By the skin of our teeth

And finally, I believe in my whole race. 

Yellow, white, black, red, brown — 

in the honesty, courage, intelligence, durability … and goodness … 

of the overwhelming majority of my brothers and sisters everywhere on this planet. 

I am proud to be a human being. 

I believe that we have come this far by the skin of our teeth, 

that we always make it just by the skin of our teeth — 

but that we will always make it … survive … endure. 

I believe that this hairless embryo with the aching, oversize brain case 

and the opposable thumb, this animal barely up from the apes, will endure — 

will endure longer than his home planet, will spread out to the other planets, 

to the stars, and beyond, carrying with him his honesty, 

his insatiable curiosity, his unlimited courage — and his noble essential decency.

This I believe with all my heart.

                                                           Robert Heinlein