Roosevelt, Theodore -- Autobiography, ch. 1 “Boyhood and Youth” (1913)

Dave — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 22:28:30 +0000

The teaching which I received was genuinely democratic in one way. It was not so democratic in another. I grew into manhood thoroughly imbued with the feeling that a man must be respected for what he made of himself. But I had also, consciously or unconsciously, been taught that socially and industrially pretty much the whole duty of the man lay in thus making the best of himself; that he should be honest in his dealings with others and charitable in the old-fashioned way to the unfortunate; but that it was no part of his business to join with others in trying to make things better for the many by curbing the abnormal and excessive development of individualism in a few.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer; US President (1901–09)
Autobiography, ch. 1 “Boyhood and Youth” (1913)
(Source)

Ingersoll, Robert Green -- Speech (1876-10-20), “Hayes Campaign,” Exposition Building, Chicago

Dave — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 04:03:15 +0000

The superior man is the man that loves his fellow-man; the superior man is the useful man; the superior man is the kind man, the man who lifts up his down-trodden brothers; and the greater the load of human sorrow and human want you can get in your arms, the easier you can climb the great hill of fame. The superior man is the man who loves his fellow-man.
And let me say right here, the good men, the superior men, the grand men are brothers the world over, no matter what their complexion may be; centuries may separate them, yet they are hand in hand; and all the good, and all the grand, and all the superior men, shoulder to shoulder, heart to heart, are fighting the great battle for the progress of mankind.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833–1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Speech (1876-10-20), “Hayes Campaign,” Exposition Building, Chicago
(Source)

On Whites in the South, and the Democratic Party, who believed they remained superior to Blacks.

WIST Quotations

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Autobiography, ch. 1 “Boyhood and Youth” (1913)

Ingersoll, Robert Green -- Speech (1876-10-20), “Hayes Campaign,” Exposition Building, Chicago