The Selected Speeches of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie the first, pages 1 to 18

PUBLIC HEALTH GRADUATION-GONDAR
When We laid the foundation for the progress and development of the country, the fact that we granted the Constitution was in order to strengthen unity so that our country will be built around the idea of one Emperor and one Government in which everyone will be conscious of his duty based upon the principle of one for all and all for one. We have chosen education as Our primary concern because we believe that it is the instrument by which Our aims could be brought to fruition.
The spirit of unity within Ethiopia around one Emperor emanated from the people of Begemder, and their patriotic efforts have been crowned with laurels. We have made it Our constant concern to help them in their quest for learning for which We have established the various schools and institutions of learning. Through education one can keep himself healthy; one can acquire the knowledge of many other things; but without health, education and growth of a population are unattainable. Today when We present you with these certificates of accomplishment, Our heart over-flows with joy.
Now that you are to begin the medical and health profession, We recommend that you work diligently, for treatment and cure alone is not enough for a country; prevention is also necessary. The Amhara race must know that it has an obligation on its part to work in the technical field, no matter at what level. To preserve the heritage of one’s honor and culture is praiseworthy, but to exceed the limits may prove detrimental.
We have ventured to say this because it has come to Our knowledge that there exists here scorn for labor. We have come after having laid the foundation stones for the establishment of a textile factory, a hydro-electric plant and for a bridge in the development of highways in order to help in the advancement of the people of Begemder and Gojjam. Unless the people benefit through work Our efforts and thoughts will have been in vain. They will have also violated the wish of the Almighty that by one’s toil he must earn his living. Much cannot be accomplished in the pursuit of spiritual advancement, let alone that of material gains, without labor. Learn! Work! We have established community education so that both the youth and the adult may learn. Education and the quest for knowledge stop only at the grave …..
GRADUATION - BUILDING COLLEGE
You, the students who leave these halls today, have justified the trust and confidence which your Government has reposed in you in selecting you for attendance at this school from among the many who have clamored and who still clamor for the opportunity to study here. In your future work, in your daily life and activities, be ever mindful to prove yourselves worthy of trust. Let all that you do contribute to the ultimate benefit of your motherland and your fellow-men. Let your work always be such that you can take pride in it, and if you do so, your country will have reason to be proud of you.
July 14, 1961.
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