ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT. 373 



as this, which substitutes for the ideal of accumulating money the in- 

 finitely loftier, non-materialistic ideal of devotion to work worth doing 

 simply for that work's sake. 



I do not in the least underestimate the need of having material 

 prosperity as the basis of our civilization, but I most earnestly insist 

 that if our civilization does not build a lofty superstructure on this 

 basis, we can never rank among the really great peoples. 



A certain amount of money is of course a necessary thing, as much 

 for the nation as for the individual; and there are few movements in 

 which I more thoroughly believe than in the movement to secure better 

 remuneration for our teachers. 



But, after all, the service you render is incalculable, because of the 

 very fact that by your lives you show that you believe ideals to be worth 

 sacrifice and that you are splendidly eager to do non-remunerative work 

 if this work is of good to your fellow-men. 



To furnish in your lives such a realized high ideal is to do a great 

 service to the country. The chief harm done by the men of swollen 

 fortune to the community is not the harm that the demagogue is apt to 

 depict as springing from their actions, but the fact that their success sets 

 up a false standard, and so serves as a bad example for the rest of us. 

 If we did not ourselves attach an exaggerated importance to the rich 

 man who is distinguished only by his riches, this rich man would have 

 a most insignificant influence over us. 



I want to interject something here that will make you keep your 

 mind on the real meaning of my words. I am speaking of the rich 

 man who thinks only of his riches, not of the rich man who uses his 

 wealth rightly and regards it as means to an end. It is well, in this 

 connection, to remember the explanation of the parable in the Bible 

 about the difficulty encountered by the rich man who wants to get into 

 heaven. It says that such entrance shall be difficult for ' the rich man 

 who trusteth in his riches.' I am here talking just of rich men who 

 trust in their riches, not of those who are good citizens and first-class 

 men, for those of the latter class are entitled to the same respect as any 

 other men. 



It is generally our own fault if he does damage to us, for he damages 

 us chiefly by arousing our envy or by rendering us sour and discon- 

 tented. In his actual business relations he is much more apt to benefit 

 than harm the rest of us, and, though it is eminently right to take what- 

 ever steps are necessary in order to prevent the exceptional members of 

 his class from doing harm, it is wicked folly to let ourselves be drawn 

 into any attack upon the wealthy man merely as such. Eemember that, 

 you teachers. It is just as wicked to attack men of wealth as such as 

 it is to attack the man of poverty as such. And, furthermore, the man 

 rendered arrogant by the possession of wealth is precisely the man who, 



