It is based on the most enduring of all American values– the belief in the limitless creative power of the free individual. It is proof, if proof were needed, that deeply committed individuals, prepared to work and sacrifice, can have a profound impact on the most difficult and intransigent of problems. And through people like this, through our Volunteers, we are discovering that we do not have to be defensive or apologetic about the American way of life.

Sargent Shriver, Speech at the Commonwealth Club of California, Oct 11, 1963