1The first duty of an American citizen, then, is that he shall work in politics; his second duty is that he shall do that work in a practical manner; and his third is that it shall be done in accord with the highest principles of honor and justice.
2Of course, in one sense, the first essential for a man's being a good citizen is his possession of the home virtues of which we think when we call a man by the emphatic adjective of manly.
3No man can be a good citizen who is not a good husband and a good father, who is not honest in his dealings with other men and women, faithful to his friends and fearless in the presence of his foes.
4He must be brave and vigorous, he must be willing and able to hold his own in the rough work of the world, and he must be clean in his living.
5In short, in the life of the family, he must show the fundamental virtues, the practice of which makes the decent man everywhere.
6But in addition to being decent in his private life, the man who is a good citizen must be a man who is not content to merely live for himself.
7He must take an active part in the work of the community in which he lives. If he fails in this, no matter how good he is in other relations, he is not a good citizen.
8The people who say that they haven't time to attend to politics are simply saying that they are unfit to live in a free community.
9Their place is under a despotism; or if they are content to do nothing, let them at least be silent and let the men who are willing to make the effort carry on the government.
10The man who goes into politics as a business has no place in politics. But the man who goes into politics to do his duty as a citizen, to help govern the country, is doing the highest possible work.
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