And State Papers 269 



his own. I have no respect for the man who will 

 put up with injustice. If a man will not take his 

 part, the part is not worth taking. That is true. On 

 the other hand, I have a hearty contempt for the 

 man who is always walking about wanting to pick 

 a quarrel, and above all, wanting to say something 

 unpleasant about some one else. He is not an 

 agreeable character anywhere; and the fact that he 

 talks loud does not necessarily mean that he rights 

 hard either. Sometimes you will see a man who 

 will talk loud and fight hard; but he does not fight 

 hard because he talks loud, but in spite of it. I 

 want the same thing to be true of us as a nation. 

 I am always sorry whenever I see any reflection that 

 seems to come from America upon any friendly 

 nation. To write or say anything unkind, unjust, 

 or inconsiderate about any foreign nation does not 

 do us any good, and does not help us toward hold 

 ing our own if ever the need should arise to hold 

 our own. I am sure you will not misunderstand 

 me; I am sure that it is needless for me to say 

 that I do not believe the United States should 

 ever suffer a wrong. I should be the first to ask 

 that we resent a wrong from the strong, just as 

 I should be the first to insist that we do not 

 wrong the weak. As a nation, if we are to be 

 true to our past, we must steadfastly keep these two 

 positions to submit to no injury by the strong and 

 to inflict no injury on the weak. It is not at all 

 necessary to say disagreeable things about the strong 



