American youth

“ There was a time, sir, when the American people were permitted to indulge in the exuberant dreams of youth, laughing away all suggestions of danger and delighting in those eagle flights of fancy, which showed to them nothing but continents and seas to be conquered, a world to be ruled, an infinite, incomprehensible destiny to be fulfilled. The American people have by this time outgrown their boyhood. ”

“ In the coming months, I urge American youth to reflect on our precious freedoms, to exchange ideas among themselves and with young people around the world, and to join with others in efforts to increase mutual understanding, enhance the observance of human rights, and promote world peace. In short, I urge our youth to be what they have been for many generations: America's proudest ambassadors of goodwill and our national values. ”

“ And in order, young gentlemen, to set before you the magnitude and importance of the responsibilities of the youth of our country—the length and breadth, the depth and height of those responsibilities—it will be necessary to present to you, first, those subjects which have created those responsibilities, which now, in all the weight and force of a high and mighty moral obligation, the obligation of the Most High God, rest upon the American people in general, and upon the American youth in particular. ”

“ Strong erect young men, sons of America, who perceive, with the clearness of the spirit, the problems of the future and who, with the red blood of youth coursing in their veins and the glow of enthusiasm lingering in their eyes, will take up the task of solving them. ”

“ More than 50 million American youth are included in the Nation's general population. These young citizens play major roles in our society as they mature into adulthood. They make important contributions to our country by pursuing their education, working in the economy, upholding the law, and joining the military services. ”

“ Let every boy that belongs to a public school write his motto in his cap, and let him read the Latin, and feel the English of it whenever he puts it on or takes it off. Palmam qui meruit ferat. “Let him wear the palm who wins it.”
EDUCATION PREPARES THE YOUTH FOR EMINENCE IN LIFE.
And the education and character thus to be obtained by the American youth are the means by which he may erect the monument of his renown in the years of his maturity. The pursuit of study in the acquirement of character, prepares him for the march to eminence in any of the professions. ”

“ And the youth should keep his eye and his heart firmly and devotedly fixed upon it. He should know that the partizan is not the patriot, and he should be capable of making the distinction. And in the acquirement of the patriotic character he may feel that he is an American, and he may receive enjoyment, in a high degree, from the pleasure such feelings must ever produce. And such an American is the champion of his country, and of his country’s rights and honor. ”

“ With five chances on each hand and one unwavering aim, no boy, however poor, need despair. There is bread and success for every youth under the American flag who has energy and ability to seize his opportunity. ”

“ But we are not yet a perfect people. We are still in the making. It is a glorious circumstance. Youth is the noblest of God's gifts. The youth of a nation is like the youth of a man. The American people are young? ”

“ The youth has led the happy, careless life of a modern, well-to-do young American and he cannot, with his meagre past, express the love, the passion and the tragedies of life and all its happy phases as can the master who has lived life in all its fulness. ”

“ What was not unbecoming of a child would be disgraceful of a youth.’ We certainly have outgrown that view of things, and the American youngster comes nearer being without hypocrisy than any product of civilization that I ever have studied. But what have we in place of the piety and affectation? What is the working result of so much independence? Are not the American girl children, as well as the boys, a trifle irreverent? ”

“ While it is easy, in a study of the United States, to see the essential truth of the analogy between the youth of an individual and the youth of a State, we must also remember that America was in many respects born full-grown, like Athena from the brain of Zeus, and coördinates in the most extraordinary way the shrewdness of the sage with the naïveté of the child. ”

“ Because we know it so well, we know that it could be a haven of peace, security and abundance for all.
Therefore, we the young people of America, reaffirm our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. With confidence we look forward to a better life, a larger liberty and freedom. To those ends we dedicate our lives, our intelligence and our unified strength. ”

“ If these Commentaries shall but inspire in the rising generation a more ardent love of their country, an unquenchable thirst for liberty, and a profound reverence for the constitution and the Union, then they will have accomplished all, that their author ought to desire. Let the American youth never forget, that they possess a noble inheritance, bought by the toils, and sufferings, and blood of their ancestors; ”

“ It tells of triumphs which the mind, in its improvement, has achieved, and of the trophies reared by hands of educated skill. There is no department of life in which the American boy may enter but will afford him honor and honorable success, if he seeks it in a manner that is becoming in the American character. ”

“ The intermingling in the school of youth of different races, differing religions, and unlike customs creates for all a new and broader environment. Common subject matter accustoms all to a unity of outlook upon a broader horizon than is visible to the members of any group while it is isolated. The assimilative force of the American public school is eloquent testimony to the efficacy of the common and balanced appeal. ”

“ In our schools, he says, it is possible to trace the universality of the ideals of democratic government. The public schools are the mills to which comes the grist of immigration, to be ground into American citizens.
To the American character he admits the advantages of youth—sincerity, frankness, prompt initiative ”

“ But if the education of youth, both public and private, is attended to, their industrious and economical habits maintained, their moral character and the assemblage of virtues supported, which is necessary for the happiness of individuals and of nations, there is not much danger that they will for a long time be subjugated by the arms of foreigners, or that their republican system will be subverted by the arts of domestic enemies. ”

“ I am confident that they will continue to play an important role in American society for many years to come, molding our youth with programs that build confidence and competence, and instilling in them principles that can guide them through their lives. ”

“ But really, it strikes me, that the ineffectual imitation of an exploded social organization is, at least, two centuries behind my time. The youth who, socially speaking, are termed Young America, represent, in character and conduct, anything but their own time and their own country. ”

“ At the same time it is no idle boast that the world is at present looking toward America; and whatever we become is bound to lower or raise the standards of life. The other countries are old, we are youth personified! We have all youth's glorious beauty and strength and vitality and courage. ”

“ It has been all more than delightful, and I do hope the Americans like us as much as we like them; from East to here we have received nothing but exquisite courtesy and kindness, and I can never tell you what a grand and open and splendid nation they are, Mamma, or how little understood in Europe. All their faults are the faults of youth, as I said before; and everyone will admit youth is a gift of the gods. ”

“ You know that the great melting-pot of America, the place where we are all made Americans of, is the public school, where men of every race and of every origin and of every station in life send their children, or ought to send their children, and where, being mixed together, the youngsters are all infused with the American spirit and developed into American men and American women. ”

“ Of course I do not mean that we are perfect—we are still crude; or that we have not made mistakes—we have rioted in error; or that other nations cannot teach us something—we can learn greatly from them, and we will. But this is the point as it affects you, young man: Among all the uncounted millions of human beings on this earth, none has the opportunities to make the most of life that the young American has. ”

“ None too well trained, none too experienced, with the pleasure-loving qualities of youth, we have suddenly, by a world tragedy, been made heir to the greatest estate of opportunity that imagination ever pictured."
America is in a period which for good or ill is a turning point in her history. Her duty and her responsibility are equally as great as her opportunity. ”

“ A propos of the young people, that is our other danger; the young people are eating us up,—there is nothing in America but the young people. The country is made for the rising generation; life is arranged for them ”

“ We must provide our teens with opportunity and hope, with firm yet loving moral guidance and discipline, and—most important—with clear, consistent examples of personal responsibility and virtue.
No child is destined to become a "bad teen." Through loving, responsible parenting and through the support of schools, churches, and communities that set high standards of character and conduct for people of all ages, we can help every young American to recognize and attain his or her fullest potential. ”

“ In every age of the world, there has been a leading nation, one of a more generous sentiment, whose eminent citizens were willing to stand for the interests of general justice and humanity, at the risk of being called, by the men of the moment, chimerical and fantastic. Which should be that nation but these States? Which should lead that movement, if not New England? Who should lead the leaders, but the Young American? The people, and the world, is now suffering from the want of religion and honor in its public mind. In America, out of doors all seems a market ”

“ Our young Americans have every reason to be proud of their contributions to the American way of life. They can look forward to doing more as they complete their educations and move into positions in science, space, education, medicine, business, labor, government, military service, and other fields. ”

“ The late war has demonstrated to the whole world the wonderful skill and pluck of the young American, and the world must not suppose these qualities to be suddenly acquired, but must know them to be a matter of education—an education acquired during boyhood, at the boy’s own school, with boy professors. ”

“ They were mostly high-spirited young people, inspired by fresh ideals which they had failed to realize in the old world, but hoped to realize here; ready to enter upon any activity they might be capable of; and eager not only to make that activity profitable but also to render life merry and beautiful; and, withal, full of enthusiasm for the great American Republic which was to be their home and the home of their children. ”

“ America rejoices in the energy, the imagination, and the promise of her young people. Whether in voluntary service, athletics, education, music, military service or within the family, young Americans display an enthusiasm, creativity, idealism, and dedication that have accomplished so much for our society and the world. ”

“ Since the Civil War we have grown rich and fat, flaccid and spineless. We are like a great, careless boy with a rich father; our crops and material resources symbolize the rich father who is able to pay for all his son's foolishness. And so the youth has never stopped to think. But underneath that careless exterior there are muscle and character. For what is the history of Youth? If the youth is to become a real man he cannot be curbed to the extent of forgetting courage in an excess of caution. ”

“ Just as in generations past, the continued well-being of our country depends on the development and preparation of youth in the skills they will need and on their understanding and awareness of the freedom, faith, and opportunity that are at the heart of America's greatness and goodness. ”

“ For that reason men of every nation were moved to desire a transformed society. But perhaps that quality of expectancy was the quality of youth. For the first time in history, in the early twentieth century, age was giving place to youth in the political equilibrium of the generations. ”

“ We are giving to our youth new opportunities for work and education.
We have sustained the morale of all the population by the dignified recognition of our obligations to the aged, the helpless and the needy. ”

“ I have introduced the Helping America's Youth initiative, led by First Lady Laura Bush, so that every child can grow up with a caring adult in his or her life—whether that adult is a parent, a teacher, a coach, or a mentor. I encourage all Americans to volunteer their time and talents to benefit our Nation's youth. ”

“ More than fifty million young Americans contribute to the vitality of our Nation. In their values, aspirations and accomplishments we see reflected not only a rich heritage but a vision of America in the future. It will be a society generous in spirit, strong in character and sincere in purpose-one in which freedom and opportunity give rise to responsibility and excellence.
Just as young Americans can be proud of their contribution to our Nation, they also share a vital part of the life of the smaller community of the family. ”