The secret of mastering change in today’s world is to reach back to old and proven principles, and to adapt them with imagination and intelligence to the new realities of a new age.
That is what we have done in the proposals that I have laid before the Congress. They are rooted in basic principles that are as enduring as human nature, as robust as the American experience; and they are responsive to new conditions. Thus they represent a spirit of change that is truly renewal.
As we look back at those old principles, we find them as timely as they are timeless.
We believe in independence, and self-reliance, and the creative value of the competitive spirit.
We believe in full and equal opportunity for all Americans and in the protection of individual rights and liberties.
We believe in the family as the keystone of the community, and in the community as the keystone of the Nation.
We believe in compassion toward those in need.
We believe in a system of law, justice, and order as the basis of a genuinely free society.
We believe that a person should get what he works for--and that those who can, should work for what they get.
We believe in the capacity of people to make their own decisions in their own lives, in their own communities--and we believe in their right to make those decisions.