Great words from a man despised by many

[ericsteven]

"As you know, I kind of like to read books. I am not educated, but I do read books -- and the T.R. quote was a pretty good one. Here is another one I found as I was reading, my last night in the White House, and this quote is about a young man. He was a young lawyer in New York. He had married a beautiful girl, and they had a lovely daughter, and then suddenly she died, and this is what he wrote. This was in his diary.

He said, 'She was beautiful in face and form and lovelier still in spirit. As a flower she grew and as a fair young flower she died. Her life had been always in the sunshine. There had never come to her a single great sorrow. None ever knew her who did not love and revere her for her bright and sunny temper and her saintly unselfishness. Fair, pure and joyous as a maiden, loving, tender and happy as a young wife. When she had just become a mother, when her life seemed to be just begun and when the years seemed so bright before her, then by a strange and terrible fate death came to her. And when my heart's dearest died, the light went from my life forever.'

That was T.R. in his twenties. He thought the light had gone from his life forever -- but he went on. And he not only became President but, as an ex-President, he served his country, always in the arena, tempestuous, strong, sometimes wrong, sometimes right, but he was a man.

And as I leave, let me say, that is an example I think all of us should remember. We think sometimes when things happen that don't go the right way; we think that when you don't pass the bar exam the first time -- I happened to, but I was just lucky; I mean, my writing was so poor the bar examiner said, "We have just got to let the guy through." We think that when someone dear to us dies, we think that when we lose an election, we think that when we suffer a defeat that all is ended. We think, as T.R. said, that the light had left his life forever.

Not true. It is only a beginning, always. The young must know it; the old must know it. It must always sustain us, because the greatness comes not when things go always good for you, but the greatness comes and you are really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes, because only if you have been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.

And so I say to you on this occasion, as we leave, we leave proud of the people who have stood by us and worked for us and served this country.

We want you to be proud of what you have done. We want you to continue to serve in government, if that is your wish. Always give your best, never get discouraged, never be petty; always remember, others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself."

Richard Nixon - Farewell Speech

[gmik]

Wow!!  That was great reading.

Is T.R.  Teddy Roosevelt??  If so, we are like 7th cousins.  We share an immigrant grandfather- Jan Huss.

Anything you can read on Teddy is a good read!!  I can't believe all that happened to him and all that he did!!  His wife and mother both died on Valentines Day the same day-just hours apart.  He took his grief out west. Thats how he got into all that hunting and land and stuff.  He fought in Cuba.  He remarried.  Oh, that doesn't even scratch the surface.

But I digress!  Sorry.

I am old enough to remember Richard Nixon.  I cried the day he resigned.  I also cried when Lyndon Johnson said he wouldn't run again.

Now, I know those are things of the world and I try to get out of her.

But that speech was a good one!  Thanks for sharing.

[OBrenda]

Well sounds like confirmation, that the Beast and God's greatness resides together in human form.
Some of us don't live public lives to have others see what a mess we can make of things.
Thanks for sharing EricSteven