Kennedy
Society of Denmark
Purpose: Keeping alive John F. and Robert F. Kennedy’s inspiration
and philosophy of life, so that their good words can be translated into good
deeds.
Profiles in Courage Award, 1981
For the year 1981 The Kennedy Society has decided to award John
F. Kennedy's book "Profiles in Courage" to Her Majesty Queen
Margrethe II of Denmark for the following reasons: From the first day
as Head of State Her Majesty Queen Margrethe has shown the courage
to confess, give her reasons for and maintain a clear philosophy of life.
On the 14th January 1972 this was expressed in the Queen's motto:
God's Help - The People's Love - Denmark's Strength.
Since then the Queen's philosophy of life has been expressed, for example,
in the following words in her New Years' speeches to the Danish people:
"To win peace it is in addition necessary that we do not limit our horizon
to include just ourselves and our own needs, but that we also think about
poor parts of the world and about the possibilities of existence of coming generations."
From 31st December 1972.
"In traffic we have responsibility for each other, to an extreme degree,
but there, as in all other circumstances, it is often our egoism that is the
greatest danger. What are we striving for? Is it happiness? Nobody has
yet found that by thinking only of themselves."
"It is important that each and every nation fight their own egoism, so
that
they can together resolve the enormous problems that come when the
world's limited assets are to be divided up more fairly."
From 31st December 1976.
"Self-sufficiency, burying one's head in the sand and letting the world
drift it's own way is irresponsible, for that destroys precisely what we
thought we could preserve." From 31st December 1977.
"I believe we abandon all the weakest in society, if we are too pessimistic
about our own times - for if we who have strength are discouraged,
how can the weak have hope that tomorrow is worth living for?"
From 31st December 1980.