“For unflagging interest and enjoyment, a household of children, if things go reasonably well, certainly makes all other forms of success and achievement lose their importance by comparison.”
“There are two things that I want you to make up your minds to: first, that you are going to have a good time as long as you live – I have no use for the sour-faced man – and next, that you are going to do something worthwhile, that you are going to work hard and do the things you set out to do.”
“Don’t hit at all if you can help it; don’t hit a man if you can possibly avoid it; but if you do hit him, put him to sleep.”
“I don’t think any President ever enjoyed himself more than I did. Moreover, I don’t think any ex-President ever enjoyed himself more.”
So, who was the adventurous US president born on this day in 1858?
Ooooh, I know! I know! (waving hand wildly)
I thought I had it in the first quote with “a household of children,” then felt even more sure with “I have no use for the sour-faced man,” and I knew I had it when I read “I don’t think any President ever enjoyed himself more than I did.”
T.R.
McCullough has a wonderful little book about him, Mornings on Horseback.