ExclusiveTeddy Roosevelt’s 1910 Sorbonne speech is an inspiring tribute to citizenship

“The Man in the Arena” is the common title given to one of the most powerful presidential speeches ever made. That name is an excerpt from the two sentences from this speech which are frequently quoted and reprinted. However, this brief yet striking excerpt is but a fraction of the stirring, inspiring 9000-word speech which President Theodore Roosevelt gave at the French Sorbonne University on April 23, 1910. Its full title is “Citizenship in a Republic.”
Teddy Roosevelt believed in three important characteristics for any human being to be a good citizen: soundness of body, soundness of mind, and, above all, soundness of character. He defined this aforementioned sound character as being comprised of the everyday common virtues which are so often overlooked. Courage, honesty, self-control, and self-restraint are just a few of these all too rare virtues. They contribute to the attributes which a nation’s people need to survive, namely the ability to work, fight, and perpetuate its population through strong families. His wise words are an important lesson to us all.