4 The Strenuous Life 



the first consideration in their eyes to be the ulti 

 mate goal after which they strive? You men of 

 Chicago have made this city great, you men of Illi 

 nois have done your share, and more than your 

 share, in making America great, because you neither 

 preach nor practice such a doctrine. You work 

 yourselves, and you bring up your sons to work. 

 If you are rich and are worth your salt, you will 

 teach your sons that though they may have leisure, 

 it is not to be spent in idleness; for wisely used 

 leisure merely means that those who possess it, be 

 ing free from the necessity of working for their live 

 lihood, are all the more bound to carry on some kind 

 of non-remunerative work in science, in letters, in 

 art, in exploration, in historical research work of 

 the type we most need in this country, the successful 

 carrying out of which reflects most honor upon the 

 nation. We do not admire the man of timid peace. 

 We admire the man who embodies victorious effort ; 

 the man who never wrongs his neighbor, who is 

 prompt to help a friend, but who has those virile 

 qualities necessary to win in the stern strife of actual 

 life. It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have 

 tried to succeed. In this life we get nothing save 

 by effort. Freedom from effort in the present mere 

 ly means that there has been stored up effort in the 

 past. A man can be freed from the necessity of 

 work only by the fact that he or his fathers before 



