Obama's Inspirational Speech: What Starfish, Service, And Senator Ted Kennedy Have In Common

On Tuesday afternoon, President Barack Obama signed a $5.7 billion national service bill that will triple the size of the AmeriCorps program over the next eight years.

Amid lauding the efforts of AmeriCorps founder Bill Clinton and service champion Senator Ted Kennedy, President Obama shared some inspiring thoughts on his own experience with service as well as recounting a little story that Sen. Kennedy likes to tell about a young man, an old man, and some starfish.

On the act of serving:

"People who love their country can change it."

"[That's] the beauty of service: anybody can do it. You don't need to be a community organizer, a senator, a Kennedy or even a president to bring changes to people's lives."

On his own experience:

"I wouldn't be standing here today if not for the service of others or for the purpose that service gave my own life. "

"I wasn't just helping people, I was receiving something in return. Through service I found a community that embraced me, citizenship that was meaningful, the direction that I had been seeking."

And finally, the story that says it all:

An old man walking along the beach at dawn sees a young man picking up the star fish and throwing them out to sea. "Why are you doing that?" The old man inquired. The young man explained that the starfish had been stranded on the beech by a receding tide. And would soon die in the daytime sun. "But the beach goes on for miles," the old man said. "And there's so many! How can your effort make any difference?" The young man looked at the starfish in his hand and without hesitating threw it to safety in the sea. He looked up at the old man, smiled and said, "It will make a difference to that one."

Watch the whole speech, including Sen. Kennedy's opening remarks, below:

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What inspires you to serve? Do you have any similar stories? If so, we'd love to hear them! Share them in the comments below!

Comments

[MsFuture1]

10:53 AM on 05/21/2009

Good Morning !
Wow! It is amazing to see not only those you admire share in the belief
one is majority; but the Starfish Wisdom is the power behind this truth.
Indeed, I have been touched by the Starfish Wisdom, in assisting, the
Homeless Population of Cape Cod. It would be a group of high school
students who had been motivated by the Starfish Wisdom that would
educate me on the power and worth of perseverin­g in helping those
begin a new life...eve­n if this is just one individual at a time. In closing,
Senator Kennedy remains my hero. God Bless the desire to stand tall
when all life challenges seem to insist...o­therwise. God Bless President
Obama and The First Family. I am proud to be an American Woman and
to have the freedom, to share, values that not only inspire oneself, but
reach out and assist one other person to make a positive difference in
one's life. K.E. May 21, 2009

[MsLuscious]

07:22 PM on 04/25/2009

this is an insult to starfish www.Shop-L­uscious.co­m

[KoiPondering]

02:20 PM on 04/24/2009

We always say in the ferret shelters. "you can't change the world by adopting a ferret. but you can change one ferret's whole world"

I think theres alot of things that kind of mentality can effect.

~Koi (saving ferrets one masked face at a time)

[abigail1]

08:34 PM on 04/23/2009

I've watched this 3 times now. To see Senator Kennedy, to hear about what Senator Hatch did to honor him, to hear about Michelle running a program that was helped by Americorps which President Clinton started, to know that Rosalin Carter and Caroline Kennedy who have done so much to benefit their communitie­s are there just makes me happy.
I will do my best to answer this call to service. one starfish at a time.

[twilit]

05:06 PM on 04/23/2009

George Bush Sr. told this EXACT SAME story, my history teacher in 6th grade showed a video of him addressing the nation and at the end he told it. I wonder the origins, andif EVERY president is required to use it. In any case it isn't Obama's creation, and it was used by a President of the other party. Seems kind of cheap, lol.

[moda31]

05:07 PM on 04/24/2009

referencin­g an oft told parable is cheap? seriously?
so what if a previous president of a different party referenced the same story? not everything in life is about party ideology. seriously, grow up.

[mendelcrosses]

12:37 PM on 04/23/2009

Wow!
What a CHANGE from the last 8 years.
The president speaks and no one get bored untill he finishes. I for once kept looking at the clock ,praying time could stop ticking. I just wish he could speak none-stop.

[CaveatMagnusFrater]

09:26 AM on 04/23/2009

I never heard the starfish story but it rings true. What use is there in helping one child? I guess that since so many are being left unhelped, it seems pointless. But not to that one kid. Thanks for your story.

[Humbolt]

06:42 PM on 04/22/2009

I was an Americorps volunteer last year. It brought a meaning to my life that I never thought was possible.

The starfish story is particular­ly special for me. During our first service project we were working at an environmen­tal summer camp for kids in the Puget Sound. One morning before work we walked down to the beach and found a bunch of starfish on the shore. We spent the morning throwing them back into the water and managed to save all of them we could find.

I'm so happy to hear that Obama is supporting the Americorps program!

[Khirad]

07:25 PM on 04/22/2009

I'd only caught the end of the speach and was absolutely befuddled! Some old expression perhaps? Thanks to this article for clearing that up.

Great story. Ahh... the Puget Sound. It's already in the mid 90's here in Arizona and you're making me pine for a balmy breeze... unfortunat­ely, the only starfish I would ever see were dead, on a pier, or in the Seattle Aquarium.

[Laura Amlie]

05:46 PM on 04/22/2009

The Starfish story has been around for years, appropriat­ed by Hallmark, Jack Canfield, Kennedy, (I've borrowed it myself) and now Obama. I'm pretty certain it was written by Loren Eiseley in 1970 in his "The Unexpected Universe." I think it's a tremendous compliment that it has become, in effect, an American folktale - an anonymous part of the culture, but I wish folks would credit him.

[twilit]

05:11 PM on 04/23/2009

George Bush Sr. also told that story. I wonder now if EVERY president is required to use it some time in their term.

[k6007]

01:18 PM on 04/22/2009

http://mis­sion-not-a­ccomplishe­d.com/Bush­_codpiece.­jpg

[k6007]

01:17 PM on 04/22/2009

http://www­.truthdig.­com/images­/eartotheg­rounduploa­ds/bush_mi­ssion_acco­mplished.j­pg

[thenorthshore]

10:09 AM on 04/22/2009

2 out of 3 have been under water for some amount of time

[Ed and Deb Shapiro]

08:47 AM on 04/22/2009

Dear Verena This blog brought tears of joy to my eyes- The video makes me realize that we can come together as a country and as human beings who want to serve and do good.

The starfish story with the old man and the young man was spot on and wonderful.

There is so much to learn here!

Joyfully,

Ed

[Warmglobe]

07:12 AM on 04/22/2009

Both the starfish and Teddy both spend time under water

[TheDeRanger]

07:57 AM on 04/22/2009

Oh boo hoo. Tell us about the Repub programs that encourage helping others. Oh thats right, their programs are for _stealing_ from others.

[SouthernYankeeBelle]

10:11 AM on 04/22/2009

Bush will never shine like Sen Kennedy has. You don't know what he is feeling about his horrible mistake. He has asked for forgivenes­s. You republican­s are big on forgivenes­s. I guess you only forgive republican­s and not democratic­s. Bush sent soldiers to their deaths because of Oil in Iraq yet you can't seem to forgive Kennedy who has asked for forgivenes­s from the family.

[thenorthshore]

10:14 AM on 04/22/2009

looks like i stole your mat'l. i'll try harder

[PoliticalRockChick]

06:41 AM on 04/22/2009

It will definitely make a difference to that one.