And that’s why we can never sacrifice them for expedience’s sake. That’s why I’ve ordered the closing of the detention center in Guantanamo Bay. (Applause.) That’s why I can stand here today and say without equivocation or exception that the United States of America does not and will not torture. (Applause.)
The second way that we can turn challenge into opportunity is through our persistence in the face of difficulty. In an age of instant gratification, it’s tempting to believe that every problem can and should be solved in the span of a week. When these problems aren’t solved, we conclude that our efforts to solve them must have been in vain. But that’s not how progress is made. Progress is slow. It comes in fits and starts, because we try and we fail and then we try something else. And when there are setbacks and disappointments we keep going. We hold firm to our core values, and we hold firm to our faith in one another.
The third reason we know that we can change this world is because of men and women like the young people who are here today. Each time we find ourselves at a crossroads, paralyzed by worn debates and stale thinking, the old ways of doing things, a new generation rises up and shows the way forward. As Robert Kennedy once told a crowd of students in South Africa, “It is a revolutionary world that we live in, and thus, it is young people who must take the lead.” (Applause.) Because young people are unburdened by the biases or prejudices of the past. That is a great privilege of youth. But it’s also a tremendous responsibility because it is you who must ultimately decide what we do with this incredible moment in history.
We just emerged from an era marked by irresponsibility, and it would be easy to choose the path of selfishness or apathy, of blame or division. But that is a danger that we cannot afford. The challenges are too great. It is a revolutionary world that we live in, and history shows us that we can do improbable, sometimes impossible things. We stand here in a city that used to stand at the center of European conflict; only now it is the center of European union. We did that together. Now we must not give up on one another. We must renew this relationship for a new generation, in a new century. We must hold firm to our common values, hold firm to our faith in one another. Together, I’m confident that we can achieve the promise of a new day.