Thank You So Much Thank You

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thank you

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thank you so much thank you

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thank you very much

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thank you please please have seat thank

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you Chicago

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hello Greece that's us

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got a spitter

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to the government and the people of

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Greece including Prime Minister tsipras

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who I thanked for his partnership and

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for being here along with so many young

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people the future of Greece I want to

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thank you for your warm and generous

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welcome as many of you know this is my

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final trip overseas as president the

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United States and I was determined on my

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last trip to come to Greece

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partly because I've heard about the

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legendary hospitality of the Greek

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people your if you look Sonia

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partly because I had to see the

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Acropolis and the Parthenon but also

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because I came here with gratitude for

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all that Greece this small great world

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has given to humanity through the ages

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our hearts have been moved by the

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tragedies of aeschylus and Euripides our

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minds have been opened by the histories

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of Herodotus and Thucydides our

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understanding of the world and our place

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in it has been expanded by Socrates and

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Aristotle in the United States were

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especially grateful for the friendship

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of so many proud Greek Americans in my

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hometown of Chicago you can find them in

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Greek town with their food sanella

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and together we've celebrated Greek

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independence day at the White House

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we've had some spanakopita and some ouzo

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Greek Americans have worn the uniform to

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keep our country free Greek Americans

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have marched with dr. Martin Luther King

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jr. to make us more just Greek or

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American we're all cheering for Yanis

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attenti kupo who's

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who seems to be getting better each year

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and if anyone seeks an example of our

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shared spirit our resilience they need

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to look no further than New York City

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near Ground Zero where the Greek

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Orthodox Church of st. Nicholas once in

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ruins is now rising again most of all

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we're indebted to Greece for the the

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most precious of gifts the truth the

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understanding that as individuals of

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free will we have the right and the

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capacity to govern ourselves for

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or was here 25 centuries ago in the

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rocky hills of this city that a new idea

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emerged Democrat Thea Caracas cantos the

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power the right to rule comes from

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Themis the people the notion that we are

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citizens not servants but stewards of

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our society the concept of citizenship

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that we have both rights and

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responsibilities the belief in equality

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before the law not just for a few but

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for the many not just for the majority

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but also the minority these are all

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concepts that grew out of this rocky

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soil of course the earliest forms of

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democracy here in Athens were far from

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perfect just as the early forms of

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democracy in the United States were far

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from perfect the rights of ancient

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Athens were not extended to women or to

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slaves but Pericles explained our

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Constitution favors the many instead of

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the few this is why it is called a

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democracy Athenians also knew that

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however noble ideas alone were not

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enough to have meaning principles must

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be enshrined in laws and protected by

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institutions and advanced through civic

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participation and so they gathered in a

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great assembly to debate and decide

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affairs of state each citizen with the

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right to speak casting their vote with a

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show of hands or choosing a pebble white

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fur yes black fur no laws were edged in