Oh, If Only I Could

In Speaking To You Men Of The Greatest City Of The West, Men Of The State Which Gave To The Country Lincoln And Grant, Men Who Preeminently And Distinctly Embody All That Is Most American In The American Character, I Wish To Preach Not The Doctrine Of Ignoble Ease, But The Doctrine Of The Strenuous Life.

Patriotism Means To Stand By The Country. It Does Not Mean To Stand By The President Or Any Other Public Official, Save Exactly To The Degree In Which He Himself Stands By The Country. It Is Patriotic To Support Him Insofar As He Efficiently Serves The Country. It Is Unpatriotic Not To Oppose Him To The Exact Extent That By Inefficiency Or Otherwise He Fails In His Duty To Stand By The Country. In Either Event, It Is Unpatriotic Not To Tell The Truth, Whether About The President Or Anyone Else.

No Man Should Receive A Dollar Unless That Dollar Has Been Fairly Earned.

It Pays No Matter What Comes After It, To Try And Do Things, To Accomplish Things In This Life And Not Merely To Have A Soft And Pleasant Time.

Although Not A Very Old Man, I Have Yet Lived A Great Deal In My Life, And I Have Known Sorrow Too Bitter And Joy Too Keen To Allow Me To Become Either Cast Down Or Elated For More Than A Very Brief Period Over Any Success Or Defeat.