[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 37 (Monday, September 15, 1997)]
[Pages 1291-1292]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

September 6, 1997

    Good morning. I'm speaking to you this morning from the Edgartown 
Elementary School in Martha's Vineyard on the last day of a very special 
3-week family vacation. This has been an especially important time for 
Hillary, Chelsea, and me, because it's the last vacation we'll have 
before Chelsea goes off to college in a few weeks. We've enjoyed both 
the natural splendor of this wonderful place and the natural warmth that 
the people of this community, some of whom are with us here today, have 
shown to all of us during our visit.
    Today the world mourns the loss of two remarkable women. Their lives 
were very different but ultimately bound together by a common concern 
for and commitment to the dignity and worth of every human being, 
especially those too often overlooked, the desperately poor, the 
abandoned, the sick, and the dying.
    With the passing of Mother Teresa of Calcutta yesterday, the world 
has lost one of this

[[Page 1292]]

century's greatest humanitarians. Her worldwide ministry to the poor, 
the suffering, and the dying has served as an inspiration to all of us. 
With the enormous power of her humble faith and her lifetime of living 
it, she touched the lives of millions of people, not only in India but 
in our country and all around the world. Hillary and Chelsea will never 
forget visiting her mission in Calcutta, and we will always treasure the 
time we spent with her and be especially grateful for the home for 
abandoned babies she and her order opened in Washington, and the chance 
Hillary had to help in getting it established.
    Anyone who ever met Mother Teresa could see that within her very 
small frame, she carried a very big heart, big enough to follow God's 
will to show compassion and love for all our children, especially the 
sick and the forgotten. Mother Teresa once said, ``The test at the end 
of life is not what you do; it is how much of yourself, how much love 
you put into what you do.'' Well, Mother Teresa put all of herself, all 
of her love, into serving mankind, and the world is a much better and 
nobler place because of how she lived.
    The First Lady today is representing our Nation at the funeral of 
another woman of compassion, England's Princess Diana, whose tragic 
death a few days ago shocked and saddened millions around the world. The 
enormous outpouring of grief and support in the wake of Diana's death 
demonstrates that people saw in her more than her radiant beauty but, 
instead, a different kind of royalty. She became, as Elton John said at 
her funeral, England's rose, because she shared the life struggles of 
ordinary people, she cared about them. She was not too self-absorbed to 
lend her hand and her heart to people in pain or in peril, especially 
people with AIDS and the innocent victims of landmines.
    Hillary and I liked her very much. She was a young woman of great 
gifts coming into her own, determined to raise her children to be well-
grounded, strong young men, not isolated by their royal lineage, and 
determined to make a contribution to the people of Great Britain and the 
world. On her trips to Washington, Hillary talked with her about the 
challenges of parenting and Diana's civic commitments, her campaigns on 
behalf of children, for people with AIDS, and to ban landmines.
    To our friends in Great Britain, I wish to express a special message 
of sympathy. Our two peoples who experienced so much together are 
experiencing this sad event together. Diana was not ours, but we grieve 
alongside you.
    Mother Teresa and Princess Diana, two women of vastly different 
backgrounds and worlds, are gone. But each of them in her own way has 
shown us what it is to live a life of meaning through concern for 
others. That is the great legacy they leave us. Let us honor it. For 
whether we live to a ripe old age or must leave this life too soon, our 
time on Earth is short, and we live on only through the gifts we give to 
others who share the journey with us.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. from Edgartown Elementary School 
in Martha's Vineyard, MA.