EXCERPTS FROM KASICH’S FINAL STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS

We need to have a more permanent compass. And I want to suggest this to you. Think about the culture of today. Think of how fast it moves. Think about the addiction to the smartphone. Think about the fads. Think about the currents of our culture, the currents of life that change so fast and whip us like a flag on a very windy day. You see, those currents can throw us off. Oh, I can tell you they absolutely can throw me off, and have. Because of that, I’ve concluded that human reason is imperfect. It just doesn’t work. It can only take us so far from when the winds of change can move us off course and we can find ourselves lost. You know, it’s been said that you should love your neighbor the way you want your neighbor to love you. But how about just loving your neighbor because it’s just the right thing to do? Now, what I’m really excited about are the millennials . ... They’re more inspired by meaning than they are by money. They see community more than personal gain. They have a global view but a local mission. My family, my friends, the people who have surrounded me, my team, all I’ve ever tried to do is to try to lift myself as far as I could go to meet the honor of that office. Any of the offices I’ve ever held, to lift myself, to reach a little higher so I could be worthy of it. And this job, I’ve just done everything that I can do. I’ve done my best. We have to run through the tape. Make no mistake about it. We’re not quitting until we turn off the lights because we have so many things to do. And, you know, we’re going to run through the tape, but the race isn’t over for us. We can’t even see the finish line, it’s so far in the future.