Teddy Roosevelt

I believe in children. I like your stock, and I want to see it kept up.

It is character that determines the nation's progress in the long run.

I wish to say that I am stirred most deeply by this magnificent reception from what Mr. Rhodes has so well called the Magic City of the South.

I believe in it with all my heart.

Now, think what it means to have the President of the United States greeted as he has been today.

As I said once before today, I like your stock and am glad it is not dying out.

The successful performance of political duty depends absolutely upon the successful performance of domestic, of social duty.

Let each man strive to excel his fellows only by rendering substantial service to the community in which he lives.

The destiny of the race is chiefly in its own hands, and must be worked out patiently and persistently along these lines.

The man that counts is the average private citizen; he is the man that counts.

The man or the woman who counts in life is the man or the woman who does not flinch from a task, but who does the task, who overcomes the obstacle.

I would not call myself a good American if I did not.

It is a liberal education in itself just to come here and see this great focus of civilization.

Finally, and in closing, my friends, let me draw one more lesson from the Civil War; from the experience of the men of the Civil War.

The one thing this nation cannot afford to neglect is the education of the nation of the future.

But to be a member of a self-governing community means that if you are to do your part in that community, you must possess the powers of self-restraint, of self-rule, of courage, of honesty, clean living, and decent thinking.

The hope of advancement for the colored man in the South lies in his steady, commonsense effort to improve his moral and material condition.

It is in the interest, and for the protection, of the white man to see that the negro is educated.

I will be through now in just two minutes more.

What we need is the performance of duty, of the ordinary duty that the ordinary man or woman has to meet as he or she lives his or her life.

We must remember that we leave this country in the hands of the children of today.

Poor, indeed, would be the soul of the man who did not leave Montgomery a better American than when he came into it.

Viewed from any angle, ignorance is the costliest crop that can be raised in any part of this Union.

No American worthy of the name would fail to be stirred with patriotism as he comes into your magnificent State, into this magnificent city.

People can govern themselves only by practicing the virtues of moderation, self-restraint, of understanding that the simple homely virtues of honesty, courage and common sense are essential to the full development of citizenship in a free…