In no other country than ours could such attainment have been possible for the boy whose hands were inured to toil, whose bread was eaten under the hard conditions that poverty imposes, whose only heritage was brain, integrity, lofty ambition, and indomitable purpose.
This quote emphasizes the unique opportunities available in America for individuals from humble backgrounds to achieve greatness.
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More from Adlai Stevenson
Unless curbed it will sap the foundation of civilized society.
To this man, more than to any other, are we indebted for the supreme fact that ninety millions of people are at this hour, in the loftiest sense of the expression, fellow-citizens of a common country.
In the presence of this wondrous fulfillment of predicted greatness, prophecy looks out upon the future and stands dumb.
Looking back through the long vista of years, it is my honest belief that such singing as his, at home or abroad, I have never heard.