When I have made a promise as a man I try to keep it, and I know of no
other rule permissible to a nation. The most distinguished nation in
the world is the nation that can and will keep its promises even to its
own hurt. And I want to say parenthetically that I do not think anybody
was hurt. I cannot be enthusiastic for subsidies to a monopoly, but let
those who are enthusiastic for subsidies ask themselves whether they
prefer subsidies to unsullied honor.
The most patriotic man, ladies and gentlemen, is sometimes the man who
goes in the direction that he thinks right even when he sees half the
world against him. It is the dictate of patriotism to sacrifice yourself
if you think that that is the path of honor and of duty. Do not blame
others if they do not agree with you. Do not die with bitterness in your
heart because you did not convince the rest of the world, but die happy
because you believe that you tried to serve your country by not selling
your soul. Those were grim days, the days of 1776. Those gentlemen did
not attach their names to the Declaration of Independence on this table
expecting a holiday on the next day, and that 4th of July was not itself
a holiday.
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