If a man shrinks then the nation will be known for its weakness, but if he strives then the nation will be known for its glory. Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th president of the United States and in 1899, he gave his famous speech ‘The Strenuous Life’. This speech was a collection of Roosevelt’s works and experiences. It talks about how he thinks that for America to overcome any difficulty and compete against any other country; the citizens must work hard and give their full potential. He believed that for people to have success, then they must work hard for it. In those times, Philippines, Cuba, and Puerto Rico were colonies of the United States. For that reason, he wanted to make America look stronger by implying more work on the navy. According to Mr. Roosevelt, civic duty is to show that people are strong and want to work to improve themselves and the nation; through the work of intense hours, people get success and the nation will be strong enough to compete against any challenging task.
Thanks to the hard work of someone’s father or grandfather, they will be benefited and life will be much easier for them. They can be freed of any type of work because of the extra time his ancestors put in; it’s accumulative. For example, since the ancestors have worked so much, they are more than wealthy enough to stop working for some time. To take full advantage of this ‘freedom’, someone must work a bit so that they don’t waste it. “The freedom thus purchased is used aright and the man still does work; then he shows he deserves his good fortune”, admitted Mr. Roosevelt. If he doesn’t take care of this freedom and doesn’t use it correctly; such as using it as a time for not training, and more for a time to have fun. Then that person is showing he doesn’t deserve all the hard work his ancestors did, and he is wasting it; like Roosevelt said; “Freedom from effort in the present merely means that there have been stored up effort in the past”. The fellow ancestors of a person did their civic duty, and work a lot to get that person to where he is right now. Thanks to them, he doesn’t need to worry about being economically good; but that doesn’t give him the freedom of not doing anything. Nothing worth having come easily.
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United States must complete one of the greatest task modern civilization has ever seen, the Panama Canal that will connect the oceans of the East, and the West. This will help the nation’s growth. If they step in to do the work, then they must; otherwise, it will bring infamy to the country. It will be completed by a manlier and considered ‘greater’ country; while the USA will be known as weaklings. “The work must be done…glad of the chance to show ourselves equal to one of the great tasks set modern civilization”. Giving up is synonym of failure, but to always continue trying is synonym of perseverance; a quality only the most admired nations have. They will be remembered for doing one of the most impressive men’s work.
People must do whatever they can to fulfill their nations full potential. It depends on them how they want people to see their nations. If they are lazy, non-working civilians, then their country won’t be able to continue growing; but if they work for a better future, work for a better nation, then they can hope that their country and life will prosper. Theodore Roosevelt shows it with an example of the past; “if twenty years ago, we had gone to war, we should have found the navy as absolutely unprepared as the army…the navy was gradually built up….and, it leaped its proper place as one of the most formidable navies in the entire world”. Lazy people tend to live a life that has no value at all; since at the end, they have no achievements. That’s why working hard makes you feel satisfaction; since you had felt like you had a purpose, and you got to fulfill it and help the nation be where it stands right now.
Nothing in this life is insured. Everything is achieved through hard work. The motivation of any individual is success, and to earn that success they must work for it. The work of any individual will also affect the success of any nation. A nation with good, hardworking people, most of the time, strive and get to be considered as one of the most important countries. Big nations, such as the United States, are considered important because of their history of men working hard. They got to rebuild their poor and ineffective navy and transformed it into one of the most powerful ones. A peaceful and ease history only shows that the country is a weakling and can’t fight any war; but because of all the wars and life lost by the US, they are considered as, how Theodore Roosevelt rightfully said, a “helmeted queen among nations”.
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