPHEAVAL.

ALMOST ALL THE INDUSTRIAL NATIONS FACE DOMESTIC CRISES CAUSED IN PART BY
THE EFFORTS TO FIND SIGNIFICANCE IN LIFE AMIDST THE HUMDRUM ROUTINE OF
THE MODERN AGE. GOVERNMENTS HAVE BEGUN TO DEAL WITH THESE ESSENTIALLY HUMAN
PROBLEMS. FROM THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS TO THE FINAL ACT OF THE
HELSINKI CONFERENCE, THE FATES OF INDIVIDUAL MEN AND WOMEN HAVE TURNED INTO A
COMPELLING SUBJECT OF INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION.

THE WORLD COMMUNITY
HAS LEARNED TO RUSH DISASTER RELIEF TO ALEVIATE SUFFERING IN THE WAKE OF
CATASTROPHE; IT HAS SOUGHT TO CONQUER DISEASE AND TO SPREAD HYGIENE AND
MEDICAL SKILLS. ADVANCES HAVE BEEN MADE IN INTERNATIONAL LAW TO PROTECT
PRISONNERS OF WAR; EFFORTS - SO FAR MUCH TOO INADEQUATE - ARE UNDERWAY TO
COMBAT TERRORISM AND ABOLISH TORTURE. INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS EXIST TO
PROMOTE EDUCATION, TO SPREAD SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AMONG ALL NATIONS, TO
PROTECT THE ECOLOGY AND WILDLIFE, AND TO PRESERVE THE CULTURAL HERITAGE
OF MANKIND.

IN SHORT, STATESMEN HAVE HAD TO RAISE THEIR SIGHTS FROM THEIR TRADITIONAL,
SUBJECT MATTERS - SECURITY, PEACE, ECONOMIC RELATIONS - TO THE
DRAMA OF HUMAN EXISTANCE, AND FROM NATIONS AND REGIONS TO THE HOPES AND
DREAMS OF INDIVIDUALS.

THIS IS WHY THIS GROUP IS SO IMPORTANT. ORGANIZATIONS LIKE YOURS HAVE OFTEN BEEN FAR AHEAD OF ORGANIZED EFFORTS BY GOVERNMENTS, THEY HAVE ACTED AS THE CONSCIENCE OF MANKIND. EVEN TODAY, THERE ARE MANY AREAS WHERE PRIVATE EFFORTS DO THE JOB BETTER, REACH PEOPLE'S NEEDS MORE DIRECTLY, AND TOUCH PEOPLE'S HEARTS MORE SPONTANEOUSLY AND COMPASSIONATELY THAN ACTS OF GOVERNMENTS CAN EVER HOPE TO DO.

VARIETY'S WORK IS A LIVING REMINDER THAT OUR BASIC CONCERN MUST BE THE INDIVIDUAL HIMSELF, THE DOWN-TO-EARTH REALITY OF WHETHER A CHILD EATS OR STARVES, LIVES OR DIES.

EVEN WHILE DIPLOMATS ARE STILL CONFINED BY NATIONAL BOUNDARIES - YOU, IN VARIETY, REFLECT THE REALITY OF HUMAN INTERDEPENDENCE. THE SCOPE OF YOUR HUMANE WORK IS GLOBAL. YOU HAVE NO POLITICAL POSTURE, NO COLOUR LINE, NO RELIGIOUS IDENTIFICATION, NO IDEOLOGY TO VINDICATE - SAVE THAT EVERY HUMAN LIFE IS PRECIOUS. YOU GO VOLUNTARILY WHEREVER THERE ARE CHILDREN WHO NEED YOU. YOU HAVE REMEMBERED THAT PAIN IS UNIVERSAL AND THAT HOPE UNITES US ALL BEYOND BOUNDARIES AND POLITICAL DIVISIONS.

YOUR RESEARCH CENTERS, YOUR HOSPITALS AND CLINICS, YOUR FUND-RAISING
EFFORTS ARE A TRIBUTE TO WHAT MEN AND WOMEN, INSPIRED BY AN IDEAL, ARE
CAPABLE OF ACCOMPLISHING. IN YOUR HALF CENTURY OF EXISTENCE YOU HAVE
RAISED NEARLY A THIRD OF A BILLION DOLLARS FOR YOUR GLOBAL EFFORTS. YOUR
PROJECTS REACH EVERY CONTINENT, EVERY CLASS, EVERY RACE, AFFIRMING THE
COMMON DESTINY OF MANKIND. YOUR SUNSHINE COACHES TRAVEL MORE THAN 15
MILLION MILES A YEAR, BRINGING CHEER TO SHUT-IN CHILDREN IN THE ANDES OF
SOUTH AMERICA, ON THE JUNGLE ROADS OF AFRICA, IN GREAT BRITAIN, IN IRELAND,
IN CANADA, IN INDIA, IN MEXICO, IN FRANCE, IN HOLLAND, IN DENMARK, IN
GREECE, IN ISRAEL, IN YUGOSLAVIA, AND IN THE UNITED STATES. YOUR INSTITUTIONS ARE COMBATING CANCER, CRIPPLING DISEASES, MENTAL RETARDATION, RHEUMATIC FEVER, HEART DISEASES AND OTHER DREAD AFFLICTIONS THAT TORMENT CHILDREN. AND YOU ARE AN ARMY OF VOLUNTEERS, WHOSE ONLY REWARD IS IN HELPING CHILDREN AND WHOSE SOLE INSPIRATION IS THE INHERENT VALUE OF HUMAN LIFE.

I THANK YOU FOR THE HONOUR YOU HAVE BESTOWED UPON ME, AND I PAY TRIBUTE
TO YOU, FOR YOUR EFFORT AND YOUR EXAMPLE.