The Paducah evening sun., 1910-04-23
Roosevelt Addresses Student
Body Of Famous Univer.
sity Of Paris Today.
Emphasizes Common Virtue 8
Of Homes and State.
IDEALS AND COMMON SENSE


the students at sorbonne on "Citi-
zenship In a Republic" lie said In
part:
Under other forms OF govern
ment. under rule of one man or OF
a very few men. the quality OF the
rulers Is all-important. II. under
such governments. the quality OF
the rulers is high enough, then the
nation may for generations lead
brilliant career. and add substan-
TALLY to the sum OF world achieve
ment. no matter how low the quality
of the average citizen; because the
average citizen Is an almost negli-
bic quantity In working out the hnal
results OF that type OF national
greatness.
bat with you ana with us tho
case is different. with you mere,
and with us In my own home. In
the long run. success or failure VIII
be conditioned upon the way m
which the average man. the average
woman. does his or her duty, irst
In the ordinary. everyday affairs OF
lie. and next in those great occa-
slonal crisis which call for the
heroic virtues. The average citizen
must be a good citizen II our repub-
lies are 10 succeed. The stream viii
not permanently rise higher than
the main source: and the main
source of national power and ma
tional greatness is found in the
average citizenship OF the nation.
Therefore Il behooyes US to do our
best 70 see that the standard of The
average citizen Is kept high; and
the average cannot be kept high an
less the standard OF the leaders Is
very much higher.
II 10 well if a large proportion
OF the leaders In any republic, In
any democracy. are. as matter OF
course. drawn from the classes rep
resented in this audience today; but
only provided that those classes pos
sess the gifts OF sympathy with
plain people and of devotion TO great
ideals. You and those like you
have received special advantages;
you have all OF you had the oppor-
tunity for mental training; many OF
you have had leisure; most OF YOU
have had chance for the enjoy
ment OF life far greater than comes
TO the majority OF your fellows To
you and your kind much has been
given. and from you much shodld
be expected. Yet there are certain
fa.lings against which II Is espc-
cially incumbent that both men OF
trained and cultivated intellect. and
men OF inherited wealth and posi-
tion. should especially guard them
selves. because to these failings they
are especially liable; and II yielded
TO. their-your-chan of useful
service are at an end.
Cynicism.
Let the man of learning. the nan
of lettered leisure. beware OF that
queer and cheap temptation to pose
TO hlmseH and to others as the
cynic. as the man who has out
grown emotions and beliefs, .he
man to whom good and evil are az
one. The poorest way to face life
is to face II with sneer. There
are many men who feel a kind of
twisted pride in cynicism; there are
many who confne themselves Ia
criticism of the way others do what
they themselves dare not even at.
tempt. There Is no more unhealthy
nj
spect. than he who either really
holds. or feigns to hold. an attitude
of sneering disbelief towards al
that is great and lofty. whether Ia
achievement or In that noble efort
which. even II II fail, comes second
to achievement A cynical habit OF
thought and speech, readiness e
criticise work which the critic him
self never tries to perform, an in
tellectual aloofness which will moi
accept contact with life's realities
all these are. marks, not, as the
possessor would fain think, OF su
periority, but of weakness. They
mark the men UNIT to bear theii
part manfully in the stern strife o
living, who seek. in the affectatior
of contempt for the achievements o
others, to hide from others and from
themselves their own weakness. Th'
role is easy; there is none easier
save only the role of the man WHIT
sneers alike at both criticism ant
performance.
II is not the critic who counts
not the man who points out nov
the strong man stumbles. or wher'