Address upon Receiving the

Silver Medal of the Athens Academy

Athens, MARCH 28, 1957

I accept this medal not alone as an American nor as a writer but as one chosen by the Greek Academy to represent the principle that man shall be free.

The human spirit does not obey physical laws. When the sun of Pericles cast the shadow of civilized man around the earth, that shadow curved until it touched America. So when someone like me comes to Greece he is walking the shadow back to the source of the light which cast the shadow. When the American comes to this country he has come back to something that was familiar. He has come home. He has come back to the cradle of civilized man. I am proud that the Greek peopie have considered me worthy to receive this medal. It will be my duty to return to my country and tell my people that the qualities in the Greek race~toughness, bravery, independence and pride~are too valuable to lose. It is the duty of all men to see that they do not vanish from the earth.

[Press release issued by the United States Information Service in Athens at the time of the address.

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