On March 3, 1993, shortly before his death, Jim Valvano spoke at the first ESPY Awards, presented by ESPN. While accepting the inaugural Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award, he announced the creation of The V Foundation for Cancer Research,
an organization dedicated to finding a cure for cancer. He announced
that the foundation's motto would be "Don't Give Up . . . Don't Ever
Give Up." His speech included this statement:
To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special.
Valvano's memorable ESPY acceptance speech became legendary. He closed by saying:
"Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever. I thank you and God bless you all."
He received a standing ovation from the ESPY crowd.
