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| Home | Reading Room | HERO TALES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY
HERO TALES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY
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TO E. Y. R.
To you we owe the suggestion of writing this book. Its purpose,
as you know better than any one else, is to tell in simple
fashion the story of some Americans who showed that they knew how
to live and how to die; who proved their truth by their endeavor;
and who joined to the stern and manly qualities which are
essential to the well-being of a masterful race the virtues of
gentleness, of patriotism, and of lofty adherence to an ideal.
It is a good thing for all Americans, and it is an especially
good thing for young Americans, to remember the men who have
given their lives in war and peace to the service of their
fellow-countrymen, and to keep in mind the feats of daring and
personal prowess done in time past by some of the many champions
of the nation in the various crises of her history. Thrift,
industry, obedience to law, and intellectual culvation are
essential qualities in the makeup of any successful people; but
no people can be really great unless they possess also the heroic
virtues which are as needful in time of peace as in time of war,
and as important in civil as in military life. As a civilized
people we desire peace, but the only peace worth having is
obtained by instant readiness to fight when wronged--not by
unwillingness or inability to fight at all. Intelligent foresight
in preparation and known capacity to stand well in battle are the
surest safeguards against war. America will cease to be a great
nation whenever her young men cease to possess energy, daring,
and endurance, as well as the wish and the power to fight the
nation's foes. No citizen of a free state should wrong any man;
but it is not enough merely to refrain from infringing on the
rights of others; he must also be able and willing to stand up
for his own rights and those of his country against all comers,
and he must be ready at any time to do his full share in
resisting either malice domestic or foreign levy.
HENRY CABOT LODGE. THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
WASHINGTON, April 19, 1895.
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