Ignoble Ease and the Strenuous Life
Consider the words of a great man:
“I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires a mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these things wins the splendid ultimate triumph.”
It is the calling to which the compassionate rise to….the young men and women who are serving around the world and stateside right now.
“The timid man, the lazy man, the man who distrusts his country, the over civilized man, who has lost the great fighting, masterful virtues, the ignorant man, and the man of dull mind, whose soul is incapable of feeling the mighty lift that thrills ‘stern men with empires on their brains’ – all these, or course, shrink from seeing the nation undertake its new duties; shrink from seeing us build a navy and an army adequate for our needs; shrink from seeing us do our share of the world’s work, by bringing order out of chaos…These are men who fear the strenuous life, who fear the only national life which is worth leading. They believe in that cloistered life which saps the hardy virtues in a nation, as it saps them in the individual; or else they are wedded to that base spirit of gain and greed which recognizes in commercialism the be-all and end-all of national life, instead of realizing that, though an indispensable element, it is, after all, but one of the many elements that go to make up true national greatness.”
We have too many timid, lazy and distrustful people. Huge houses, many cars, far too many vacations, and too much adoration showered on them, because they can get it right after multiple takes, among others. And don’t forget the manicured and properly dressed “talking heads†of the HBM, who think their job is not reporting but changing the world…
“A man’s first duty is to take his own home, but he is not thereby excused from doing his duty to the state; for if he fails in this second duty, it is under penalty of ceasing to be a freeman.”
For those who fail at the second duty, try this form of “math”: (SU)3…Do you value freedom more that personal comfort or the mirror image of that statement? Duty need not be running out the door of a C-17 to jump with the 82nd Airborne Division, it can come in many other forms, which are all part of serving the nation. I’d submit making a profession, or even avocation, of opposition and picking everything apart, particularly for the reason to be contrary, when you have no solutions does not qualify as serving any nation. The verb “to serve” requires action, not inaction.
“..and there should be no parlaying, no faltering, in dealing with our foe. As for those in our own country who encourage our foe, we can afford contemptuously to disregard them; but it must be remembered that their utterances are not saved from being treasonable merely by the fact that they are despicable.”
Congressman Durbin, are you listening to the wisdom of a great man? The “foe” certainly understands this. Maybe they read this speech and grabbed onto the calling.
“If we stand idly by, if we seek merely swollen, slothful ease and ignoble peace, if we shrink from the hard contests where men must win at the hazard of their lives and at the risk of all they hold dear, then the bolder and stronger peoples will pass us by, and will win for themselves the domination of the world.”
Sounds like a warning of what will become if we hold back, put more importantly, if we pull back. Not that domination is the goal, but to ensure freedom becomes a common experience.
“Let us therefore boldly face the life of strife, resolute to do our duty well and manfully; resolute to uphold righteousness by deed and by word; resolute to be both honest and brave, to serve high ideals, yet to use practical methods.”
Solution to the “problem:” (SU)3…Roll up your sleeves and get dirty to serve a higher calling that yourself.
“Above all, let us shrink from no strife, moral or physical, within and without the nation, provided we are certain that the strife is justified, for it is only through strife, through hard and dangerous endeavor, that we will ultimately win the goal of true national greatness.”
I want this guy to “lead the charge.” He certainly has my vote. He speaks to those who want to back away from the GWoT, because it’s too hard, too messy, not “PC” to not blame America. He exhorts us to “do it” the right way, and to be sure of our reasoning.
He calls out those who would verbally “provide aid and comfort to the enemy” and uses the correct adjective for their action: Treasonous. Treason in war can be punished by death. That’s Federal law. Woodrow Wilson had a candidate who opposed him and made anti-War statements charged with sedition and, when convicted, he served 10 years in Federal Prison. I think Congressman Durbin should be making calls to Martha Stewart right about now.
Who gave this speech? Theodore Roosevelt, April 10th, 1899.
Leave with this thought:
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered with failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in the grey twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”
Amen to that….
Categories: History, Leadership, Political