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Home  »  Theodore Roosevelt, the Citizen  »  Page 421

Jacob A. Riis (1849–1914). Theodore Roosevelt, the Citizen. 1904.

Page 421


danger, from hardships, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph.”
  On practical politics and Christian citizenship he has this to say:
  “I am a loyal party man, but I believe very firmly that I can best render aid to my party by doing all that in me lies to make that party responsive to the needs of the state, responsive to the needs of the people, and just so far as I work along those lines I have the right to challenge the support of every decent man, no matter what his party may be.”
  “I despise a man who surrenders his conscience to a multitude as much as I do the one who surrenders it to one man.”
  “If we wish to do good work for our country we must be unselfish, disinterested, sincerely desirous of the well-being of the commonwealth, and capable of devoted adherence to a lofty ideal; but in addition we must be vigorous in mind and body, able to hold our own in rough conflict with our fellows, able to suffer punishment without flinching, and, at need, to repay it in kind with full interest.”