Woodrow Wilson, 1914, July 4th: Every idea must be started by somebody
“The most patriotic man
is sometimes the man who goes in the direction that he thinks right
even when he sees half the world against him.
It is the dictate of patriotism to sacrifice yourself
if you think that is the path of honor and of duty.
Do not blame others if they do not agree with you.
… the days of 1776. Those gentlemen did not attach their names to the
Declaration of Independence on this table expecting a holiday on the next day,
and that 4th of July was not itself a holiday.
All the rest of the world was against them
and smiled with cynical incredulity at the audacious undertaking.
Do you think that if they could see this great Nation now they would regret anything
that they then did to draw the gaze of a hostile world upon them?
Every idea must be started by somebody,
and it is a lonely thing to start anything.
Yet if it is in you, you must start it
if you have a man’s blood in you
and if you love the country
that you profess to be working for.”
Woodrow Wilson, Presidential Address, 1914 July 4th
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