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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Vice President Joe Biden Gives Keynote Speech [Watch (HLS stream): Vice President Joe Biden Gives Keynote Speech](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/NPfy89zq.m3u8) (17:32)  _Published 2013-04-24. Vice President Joe Biden Gives Keynote Speech at TIME 100 Gala_ --- Jul 27, 2023 3:33 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [The Speech Joe Biden Waited His Whole Life to Give](/video/UQoQFyOz/) ### The Speech Joe Biden Waited His Whole Life to Give [Joe Biden Definitively Vows to Pick a Woman Vice President](/video/4nS2btD5/) ### Joe Biden Definitively Vows to Pick a Woman Vice President [TIME 100: Joe Biden](/video/tvxHeP3N/) ### TIME 100: Joe Biden --- ## Transcript Ladies and gentlemen, the 47th Vice President of the United States, Joseph R. Biden. [ SOUND ] Thank you very much. Thank you all very, very much. That's very [ LAUGH ], that's very kind. And Rick, I just want to make it clear to you Jeff said earlier, there's two ways, two kinds of people on the list, those who are, make a difference and those who are confounding. I've made the confounding part, and I'm still not quite sure, and I say to the Navy Seal here I'm not in your class. I want to make it clear to you. I have no intention. I don't know where I get this reputation of being I'm parachuting in. The fact that I, no one doubts what I say what I mean, my big problem is I usually say all that I mean. And I'm gonna, am gonna try not to do that tonight. Look, it's an honor to be here. And it's an incredible honor to speak. on, if not on behalf. As, picked as the, 1 of the 100 who gets to, address this incredible assemblage here. And, there's so many people on this list that I, admire. Some of whom I am in awe of. You know? As a country. America just went through a very tragic week, a week of violence, a week of senseless bloodshed. But even in the face of that carnage and pain, we didn't have to look very far to see once again and witness the resilience and the selflessness of the American people. Rick made some reference to it in, in his introductory remarks. When we were attacked in Boston, or even the tragedy in Texas where there was no attack, but there was a tragedy that took lives of an, upset an entire town. No one was surprised especially the New Yorkers, to watch the heroism of our first responders. We saw it in Boston. We saw it on 9 / 11. That America, America has has the best firefighters, police officers, first responders in the world. The last week what I was reminded of was something I knew that was I reminded of was something that's even more profound, and that was the response of the people of Boston. The response of the American People. They showed not just the reseliance, but their calm. Their no nonsense response, to help the injured. Their unwillingness to cower. And in their response, they've proved that no act of terror can ever really weaken us. Because when terrorist, hope to divide us. The end result has been, you've seen it here in New York, you've seen all around this country. They don't divide us. That's what it's all about. They know they can't conquour us. What they do is they set attemp to appeal to our fears. So that we will some how change the openness. The change who we are. The fact of the matter is they can't do that. The terrorists know that, that, they don't have the might to ever occupy american cities, or to, force you through over government. They, they can't defeat this physically, because we have the most powerful military in the world, our first response is second to none. The only way, the only way they can win their war against us. In waging a war on terror is to take away from us what we value the most, and only we can give that up. Our, our, our openness, our inclusive society, our access to opportunity, our recognition and support of talent no matter from which, where it comes, our transparency. A simple joy of walking in a park, or running in a race, and not being afraid. The terrorists can only win if we yield to our fears. And last week, last week we stood together. We stood by our values- They are dogmatic clothes. Doctrine or orthodox. We are everything they are not. That's why they fear us. That's why they attack us. We've suffered a loss and we're grieving. But we're not bending. We're resilient. You know, after 9 / 11, there was a lot of speculation about. How our country would react. Talk about we never build tall buildings again. We'd built the tall building in New York again. And when there was another attack in Boston. The talk was what would happen to Boston. Will they pull in? I promise you next years marathon will be the most biggest the most significant, The most attended marathon in history. That's who we are. [ SOUND ] No that will happen, that will happen. You know after New York there were a lot of questions even among real serious Americans saying are we too soft? Are we too weak? Does our openness, our freedom, our willingness not to allow not to not to bend, not to discourage, the the, the question of orthodoxy, not to shrink from our embrace of diversity Does that make us, does that make us more vulnerable in an age where terror is a tool of extreme groups bent on destruction. Look what's happened since then. Not only have we become, not less open, but more open. Not only have we embraced diversity, we have embraced even more diversity. Look where America is, on the issue of marriage, look where [ INAUDIBLE ] , ah America is on immigration. Look where we've come. We've progressed. We've not regressed in any way. There weren't questions about our military. There is no power on earth who can deal with that. No, it was a question about our people. How would our people react? Well, the world has the answer. If the purpose of terror is to instill fear, you saw none of it in Boston. And that was a powerful message. It didn't surprise me, that our police acted so swiftly and so well. We expect that. When terrorists take on America, what they don't quite understand, they're taking, not taking on American Army, Navy, police. They're taking on 300 million Americans, every one of them who feels deeply about the values that make us strong, and they understand It makes us the strongest force for good on the Earth. When the tragedies in Boston occurred. You saw that incredible resilience, that heroism, the commitment. The love of people and how they responded to the tragedy. They proved the sure knowledge But the only way terrorism wins is if we change our way of life, if we yield. And what those tragedies proves once again that no matter how great the challenge, the American people refuse to bend. There's something that all of us, here tonight, I think, the honorees have in common. No matter how long the odds, the men and women, we honor here tonight, present company excluded, are people who refuse, to yield, refuse, to bend, refuse, to bend to the pressure of orthodox- Are unafraid to question conventional wisdom. Refuse to be intimidated. It's in that spirit that unsung Suu Kyi's tireless struggle to bring democracy to Burma. She is a, she's been fighting for decades. She refuses to give in. And she shows not only incredible moral courage, but incredible physical courage, because she understands her people. She gets it, and she puts her life on the line, to make it clear. It's that same dedication that drives Hannah Gray. And Katherine I hope I pronounced your name correctly. Luzuriaga, is that correct? Luzuriaga I think that's right if ts wrong you can call me Biden. [ LAUGH ] A lot of people do, and Debra Prasad, I got that right. And your search for the cure of AIDS, how many people have told you they'd been up that road before? How many times are you told? How many times are you wondering if there's any, any purpose to continue to do this. But, as impossible as it seems, look what you've done. You don't give up, and because of that, you've given a child a second chance at life, and God willing, given hope to countless thousands. Of others struggling with HIV around the world. You know, [ NOISE ] [ UNKNOWN ] she put her life on the line to advocate for education and liberty for women, even in the face of incredible intimidation by the Taliban. [ NOISE ] Your actions reminded me of my first trip to Afghanistan. It was when they were still, we had not even opened our embassy and I was the first one in there because I flew over in the UN flight. And I knew when I landed that even though the last administration didn't want us there that they'd assign me a Navy Seal because it'd be very bad publicity for me to get shot. And so I remembered going as I left to, I went to see a school that had be reopened. Male 1: And and I stood there in this tiered school, with literally plastic in place of windows, and literally 2 light bulbs hanging form the ceiling. And it was a school that was open for the first time that girls were able to go back to school. And I stood in the classroom and I answered questions and and I said, " Well, I have to go now ." And this, it was a fourth grade class, but a young woman who should have been in ninth or tenth grade but had been not allowed to go to school, a raven haired beauty with those incredible hazel eyes with fire in her eyes and said in English, " You can not go !" You cannot go. America cannot leave. I looked at her and she said, my mother was a doctor. I will be a doctor. I will be a doctor. You know, it's incredible. It's incredible what you did. It's incredible the courage you showed on behalf of all those, all those young girls and women in your country and this list is is unified by simple belief that it's all, it's all, it's all about. Basically, not being told it can't be done. You know, it's I think most of the people. Notable exceptions on this list. Believe that all human beings, all human beings given a half a chance. Are inclined to do the right thing. We believe that, when the times comes, the vast majority of humanity will do the right thing. When I visited Rome for the installation of the new Pope and sat and listened to his homily, and he is one of your honorees, Pope Francis. [ INAUDIBLE ] He distilled all this in a simple, straightforward way. In his homile, he spoke movingly about our commitments to one another. Not just as people of faith, he emphasized, but as human beings. We all know we have obligations to each other. We know, we know we have a duty to look out for one another. To keep our hearts and minds open for those who are in need. Those are the values that I was taught, and I think everyone, almost everyone in this room was taught. And the principles that have guided the vast majority of the honorees that you've picked tonight. Most of us are here because we felt some connection, some obligation Some responsibility to the people around us. Now, to be blunt, some people in this have a different kind of recognition. Some of them represent disruptive forces in society. In our society and others. But even those people connect to the basic question of fairness and decency, because they challenge us. As a society, to stand together and to do even better. Kim Jong Un may have made the list, but he won't be influential over the long run. He won't be influential. Instead, it's those nations that make a true commitment to fairness, inclusiveness, An openness that are triumph, and are gonna triumph over time. That's been the lesson the last half of the twentieth century. The nations that will lead the twenty first century, will be those that leverage their diversity instead of repressing it. That empower their people with new, with new ideas, instead of suppressing them. Don't allow orthodoxy to be questioned. Change cannot occur, without orthodoxy being questioned. And orthodoxy cannot be questioned in countries where you cannot breath free, and speak openly. Those terrorists might, look for implants, but they, never succeed as long as. As long as they traffic inferior because they aren't building and shaping. They're just disrupting those builders and shapers who seek a better tomorrow. They might try, but they won't overcome. That's the history and journey of our country. That's who we are. When there's a crisis, the weak The weak may lose faith, but the strong embrace the voices of hope. Our message to terrorist is, you can not break us. You can't change us. We will never yield. We will not be intimidated. A new world was growing up around us and if we belong to the builders and the shapes among us. Well will in fact succeed. Those closed and represive societies among us will crumble. The terrorist who sow fear and hatred fail when faced with hope and opportunity. Today, today we don't fear the future. We embrace it. And we need to embrace it with the same values that have always guided our greatness in the past. That's how we can lead this new century. And look, look at all of you. Look at what all of you, so many of you have done already. I know you've already embraced it. One of my favorite poets and I'm always kidded by my colleagues for quoting Irish poets. I don't do it because I'm Irish. I do it because of humility because they are the best poets. [ LAUGH ] Shame- uh- seeny has a stanza in his poem. The curat Troy. That I think is really the anthem of most of the people in this room. He said, history says, don't hope on this side of the grave, but then, once in a lifetime, the long, forward tidal wave of justice rises up in hope. In history, rhyme. As I look around the room, as I read the names of the honorees, many of you are literally energy that is producing that tidal wave. And our belief in America is that of every difficult moment in our history. We've come out stronger. We actually believe that, and, and I'm absolutely confident tht we will come out of this recent tragedy this last week stronger. Because Americans believe that we can make hope and history rhyme. It's viewed as naive by so many around the world. But we believe in it. It's stamped in our DNA, and I'm honored, I'm honored to be able to stand before you today paling in any contribution that I've made comparaed to many of your honorees here, but representing a notion Representing the notion that fear never triumphs over hope. Never. And it will not now. Thank you and God bless you. And may God protect our troops. 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