It turns out that advancing equal opportunity and economic

Hear the words of William J. Clinton, once a leader of a great nation, who spoke not only of policy but of principle: “It turns out that advancing equal opportunity and economic empowerment is both morally right and good economics, because discrimination, poverty and ignorance restrict growth, while investments in education, infrastructure and scientific and technological research increase it, creating more good jobs and new wealth for all of us.” These words are both practical and profound, joining the wisdom of justice with the strength of prosperity. They remind us that what is right for the soul of man is also fruitful for the flourishing of nations.

To advance equal opportunity is to acknowledge that every human being bears within them the seed of greatness. When gates are closed by discrimination, when doors are barred by poverty, when eyes are darkened by ignorance, then the wealth of humanity lies wasted, untapped like rivers dammed before they reach the sea. A society that denies opportunity to some cripples itself, for the strength of a people lies not in the few, but in the many who rise together.

But when a nation invests in education, the minds of its children become fields of endless harvest. When it builds infrastructure, it lays down roads not only of stone but of opportunity, binding communities together and carrying commerce to new lands. When it pursues scientific and technological research, it unlocks the secrets of creation, giving birth to industries, medicines, and wonders that lift the condition of all. Thus, what is righteous is also profitable, and what is generous is also wise.

Consider the story of the United States after the Second World War. Through the GI Bill, returning soldiers—many once poor, untrained, and uneducated—were given access to education. Millions who might have remained laborers became doctors, engineers, teachers, and builders. Poverty was broken, new industries were born, and a generation’s investment in people gave rise to decades of prosperity. Here we see Clinton’s truth embodied: justice toward the individual became strength for the nation.

Yet the opposite lesson is also plain in the ruins of history. Nations that clung to caste, oppression, and discrimination—that denied learning to the poor or restricted advancement to the privileged few—saw their power wither. For no empire can endure when it stifles the talents of its people. Innovation shrivels, growth halts, unrest festers, and what once seemed strong collapses under the weight of its own shortsightedness. Thus, injustice is not only immoral—it is ruinous.

The wisdom of this quote lies in its union of heart and mind. Too often men argue that righteousness is costly, that justice demands sacrifice. But Clinton reminds us: the moral path is also the path of prosperity. To lift up the lowly, to educate the ignorant, to empower the poor, is not charity alone—it is the unlocking of new strength, the widening of the river of progress, the planting of seeds that will enrich all who live in the land.

Therefore, O listener, take this teaching to heart: wherever you walk—in your family, your community, your nation—strive to tear down the walls of discrimination, to ease the burden of poverty, and to banish ignorance with light. Support the building of schools, the raising of roads, the nurturing of science. For in so doing, you serve both justice and prosperity, both morality and wisdom.

And remember this: greatness lies not in hoarding wealth for the few, but in multiplying opportunity for the many. As Clinton declared, when we invest in each other, we build not only a fairer society, but also a stronger one. Thus the moral and the practical are joined, and the path of righteousness becomes the path of abundance. Walk in it, and both you and your people shall prosper.