Speech by HRH The Prince of Asturias at the 1985 Prince of Asturias Awards Ceremony

This pledge to extend a helping hand to those in need; to unite races and peoples; to promote communication among human beings; to vitalise cultures and aggrandise the common spaces of civilisation, is also the service to which the Foundation is committed.

May my first words in this ceremony be used to send from here-and from this Prince of Asturias Foundation that, with so much interest and concern, directs its gaze toward the peoples of Ibero-America-a message of support and affection to Mexico and the Mexican people that live, with firmness and courage, moments of anguish and misfortune. As the King, my father, pointed out a few hours after the catastrophe, "Spain is with you". And I am sure that Asturias, linked with Mexico through so many deep-seated bonds, feels more united than ever to those who suffer there.

This pledge to extend a helping hand to those in need; to unite races and peoples; to promote communication among human beings; to vitalise cultures and aggrandise the common spaces of civilisation, is also the service to which the Foundation is committed.

In this new edition, which provides me with another welcomed opportunity to be among you, the essential values of the Arts, Sciences, Letters, and Ibero-American cooperation are consecrated and embodied in the standout personality of the Award- winners.

From them we learn the most important lesson: the value of our lives depends on how much we put ourselves at the service of others.

And we have to thank them again and again because they have dedicated the best of their endeavours to us, investigating Truth, successfully trying to reflect and describe Beauty, introducing an element of Goodwill into the relationships among individuals and communities.

These three objectives-and I am especially qualified to say what I am about to say by virtue of my age-sometimes appear like utopias to us when we still do not have much experience. We youth reach out for this trilogy: Truth, Beauty, Goodwill, and we consider it to be far removed, perhaps unreachable.

Yet we must not renounce that which may seem like a dream, but rather exert ourselves to the fullest day after day so that it becomes a reality, because someone has made it clear that this is not impossible.

Without men of science, without researchers and professors, without artists and poets, without individuals of good will, societies would grope blindly ahead and end up dying.

For this reason, we ought to feel proud of your permanent dedication to the tasks in which your own luminosity makes you stand out. With this luminosity you are lighting our individual path and that of the society in which we live.

The Prince of Asturias Awards do not constitute anything more than an acknowledgement of your labour.

An acknowledgement limited in its material sense, but infinite in its moral stimuli and in the desire to constantly enliven to spirit of progress within the scope of Spain and the nations of Latin America.

We must all be prepared to take on the work that is going to be demanded of us in a not so distant future. We have the obligation to follow the example given to us by those who stand out for their efforts. It must be understood that when we achieve something authentic and truthful, beautiful and good, it serves not only for us, but also for those around us and for those generations yet to come.

Asturias is a region where these objectives are understood very well, because here life and work represent a daily duty. All of us fulfil it with honour and steadfastness, without pessimism or despair.

My congratulations to the award-winners, to whom I have had the honour of presenting the corresponding Awards.

An expression of thanks to Asturias and to this city of Oviedo, noble and eminent platform of universality, that has so graciously received us with its warm welcome and unforgettable hospitality.

And thank you to the Prince of Asturias Foundation that has tremendously ennobled these Awards which bear my name and that ennoble me as well, considering that they are granted to such distinguished personalities.

Thank you very much to all of you.