The Strenuous Life: Essays and Addresses

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Cosimo, Inc., 2006 M05 1 - 340 pages
A life of slothful ease, a life of that peace which springs merely from lack of either of desire or of power to strive after great things, is as little worthy of a nation as of an individual. I ask only that what every self-respecting American demands from himself and from his sons shall be demanded of the American nation as a whole. Who among you would teach your boys that ease, that peace, is to be the first consideration in their eyes?-from "The Strenuous Life"Of all the many sides of Theodore Roosevelt-politician and soldier, naturalist and historian-today he remains a grand symbol of booming American progress in the 20th century. Indeed, he is largely responsible for setting the nation on the course it has followed over those hundred years, as this 1904 volume handily demonstrates. This collection of speeches Roosevelt gave and essays he wrote from 1899 through 1901 illuminates his keen image of America as a nation strong of character, honest of leadership, and rich in material and moral wealth-and represents the splendid challenge he extended to the American people to match him in action and in spirit, and to create a political and social life for the country as robust as his own personal and public life was. This is, in the aggregate, a revealing picture of the character of one of the great American personalities.Also available from Cosimo Classics: Roosevelt's Letters to His Children, A Book-Lover's Holidays in the Open, America and the World War, Through the Brazilian Wilderness and Papers on Natural History, Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail, and Historic Towns: New YorkOF INTEREST TO: Roosevelt fans, students of the American presidency, readers of 20th-century U.S. and world historyAmerican icon THEODORE ROOSEVELT (1858-1919) was 26th President of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909, and the first American to win a Nobel Prize, in 1906, when he was awarded the Peace Prize for mediating the Russo-Japanese War. He is the author of 35 books.

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Contents

THE STRENUOUS LIFE
1
EXPANSION AND PEACE
25
LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE AMONG REFORMERS
41
FELLOWFEELING AS A POLITICAL FACTOR 65
65
CIVIC HELPFULNESS
91
CHARACTER AND SUCCESS
113
THE EIGHTH AND NINTH COMMANDMENTS
125
THE BEST AND THE GOOD
135
NESS
167
ADMIRAL DEWEY
189
GRANT
207
THE TWO AMERICAS
229
MANHOOD AND STATEHOOD
245
BROTHERHOOD AND THE HEROIC VIRTUES
263
NATIONAL DUTIES
279
THE LABOR QUESTION
301

PROMISE AND PERFORMANCE
143
THE AMERICAN BOY
155
CHRISTIAN CITIZENSHIP
321
Copyright

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Page 7 - American republic placed once more as a helmeted queen among nations. We of this generation do not have to face a task such as that our fathers faced, but we have our tasks, and woe to us if we fail to perform them! We cannot, if we would, play the part of China, and be content to rot by inches in ignoble ease within our borders, taking no interest in what goes on beyond them, sunk in a scrambling commercialism; heedless of the higher life, the life of aspiration, of toil and risk, busying ourselves...
Page 5 - Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.
Page 3 - ... work. If you are rich and are worth your salt, you will teach your sons that though they may have leisure it is not to be spent in idleness; for wisely used leisure merely means that those who possess it, being free from the necessity of working for their livelihood, are all the more bound to carry on some kind of non-remunerative work in science, in letters, in art, in exploration, in historical research — work of the type we most need in this country, the successful carrying out of which...
Page 3 - We do not admire the man of timid peace. We admire the man who embodies victorious effort; the man who never wrongs his neighbor, who is prompt to help a friend, but who has those virile qualities necessary to win in the stern strife of actual life.
Page 21 - I preach to you, then, my countrymen, that our country calls not for the life of ease but for the life of strenuous endeavor.
Page 10 - We cannot sit huddled within our own borders and avow ourselves merely an assemblage of well-to-do hucksters who care nothing for what happens beyond.
Page 17 - In the West Indies and the Philippines alike we are confronted by most difficult problems. It is cowardly to shrink from solving them in the proper way; for solved they must be, if not by us, then by some stronger and more manful race. If we are too weak, too selfish, or too foolish to solve them, some bolder and abler people must undertake the solution. Personally, I am far too firm a believer in the greatness of my country and the...
Page 2 - A life of slothful ease, a life of that peace which springs merely from lack either of desire or of power to strive after great things, is as little worthy of a nation as of an individual. I ask only that what every selfrespecting American demands from himself and from Ms sons shall be demanded of the American nation as a whole.

About the author (2006)

Periodically throughout his extraordinary career, Theodore Roosevelt turned to the writing of history. Energetic about everything he did, he imbued his writing with verve and a strong sense of drama that continues to attract readers today. Born in New York City and educated at Harvard University, he immersed himself in public affairs long before he became President of the United States. A man of many talents, he was, among other things, police commissioner, mayoral candidate, rancher, hunter, explorer, soldier, and governor. His strong sense of history probably influenced his actions more times than not, and certainly he brought to the White House in 1901 an awareness of how much the past conditions the present and informs the future. Roosevelt made history, influenced history, and wrote history.

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