The United States was born in revolution and nurtured by

There are nations born of chance, and there are nations born of struggle. The United States, as Robert F. Kennedy once declared, “was born in revolution and nurtured by struggle. Throughout our history, the American people have befriended and supported all those who seek independence and a better way of life.” These words are not mere praise of patriotism, but a reminder of sacred inheritance — that freedom, once earned through pain, obliges the free to stand beside all who still labor in darkness. Kennedy spoke not as a politician counting votes, but as a guardian of ideals — calling his people to remember their origins, and to live worthy of them.

The origin of this quote lies in the spirit of a man who believed deeply in the moral purpose of nations. Robert Kennedy, brother of a fallen president, carried within him a vision of America not merely as a place, but as a promise — a promise forged in the fires of the American Revolution, when farmers and tradesmen rose against an empire to claim their destiny. That revolution was not only a war of muskets and banners; it was a declaration of the human soul against the weight of tyranny. “Born in revolution,” Kennedy reminds us, means that the very first breath of America was drawn in defiance — and that her heartbeat ever since has echoed with the rhythm of courage.

But revolutions do not end with victory; they must be nurtured by struggle. The freedom that was won in 1776 had to be reborn in every generation — in the Civil War that ended slavery, in the movements for women’s suffrage, in the marches for civil rights. America’s strength, Kennedy tells us, does not lie in comfort or complacency, but in struggle — in the willingness of its people to challenge themselves and their nation to live up to its ideals. The true patriot is not the one who shouts of greatness, but the one who works to correct its failings. Struggle, for such a people, is not a burden; it is the sacred duty that keeps freedom alive.

Throughout history, America has often found itself standing at the crossroads of idealism and pragmatism — between the temptation to guard its own peace and the calling to defend the freedom of others. Kennedy’s words recall the moments when the United States chose to befriend and support those who sought independence, as in the world wars that ended tyranny in Europe, or the aid sent to nations emerging from colonial rule. He knew that while America was born from its own revolution, its destiny was intertwined with all revolutions — for the cause of liberty, once kindled, demands fellowship. He did not mean that America’s mission was to conquer, but to stand with: to offer light where others still walked in shadow.

Consider, for instance, the struggle for civil rights within America’s own borders. When Robert Kennedy stood in the cities of the South, facing those who burned and rioted, he spoke not as an outsider to conflict, but as one who understood that the struggle for justice abroad means nothing if injustice remains at home. He saw that the promise of independence must be universal — not just for nations, but for individuals. The independence of the soul, the freedom to speak, to love, to worship, to dream — these were as vital as political liberty. To Kennedy, the revolution was never truly over; it was a living current, flowing through every heart that refused submission.

The deeper meaning of his words is thus this: that freedom is both inheritance and obligation. A nation born of struggle must not forget the hands that once trembled on the plow, the feet that once marched through blood and frost, the hearts that once burned with vision. When Kennedy spoke of America befriending those who seek independence, he was not only calling his country to foreign compassion; he was calling its citizens to moral kinship — to see in every struggle for dignity, the reflection of their own ancestors’ fight for liberty. For the moment a free people forget the pain that purchased their freedom, they begin to lose it.

So, my child, let this be your lesson: struggle is the price of freedom, and solidarity is its proof. Never mock the hardships of others who fight for their own independence, for they walk the same road your forebears once walked. Remember that liberty, if it is real, cannot be hoarded; it must be shared, defended, renewed. Let the fire of courage that once burned in the hearts of revolutionaries burn in you — not to destroy, but to uplift. And when you see the oppressed lift their heads toward the light, do as Kennedy urged: befriend them, for in helping others rise, you preserve the very spirit that gave birth to your own freedom.