Coubertin Quote for Mar, 17
Peacefulness and confidence are essential foundations for the youthful civilization of tomorrow, which will be born amidst raging storms.Share
In April of 1919 in Lausanne, Switzerland, Baron Pierre de Coubertin gave a speech commemorating the 25th anniversary of the advent of the modern Olympic Games. With World War I just behind him, he proclaimed the survival of Olympism, and the role it would play in the future. Still haunted by the repercussions of war, he recognized—prophetically—that it would take the peaceful courage that Olympism engenders to build a new civilization against the conflicts yet to come.
"Five years have passed (since we met in Paris to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Olympic Games in 1914), and in the interim a world has collapsed. Olympism is not a victim of the catastrophe. It has weathered the storm without fear and without reproach. Horizons have suddenly grown wide before it, bearing witness to the importance of the new role ahead … Peacefulness and confidence are essential foundations for the youthful civilization of tomorrow, which will be born amidst raging storms."