Bill Bennett: “there is an old statement which has become enshrined in our society now as the alcoholic's prayer. It goes like this…”

“there is an old statement which has become enshrined in our society now as the alcoholic's prayer. It goes like this: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. I suggest that as we face the world today as the world's strongest power economically, militarily, culturally, educationally--in almost every category--we should view our responsibilities through the prism of the alcoholic's prayer: Grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference. As I listen to the debate on Iraq, as I listen to the partisan and political comments, many of them well-meaning and properly addressed, I pray for the third leg of that saying--the wisdom to know the difference between the things we can change and the things we cannot because many of the things being raised with respect to our situation in Iraq are things we cannot change.”