I
know that one is a Goodsoe and another a Winn by the old family look.
One generation goes, and another comes.
"There are many things that I might say to you. I meant, even in those
early restricted days, to make my name known, and I dare say that you
too have ambition. Be careful what you wish for in this world, for if
you wish hard enough you are sure to get it. I once heard a very wise
man say this, and the longer I live the more firmly I believe it to be
true. But wishing hard means working hard for what you want, and the
world's prizes wait for the men and women who are ready to take pains
to win them. Be careful and set your minds on the best things. I meant
to be a rich man when I was a boy here, and I stand before you a rich
man, knowing the care and anxiety and responsibility of wealth. I
meant to go to Congress, and I am one of the Senators from Kansota. I
say this as humbly as I say it proudly. I used to read of the valor
and patriotism of the old Greeks and Romans with my youthful blood
leaping along my veins, and it came to pass that my own country was in
danger, and that I could help to fight her battles. Perhaps some one
of these little lads has before him a more eventful life than I have
lived, and is looking forward to activity and honor and the pride of
fame. I wish him all the joy that I have had, all the toil that I have
had, and all the bitter disappointments even; for adversity leads a
man to depend upon that which is above him, and the path of glory is a
lonely path, beset by temptations and a bitter sense of the weakness
and imperfection of man.
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