0:00:22.067,0:00:24.134
Ladies and gentlemen,

0:00:24.134,0:00:29.513
I'm here representing[br]the element earth and Latvian identity.

0:00:29.991,0:00:33.480
And yet the person who stands before you

0:00:33.481,0:00:39.174
left her native city Riga at the age of 6

0:00:39.175,0:00:43.031
only to return to it at the age of 60

0:00:43.546,0:00:47.591
and to be elected president[br]8 months later.

0:00:47.592,0:00:52.633
President of a country without ever[br]having belonged to a political party,

0:00:53.496,0:00:57.865
without having undergone[br]an election campaign

0:00:57.866,0:01:01.735
which we normally think of[br]as a part of a democratic process,

0:01:02.104,0:01:06.488
without having spent a red cent[br]in election expenses,

0:01:06.489,0:01:10.116
[is] not exactly[br]your typical political path.

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However, the path that I did follow

0:01:16.028,0:01:20.583
has given me some unique[br]experiences and insights.

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And it is those[br]that I'd like to share with you,

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in spite of the fact[br]that the Earth on which I was born,

0:01:28.566,0:01:33.196
the ground that my feet[br]were treading for most of my life,

0:01:33.198,0:01:36.248
was not that of my native land,

0:01:36.249,0:01:41.609
but was scattered[br]across 6 different countries

0:01:41.610,0:01:44.070
on 3 different continents,

0:01:44.071,0:01:45.960
where in the course of time

0:01:45.961,0:01:49.830
I had to acquire 5 different languages

0:01:49.831,0:01:53.213
and drop a few on the way[br]which I didn't quite master.

0:01:54.432,0:01:58.581
How in all this strange pattern

0:01:58.582,0:02:02.399
could one become president of a country

0:02:02.400,0:02:05.483
and an expert in its identity

0:02:05.484,0:02:08.477
would seem like a paradox,

0:02:08.478,0:02:13.451
but, alas, it's but one of three[br]main patterns of identity

0:02:13.452,0:02:17.998
that the Latvian nation has developed

0:02:17.999,0:02:20.452
because of historical events

0:02:20.453,0:02:24.776
as a consequence of the Second World War.

0:02:24.777,0:02:29.918
After the first occupation[br]and the annexation by the Soviet Union,

0:02:29.919,0:02:32.289
the following Nazi occupation,

0:02:32.290,0:02:36.569
involvement of Latvians[br]in both sides of the warring parties

0:02:36.570,0:02:39.395
against international conventions,

0:02:39.396,0:02:42.476
and then three patterns developed.

0:02:42.477,0:02:45.846
Some, like my parents[br]and those of my husband,

0:02:45.847,0:02:50.658
left and went into exile[br]with their children, hoping to return

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when the international community[br]would ensure Latvia's independence again,

0:02:55.540,0:02:57.491
which of course did not happen.

0:02:57.492,0:03:00.111
Poor souls had never heard

0:03:00.112,0:03:04.261
of the protocols[br]of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact

0:03:04.262,0:03:08.422
and even less, of Yalta and Tehran[br]where the Allies had been involved.

0:03:09.462,0:03:14.701
The second pattern was of those[br]who were forcibly deported to Siberia.

0:03:14.702,0:03:19.370
Their lives have been documented[br]in films and documentaries;

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if you stay in Latvia,[br]you'll have the occasion to see

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during our Song Festival[br]which is upcoming in a few weeks.

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Finally, of course, the majority[br]of people stayed here in Latvia,

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but stayed here in a country[br]that was submitted to totalitarian rule,

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to a foreign occupation[br]and military presence,

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and an imposed ideology[br]and economic system.

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I speak mostly, of course,[br]from a perspective;

0:03:48.495,0:03:51.234
first of those who went into exile,

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but then of those[br]who returned and tried to heal

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the various separate parts of our nation,

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the branches that had been cut off[br]from the common tree,

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to remind them all that they do grow[br]from the same historical soil,

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the same past,[br]the same cultural traditions,

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and that those are the ones[br]that essentially give us our identity.

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But my own identity formation[br]was by no means an easy path,

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and this is why I spent[br]much of my spare time

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- apart, of course, from my career,[br]my academic career

0:04:28.013,0:04:34.031
as a loyal, contributing, and reasonably[br]successful Canadian academic -

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I spent much of my time[br]struggling to bring up my children,

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born abroad[br]from the Latvian point of view,

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born in Montreal,[br]native-born Canadians at that rate,

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and other:

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the children of many other Latvians[br]in different continents

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- South America, Australia,[br]Europe, the United States, Canada -

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to try and inculcate in them

0:05:00.266,0:05:04.431
a sense of what it means[br]to be a Latvian and why.

0:05:04.432,0:05:10.831
And I came to the conclusion[br]that identity is a complex process

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where being Latvian,

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or German, or American,[br]or Chinese, or anything whatever,

0:05:18.518,0:05:23.811
is only one of the layers[br]of something like an onion in your psyche,

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where each of you, each of us

0:05:28.557,0:05:33.356
are a part of many groups,

0:05:33.357,0:05:38.496
conglomerates, associations, identities.

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We belong to many, many people

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with whom we can identify[br]in a multiplicity of ways.

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We are in fact more like the bulb[br]of a lily than that of an onion.

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Lilies having these different scales,

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and those are part[br]of different aspects of our personality.

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But there are some essential elements[br]of identity that remain constant.

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One of them is what I call the automatic.

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The natural, as it were, identity[br]that the children acquire as they grow up

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and are socialized by their family,[br]by their immediate surroundings,

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the extended family if they have one,

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later kindergarten, school,

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the other children on the street,[br]society at large,

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and nowadays increasingly

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by the electronic media[br]of communication of various sorts.

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The child develops a sense of self.

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Each child looks in the mirror[br]and at some point says:

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"Ah, that is little Annie,"[br]or little Susie, or little Tommy.

0:06:50.207,0:06:53.740
They know that they recognize themselves,

0:06:53.741,0:06:56.915
and they acquire a sense of who they are.

0:06:56.916,0:07:01.225
But it's much later[br]that personal sense of belonging

0:07:01.226,0:07:05.015
- of belonging to mommy or daddy,[br]or grandma, or grandpa,

0:07:05.016,0:07:09.155
or of living on a certain street,[br]or in a certain countryside -

0:07:09.156,0:07:11.561
is extended to a larger group.

0:07:11.562,0:07:15.832
And this happens sooner or later[br]depending on the circumstances.

0:07:15.839,0:07:18.488
For my generation, as exile children,

0:07:18.489,0:07:23.748
when we first encountered children[br]belonging to different nationalities,

0:07:23.749,0:07:27.939
we developed what I have called[br]a reactive identity.

0:07:28.419,0:07:30.719
When somebody points their finger at you

0:07:30.734,0:07:34.134
and calls you a dirty foreigner,[br]or a dirty Polak, and you say:

0:07:34.135,0:07:36.900
"Hey, I'm not a Polak, I'm a Latvian,"

0:07:36.901,0:07:40.269
you realize who you are[br]whether you would like it or not.

0:07:40.769,0:07:42.014
Sometimes you like it

0:07:42.015,0:07:45.128
because they're ready to play with you[br]and they're quite friendly,

0:07:45.129,0:07:46.708
and sometimes you do not,

0:07:46.709,0:07:48.848
because they're ready[br]to throw stones at you,

0:07:48.849,0:07:50.848
run after you and try and beat you up.

0:07:50.849,0:07:54.208
And you discover[br]that not all people are equal,

0:07:54.209,0:07:59.248
and by much as among your own people,[br]you have some who, for instance,

0:07:59.249,0:08:04.078
- in my case, going to a Latvian school[br]in a refugee camp in Germany -

0:08:04.079,0:08:07.758
some are friendlier than others,[br]and so it is with foreigners.

0:08:07.759,0:08:10.508
But when I befriended[br]a little Estonian girl

0:08:10.509,0:08:12.953
who had a curious little knitted cap

0:08:12.954,0:08:17.123
with a geometric pattern[br]and a sort of crown on top,

0:08:17.124,0:08:21.558
- something like Anne Boleyn[br]if you can think of her portraits -

0:08:21.559,0:08:24.428
but a knitted cap with geometric designs,

0:08:24.429,0:08:28.098
I thought it was cute, and I asked her:[br]"How come you have such a cap,

0:08:28.099,0:08:30.858
and I see all these[br]other Estonian girls have such caps?"

0:08:30.859,0:08:32.488
I thought they were nice.

0:08:32.489,0:08:35.227
She said: "Well, Estonians wear them."

0:08:35.229,0:08:38.801
And when I asked my mother[br]could I get a cap like that,

0:08:38.802,0:08:43.058
my mother told me:[br]"Estonians wear them, Latvians do not."

0:08:43.058,0:08:45.895
It was as simple as that,[br]and much as I liked the cap,

0:08:45.896,0:08:48.395
I was told: "No, you're not an Estonian,

0:08:48.396,0:08:52.455
that is for Estonian girls,[br]Latvian girls do not wear them."

0:08:52.456,0:08:56.005
Later, in spreading[br]across the different continents

0:08:56.006,0:08:59.385
for refugee camps were closed in Germany,

0:08:59.386,0:09:03.826
there were many almost tragic stories,[br]certainly sad ones,

0:09:03.827,0:09:08.363
of little girls starting to go to school,[br]say, in Middle America,

0:09:08.364,0:09:10.773
and being told by their mothers

0:09:10.774,0:09:13.303
that decent little girls[br]when they go to school

0:09:13.304,0:09:17.103
must have long braids with ribbons

0:09:17.104,0:09:19.913
and dresses with white colours and cuffs.

0:09:19.914,0:09:22.892
When they arrived in school,[br]they were shocked to see

0:09:22.893,0:09:24.972
that everybody[br]was pointing fingers at them

0:09:24.973,0:09:29.493
and they were absolutely different[br]from the other girls in school.

0:09:29.503,0:09:33.542
When they told their mothers that's not[br]how American girls are dressing,

0:09:33.543,0:09:36.972
their mothers said: "But you are not[br]an American, you are a Latvian."

0:09:36.973,0:09:40.522
And the poor child[br]then had a choice to decide

0:09:40.523,0:09:44.012
whether to remain different[br]and obey mamma,

0:09:44.013,0:09:46.902
and remain within the Latvian community,

0:09:46.903,0:09:50.992
or to rebel as soon as[br]her age would allow it,

0:09:50.993,0:09:54.301
turn her back on Latvian society[br]and Latvian identity,

0:09:54.302,0:09:56.961
and forget about it[br]as quickly as she could.

0:09:56.962,0:09:58.965
What I spent my life doing

0:09:58.966,0:10:04.303
was trying to convince[br]young people of Latvian origin,

0:10:04.304,0:10:06.394
starting with my own children,

0:10:06.395,0:10:10.344
but also convincing myself[br]as I myself grew up

0:10:10.345,0:10:15.014
- since I did grow up abroad[br]and not in my native country -

0:10:15.015,0:10:19.271
that there was a third form of identity[br]which was a freely chosen one.

0:10:19.272,0:10:23.459
And that is the one where you realize[br]that belonging to a certain group

0:10:23.460,0:10:27.999
- be it an ethnic group,[br]a cultural heritage, a linguistic group -

0:10:28.000,0:10:32.208
you may define it in different ways,[br]but that what it does

0:10:32.209,0:10:36.408
it opens doors to you[br]that would otherwise be closed.

0:10:36.409,0:10:38.688
That learning the Latvian language

0:10:38.689,0:10:43.468
- practically you might say,[br]spoken by so few people across the world,

0:10:43.469,0:10:46.843
you'd be better off[br]learning Chinese, no doubt -

0:10:46.844,0:10:50.803
but for your identity[br]and for your sense of well-being,

0:10:50.804,0:10:55.283
for your roots being accessible to you,

0:10:55.284,0:11:00.101
for that sense of belonging[br]that comes from belonging to a community

0:11:00.102,0:11:04.151
in which you have birthrights,[br]- you belong to them by birthright -

0:11:04.152,0:11:08.501
that is something[br]that cannot be replaced by something else.

0:11:08.502,0:11:11.301
You can become a new Canadian,

0:11:11.302,0:11:14.861
an American naturalized citizen,

0:11:14.862,0:11:18.671
you can travel to many lands[br]and make a good living,

0:11:18.672,0:11:20.621
and marry a local person, and fit in.

0:11:20.622,0:11:22.691
And I have met many,[br]many Latvians who said:

0:11:22.692,0:11:25.771
"I married an American girl,[br]I fell in love with her,

0:11:25.772,0:11:30.253
but she did not like my going[br]with other Latvians

0:11:30.254,0:11:32.547
to various Latvian events,

0:11:32.548,0:11:35.867
she wanted me to turn my back[br]on them, and I thought to myself,

0:11:35.868,0:11:39.177
'But she's turning her back[br]on my identity.

0:11:39.178,0:11:41.745
She's turning her back on who I am'."

0:11:41.746,0:11:44.535
But who I am is not so easily defined.

0:11:44.536,0:11:49.355
One of the things that, I think,[br]defines who I am in that ethnic sense

0:11:49.356,0:11:51.662
is, of course, that cultural heritage

0:11:51.663,0:11:55.912
to which knowledge of language,[br]knowledge of history,

0:11:55.913,0:11:57.572
in our case, knowledge of folklore

0:11:57.573,0:12:00.482
- since that is a good part[br]of our heritage -

0:12:00.483,0:12:04.942
those are the riches[br]that are available to those

0:12:04.943,0:12:08.602
who open that door[br]of belonging to the Latvian nation

0:12:08.603,0:12:13.902
quite freely and without having[br]to make that forced choice.

0:12:13.903,0:12:19.504
Being different from the others,[br]one can blend in very easily.

0:12:19.505,0:12:20.624
When you're a Latvian,

0:12:20.625,0:12:23.964
in the great many countries[br]you can blend in very nicely,

0:12:23.965,0:12:26.154
nobody will ever know by looking at you

0:12:26.155,0:12:28.484
that you are a Latvian[br]or of Latvian origin.

0:12:28.485,0:12:29.684
But you can keep

0:12:29.685,0:12:32.684
- and this is what I tried to convince

0:12:32.685,0:12:38.108
the youngsters from various countries[br]that I came in contact with -

0:12:38.109,0:12:41.274
you can keep as it were[br]your secret garden:

0:12:41.275,0:12:44.264
that Latvian identity that is your own.

0:12:44.265,0:12:47.334
And that, of course,[br]we would be more than happy

0:12:47.335,0:12:49.874
to share with the rest of the world,

0:12:49.875,0:12:54.224
if somehow we could help them[br]to overcome the language barrier

0:12:54.225,0:12:57.838
and they could get to know[br]about what it has to offer.

0:12:57.839,0:13:01.418
In my own case, I have done that as well.

0:13:01.419,0:13:05.798
I have done my own[br]small efforts, if you like,

0:13:05.799,0:13:10.886
in terms of writing[br]scholarly articles and books

0:13:10.887,0:13:15.263
about the Latvian heritage,[br]about the Latvian identity,

0:13:15.264,0:13:19.226
and particularly about[br]what in our Latvian folk songs

0:13:19.227,0:13:24.026
makes them so extraordinary, so special,

0:13:24.027,0:13:28.878
and so worth getting acquainted with,[br]and so worth analyzing,

0:13:28.879,0:13:33.688
and entering into that international[br]non-material heritage

0:13:33.689,0:13:37.692
which UNESCO now for several years[br]has been recognizing.

0:13:39.249,0:13:42.848
For those of you who are in Latvia[br]for the next few weeks,

0:13:42.849,0:13:48.694
I quite recommend going[br]to the Latvian Song Festival,

0:13:48.695,0:13:51.949
watching it on television,[br]seeing it on video.

0:13:51.950,0:13:54.279
What we see in the Latvian Song Festival

0:13:54.280,0:13:59.719
is something that embodies[br]the tradition of singing

0:13:59.720,0:14:03.532
which had been[br]a pillar of Latvian identity

0:14:03.533,0:14:06.032
for a great many centuries,

0:14:06.033,0:14:09.722
before Latvia ever became a nation.

0:14:09.723,0:14:11.751
In the 19th century,

0:14:11.752,0:14:17.832
when Latvians were still largely[br]an oppressed class of society,

0:14:17.833,0:14:21.855
they started singing in choirs.

0:14:21.856,0:14:28.665
When the choirs got together regionally[br]and organized song festivals,

0:14:28.666,0:14:30.565
they came to realize

0:14:30.566,0:14:36.015
that one daughter was born in Riga[br]and another was born in Valmiera,

0:14:36.016,0:14:38.045
but they were singing the same song,

0:14:38.046,0:14:41.795
and they asked themselves the question[br]that one of the folk songs asks:

0:14:41.796,0:14:44.545
"Are they daughters of the same mother?"

0:14:44.546,0:14:46.755
And yes, they are daughters[br]of the same mother

0:14:46.756,0:14:48.516
who is the Latvian nation.

0:14:48.986,0:14:53.675
The singing and the coming together[br]was one element that allowed them

0:14:53.676,0:14:57.226
to become conscious[br]of this Latvian identity.

0:14:57.700,0:15:00.789
It allowed them[br]to become conscious of the riches

0:15:00.790,0:15:03.772
that that identity offered them

0:15:03.773,0:15:07.356
quite apart from the condescension,

0:15:08.366,0:15:13.330
and, in fact, the denigration[br]that they had frequently suffered

0:15:13.331,0:15:17.990
at the hands of those who had occupied[br]the upper levels of society

0:15:17.991,0:15:21.261
in the various occupying forces[br]over the centuries.

0:15:21.571,0:15:27.170
The Latvians recovered[br]their sense of pride in themselves,

0:15:27.171,0:15:31.533
not just their sense of an awareness[br]of themselves as a nation.

0:15:32.797,0:15:35.856
And through that awareness, they realized

0:15:35.857,0:15:39.246
that they as a nation have the rights

0:15:39.247,0:15:42.955
that belong to nations worldwide.

0:15:42.965,0:15:45.894
And in many ways[br]this coming together and singing

0:15:45.895,0:15:48.534
led to the thought[br]of Latvian independence,

0:15:48.535,0:15:51.074
the creation of an independent[br]Latvian nation,

0:15:51.075,0:15:57.114
and the tradition that managed to survive[br]through various foreign occupations,

0:15:57.115,0:16:00.754
through various imposed ideologies,

0:16:00.755,0:16:06.884
that managed to survive in Australia,[br]America, in Europe elsewhere,

0:16:06.885,0:16:10.184
behind the Iron Curtain,[br]on the other side,

0:16:11.104,0:16:14.699
the tradition helped us to maintain

0:16:14.700,0:16:19.209
our sense of roots, our link with a past,

0:16:19.210,0:16:23.951
the sense of inheritance and entitlement

0:16:23.952,0:16:26.873
that being Latvian meant to us.

0:16:26.874,0:16:31.848
And this sense of entitlement,[br]of course, makes us also fully European.

0:16:32.258,0:16:36.077
This is why as a president[br]I worked so hard to ensure

0:16:36.078,0:16:39.178
that Latvia became a member[br]of the European Union.

0:16:39.688,0:16:43.584
This is why since leaving office[br]as president I have been

0:16:43.585,0:16:47.414
such an ardent promoter[br]of European unity.

0:16:47.415,0:16:50.804
But I must say that in addition to that,

0:16:50.805,0:16:56.414
I find that from my experience[br]as president of a nation

0:16:56.415,0:17:02.634
that I have acquired insights[br]that are welcome elsewhere in the world,

0:17:02.635,0:17:07.334
and I'm part of at least 3 different clubs[br]and of great many organizations

0:17:07.335,0:17:09.634
that have an international remit,

0:17:09.635,0:17:12.714
that worry about the condition of women,

0:17:12.714,0:17:17.074
that worry about transitions[br]to democracy in various countries,

0:17:17.075,0:17:21.284
and I find myself now[br]with my Latvian identity

0:17:22.294,0:17:25.357
laboring in the Lord's vineyards

0:17:25.358,0:17:28.837
which are really those[br]of a citizen of the world.

0:17:28.838,0:17:34.127
So that having returned[br]like Ulysses to the land of my birth,

0:17:34.128,0:17:39.297
having been able to truly express[br]my Latvian identity

0:17:39.298,0:17:44.497
in a way that being born here[br]should've predestined me for,

0:17:44.498,0:17:49.667
I find myself also becoming[br]a very ardent European,

0:17:49.668,0:17:54.706
but, most of all, I find[br]that all these experiences,

0:17:54.707,0:17:58.956
those of my nation,[br]those of myself as an individual,

0:17:58.957,0:18:04.866
those of my compatriots who suffered[br]by being deported or otherwise repressed,

0:18:04.867,0:18:06.636
all those sufferings,

0:18:06.637,0:18:11.176
that other nations both in Europe[br]and elsewhere have gone through,

0:18:11.177,0:18:14.776
have contributed in each case

0:18:14.777,0:18:19.141
to developing our own sense of humanity.

0:18:19.752,0:18:22.491
And I would leave you with this thought

0:18:22.492,0:18:27.081
that be your identity what it may,

0:18:27.082,0:18:30.792
it must start with a sense[br]of your intrinsic value

0:18:31.432,0:18:34.611
as a person, as a human being,

0:18:34.612,0:18:37.799
as a citizen of the world,

0:18:37.800,0:18:40.269
as a member of the human race.

0:18:40.270,0:18:44.875
It is this belonging, this sense[br]of brotherhood or sisterhood

0:18:44.876,0:18:48.839
with people who may look[br]entirely different from you,

0:18:48.840,0:18:51.799
who have different values at times,

0:18:51.800,0:18:54.449
certainly different experiences,

0:18:54.450,0:19:00.772
but who after all have the same life path[br]that any human being has.

0:19:01.492,0:19:04.990
From birth through development,

0:19:04.991,0:19:10.040
growth, a career, experiences,[br]joys and sufferings,

0:19:10.041,0:19:13.490
and then, of course, we leave[br]the stage as Shakespeare says,

0:19:13.491,0:19:15.990
having been but actors on the stage.

0:19:15.991,0:19:20.098
I wish you all to spend your life

0:19:20.099,0:19:23.458
looking for that solid ground[br]under your feet,

0:19:23.459,0:19:26.188
which is what your identity gives you.

0:19:26.189,0:19:30.628
And remember, you don't have[br]just one of them, you have many,

0:19:30.629,0:19:35.332
and constantly, in the course[br]of your life, you keep having choices.

0:19:35.333,0:19:39.487
You can construct who you are[br]and who you want to be.

0:19:39.488,0:19:41.518
Godspeed to you all.

0:19:42.675,0:19:44.405
(Applause)