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Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924

"President Wilson's Addresses"

I
always like to remind myself of a delightful saying of an Englishman of
the past generation, Charles Lamb. He stuttered a little bit, and once
when he was with a group of friends he spoke very harshly of some man
who was not present. One of his friends said: "Why, Charles, I didn't
know that you knew so and so." "O-o-oh," he said, "I-I d-d-don't; I-I
can't h-h-h hate a m-m-man I-I know." There is a great deal of human
nature, of very pleasant human nature, in the saying. It is hard to hate
a man you know. I may admit, parenthetically, that there are some
politicians whose methods I do not at all believe in, but they are jolly
good fellows, and if they only would not talk the wrong kind of politics
to me, I would love to be with them.

NO SYMPATHY WITH MOB SPIRIT
So it is all along the line, in serious matters and things less serious.
We are all of the same clay and spirit, and we can get together if we
desire to get together. Therefore, my counsel to you is this: Let us
show ourselves Americans by showing that we do not want to go off in
separate camps or groups by ourselves, but that we want to cooeperate
with all other classes and all other groups in the common enterprise
which is to release the spirits of the world from bondage.


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