BEAU BIDEN

Families can get torn apart and never recover or they grow even closer.

Any time the other side - Karl Rove or folks on the far right - are going after my father for smiling too much, you know that's a victory.

My dad is a phenomenal skier.

Look, would I think my dad would make a great president in 2016 and going forward? Of course.

We are a family of skiers, and great skiers.

There's always something bigger than you.

As adults, we have a legal and moral obligation to stand up and speak out for children who are being abused - they cannot speak for themselves.

When crime was spiking in our communities, Dad wrote the crime bill that put 100,000 cops on the streets and led to an eight-year drop in crime across the country.

We'd always come into Syracuse for the Empire State Games and the stair fair.

Look, I'm happy to defend my dad. I don't think he needs any defensiveness.

We do have promises to keep. And my dad and Barack Obama are keeping them.

Be there for Barack Obama, because our country needs him.

My dad is Joe Biden.

Be there for my dad, like he was for me.

I know my father will be a great vice president.

Be there because Barack Obama and Joe Biden will deliver America the change we so desperately need.

Look, I've got a great dad.

If I'm half as good a dad to my two kids as my dad has been to me and my brother and sister, my kids will be lucky.

I was a lucky, lucky boy to have the mom I had and the mom I have now.

My mom rebuilt our family. That's why my dad spent so much time talking about my mom, who he's incredibly proud of.

When domestic violence was often a dark secret, Dad wrote the Violence Against Women Act, which gave countless women support, protection and a new chance at life.

The truth is, he almost wasn't a senator at all. In 1972, shortly after his improbable victory, but before he took the oath of office, my father went to Washington to look at his new office space. My mom took us to go buy a Christmas tree. On the way home, we were in an automobile accident. My mom, Neilia, and my sister, Naomi, were killed.

In the 17 years since I graduated from this great College of Law, I have seen that, for many of us, it becomes increasingly easy to rationalize our actions in the name of expediency when facing difficult decisions-to choose a path where the ends justify the means. I want to ask you to challenge Machiavelli's philosophy. I want to humbly suggest that you be the guardians of a more complicated truth: that the means are as important-and sometimes even more important-than the ends.

Just because you think the path that's right for you might be lonelier, longer or less destined for traditional success than paths taken by others, don't be afraid to take it. If you choose your means well you will end up in the right place.