We must make up our minds what are the best
things to do and what are the best ways to do them.
We must put our money, our energy, our enthusiasm, our sympathy into
these things; and we must have our judgments prepared and our spirits
chastened against the coming of that day. So that I am not speaking in a
selfish spirit when I say that our whole duty for the present, at any
rate, is summed up in this motto, "America first." Let us think of
America before we think of Europe, in order that America may be fit to
be Europe's friend when the day of tested friendship comes. The test of
friendship is not now sympathy with the one side or the other, but
getting ready to help both sides when the struggle is over.
The basis of neutrality, gentlemen, is not indifference; it is not
self-interest. The basis of neutrality is sympathy for mankind. It is
fairness, it is good-will at bottom. It is impartiality of spirit and of
judgment. I wish that all of our fellow-citizens could realize that.
There is in some quarters a disposition to create distempers in this
body politic. Men are even uttering slanders against the United States
as if to excite her.
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