Bill Clinton: “Well, that's one thing, all right. [Laughter] I'd like to just make an observation about it to you. Why do you like the…”

“Well, that's one thing, all right. [Laughter] I'd like to just make an observation about it to you. Why do you like the Olympics? I think one reason is--besides the fact that Americans are sports nuts and we all like athletics, I think we like the Olympics because they work the way we think the world ought to work. Everybody shows up, from the smallest island country which has three or four athletes to the largest delegations. They all accept the rules of the game. They're all treated with respect. Everybody has their chance. Everybody gives their best, and even the ones who don't win medals are better off for having tried. And when it's all over, people feel like they were part of something that was bigger than themselves. And that's really how we think the world ought to work. You think about it. You can't win a medal if you have somebody go break your opponent's legs the night before the contest. [Laughter] No one looks up to you if you stand up on a podium and bad-mouth your opponent and say how terrible they are, and they're liars, and they're no good and how sorry they are. Nobody thinks better of you when you do that, when you behave in that way. The only way you succeed is by reaching down deep inside for what is best inside you. And when you do that, it doesn't matter what's on the outside. Now, we think the world ought to work that way. And if you think about the American team--when Hillary and Chelsea and I had the profound honor of welcoming them to the White House yesterday or going to speak to them before the games began or just watching them compete, it occurred to me that if they took their USA jackets off and just wandered in the Olympic Village with the other athletes, they're the only crowd you wouldn't have any idea where they're from. [Laughter] You could see them, you could think, well, these athletes are from Africa, and these are from South America, and these are from Mexico, and these are from India, and these are from Pakistan, and these are from the Middle East, and these are from China, and these are from Japan, and these are from Scandinavia, and it turns out they're all from America. Because this country is not about race, it's about the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and what we believe in. That's what it's about. And that's the last thing I want to tell you. I want you to think about this when you go home tonight. There were 197 different nations represented in the Olympics. Over 150 of those people are represented in this county, Los Angeles County. Now, that's the last thing I want to leave you with. If you want to create opportunity for everybody, if you want this country to lead the world, if you want to keep reaching out to the rest of the world, we have to prove to the rest of the world that you do not have to base a society on racial prejudice, ethnic prejudice, and looking down at other people. Let's lift people up and go forward together. Thank you, and God bless you all.”