英文演讲稿三分钟演讲（精选15篇）
someone said “we are reading the first verse of the first chapter of a book, whose pages are infinite”. i dont know who wrote these words, but ive always liked them as a reminder that the future can be anything we want it to be. we are all in the position of the farmers. if we plant a good seed ,we reap a good harvest. if we plant nothing at all, we harvest nothing at all.
一些人说我们正在读一本无穷的书中的第一章的第一节。我不知道谁写了这些话，但是我一直很喜欢它，因为它提醒了我，我们能够创造我们想要的未来。
we are young. “how to spend the youth” it is a meaningful
question. to answer it, first i have to ask “what do you understand by the word youth” youth is not a time of life, its a state of mind. its not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips or supple knees. its the matter of the will. its the freshness of the deep spring of life.
我们都是农夫。如果我们播下好的种子，我们将会丰收。如果我们的种子很差，有很多草籽，收割的将是无用的庄稼。如果我们什么也不播种，什么收获也没有。
youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over
timidity of the appetite , for adventure over the love of ease. this often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20 . nobody grows old merely by a number of years . we grow old by deserting our ideals. years wrinkle the skin , but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul . worry , fear , self –distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust .
我们是年轻的。怎样度过青春这是个有意义的问题。为了去回答它，我首先要问从‘青春’这个词中你能理解到什么青春不是人生的一个时期，而是精神的一种状态。青春不是桃面、丹唇、柔膝，而是深沉的意志，。青春是生命的深泉在涌流.
whether 60 of 16 , there is in every human being s heart the lure of wonders, the unfailing childlike appetite of whats next and the joy of the game of living . in the center of your heart and my heart theres a wireless station : so long as it receives messages of beauty , hope ,cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite, so long as you are young .
a poet said “to see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an
hour. several days ago, i had a chance to listen to a lecture. i learnt a lot there. id like to share it with all of you. lets show our right palms. we can see
three lines that show how our love.career and life is. i have a short line of life. what about yoursi wondered whether we could see our future in this way. well, lets make a fist. where is our futurewhere is our love, career, and lifetell me.yeah, it is in our hands. it is held in ourselves.
一位诗人说从一粒沙看世界，从一朵花看天堂，把无限放在你的手掌，永恒在一刹那里收藏。几天前，我有了一个听讲座的机会，从中我学到了很多东西。现在，我想把这些与大家共享。让我们伸出右手，我们可以看到手掌中的展示我们的爱，事业和生活的三条线。我在生活方面这条线很短，那你们的呢我想知道我们是否可以用这种办法去看我们的未来。好的，让我们一起握拳。我们的未来在哪儿我们的爱、事业和生活在哪儿告诉我!是的，它们就在我们的手中。它们被我们自己掌握着。
we all want the future to be better than the past. but the future can go better itself. dont cry because it is over, smile because it happened. from the past, weve learnt that the life is tough, but we are tougher. weve learnt that we cant choose how we feel, but we can choose what
he footsteps of the 20xx world expo is getting closer and closer to us, civilized and harmonious call is still ringing in my ears. shanghai, china obtained the right to host the world expo 20xx, expo 20xx shanghai china will be a world event, the development of shanghai's new round of golden opportunity, as it is an important embodiment of our national spirit.
world expo is a great influence and a long history of international activities, is the largest gathering of human beings. people from around the world gathered in one place display their products and skills, boast of their hometown and motherland. expo set the culmination of human civilization, which has a unique appeal, make you feel surging.
world expo is a platform, we are the masters. she put up a platform for us to let the world know us; she built a bridge for us, so we better communicate with the world. this platform may let us display self wantonly. we are the masters here, we have to landlord, let guest experience enthusiasm and happiness.
everyone to contribute for the expo, we are no exception, as a living piece of fertile land in pudong's teachers, we are proud and pride. in the vision of a better tomorrow, we have to do for the world expo will own a wonderful ability, we have through our hands, warm heart and sincerity to practical action to achieve the commitment of shanghai to the world. we should educate the many students: do not throw garbage anywhere, no spitting, no jaywalking ... ..., hello, thank you frequently mention, let the material on this city with the new york comparable to the spiritual civilization. educate our students to exciting 20xx, willing to shanghai's future by copies of power, if only planted a small tree, participants in the shanghai world expo foreign guests feel: this is a forest city, pollution-free city, ancient and civilized city. better city, better life! until the time of the 20xx expo, then, we want to become a glorious volunteers, to changing our foreign friends in shanghai and china's long history, a
bout our education for the world expo will contribute their efforts.
we expect the majority of teachers will be great enthusiasm for the world expo into practical action to meet the world expo, the expo will be a total growth, and the city of development, the development of shanghai devote their efforts to advance hand in hand with shanghai.
没有什么是困难的如果你把你的心。没有什么是容易的,如果你不尝试你最好的。
我们经常听到人们说,永远不要放弃。这可以鼓励的话语和文字的决心。一个人相信他们将继续努力达成他的目标无论他失败了多少次。在我看来,决心成功的质量很重要。因此,我认为我们应该永不放弃。
原因之一是,如果我们太容易放弃,我们很少会一事无成。我们不是不寻常的失败在我们第一次尝试新事物,所以我们不应该感到泄气和应该再试一次。此外,如果我们总是放弃当我们失败,我们将无法发展新的技能和成长的人。我们应该永不放弃的另一个原因是,我们可以从错误中学习如果我们做出新的努力。如果我们不试一次,我们学到的教训是浪费。最后,我们应该永不放弃,因为当我们努力达到我们的目标,我们发展的信心,这信心能帮助我们在我们生活的其他领域中获得成功。
可能最大的持久性是亚伯拉罕·林肯的例子。出生贫困,林肯面对失败终其一生。他失去了八选举,两次失败在商业和神经衰弱。
他可以放弃很多次,但他没有,因为他没有放弃,他成为历史上最伟大的总统之一。
林肯是一个冠军,他从不放弃。
总之,重要的是,我们不放弃当我们努力追求目标。我们最终成功与否,我们将学习一些东西,我们学习将帮助我们变得更好,更自信的人。此外,如果我们放弃,我们就没有机会达到我们的目标,但如果我们继续努力,总有一个机会,有一天我们会成功的。非常感谢!
Nothing is difficult if you put your heart on it. Nothing is easy if you don’t try your best.
We often hear people say, Never give up. This can be encouraging words and words of determination. A person who believes in them will keep trying to reach his goal no matter how many times he fails. In my opinion, the quality of determination to succeed is an important one to have. Therefore, I believe that we should never give up.
One reason is that if we give up too easily, we will rarely achieve anything. It is not unusual for us to fail in our first attempt at something new, so we should not feel discouraged and should try again. Besides, if we always give up when we fail, we will not be able to develop new skills and grow as people. Another reason we should never give up is that we can learn from our mistakes only if we make a new effort. If we do not try again, the lesson we have learned is wasted. Finally, we should never give up because as we work to reach our goals, we develop confidence, and this confidence can help us succeed in other areas of our lives.
Probably the greatest example of persistence is Abraham Lincoln. Born into poverty, Lincoln was faced with defeat throughout his life. He lost eight elections, twice failed in business and suffered a nervous breakdown.
He could have quit many times - but he didn't and because he didn't quit, he became one of the greatest presidents in the history of our country.
Lincoln was a champion and he never gave up.
In short, it is important that we don’t give up when working for our goals. Whether we succeed in the end or not, we will learn something, and what we learn will help us to become better, more confident people. Furthermore, if we give up, we have no chance of attaining our goals, but if we keep trying, there is always a chance that we will succeed one day.Thank you very much!
Sometimes, what makes us relaxed and leaves us with a lighter feeling is enjoying the freedom of dreaming about good things. We can freely think of things that would do our lives more good than harm. We hope these things will happen in our lives some day.
Dreaming is free. Each of us has our own dreams. Also, the way we deal with things in our dreams shows us who we can really be in real life. We tend to act based on what kinds of dreams we have, but we also have the freedom to make those dreams come true.
To me, a dream is a picture of the place where we want to find ourselves some day. A dream is like a design of how we want things to look by the time we get there.
Dreaming keeps us in motion; it keeps us going.
The seats in our school reading-room are not enough for all the students. Many people get there very early to 'seize' a seat every day. So do I. One day a 'special' thing happened to me. And I learned a lesson that I shall never forget.
It happened on a Wednesday morning last January, just before our final examation. I got to the reading-room very early to occupy a seat. I put a book on the desk and then went to have breakfast. But when I hurried back into the reading-room,我的第一个绘画老师(My First Drawing Teacher), I found someone was sitting on the seat which I had occupied in advance. I ran to him immediatly and shouted at him angrily, 'Go away. It's my seat.' Everyone raised their eyes and stared at me unfriendly. My face turned red and I felt ashamed of myself. I took my book and fled helter-skelter before so many eyes.
I dared not go to the reading-room for several days. I learned a lesson in the reading-room. Since then I have been keeping the lesson in mind: To be polite to everyone.
now none of this is to say that social skills are unimportant, and i'm also not calling for the abolishing of teamwork at all. the same religions who send their sages off to lonely mountain tops also teach us love and trust. and the problems that we are facing today in fields like science and in economics are so vast and so complex that we are going to need armies of people coming together to solve them working together. but i am saying that the more freedom that we give introverts to be themselves, the more likely that they are to come up with their own unique solutions to these problems.
so now i'd like to share with you what's in my suitcase today. guess what? books. i have a suitcase full of books. here's margaret atwood, “cat's eye.“ here's a novel by milan kundera. and here's “the guide for the perplexed“ by maimonides. but these are not exactly my books. i brought these books with me because they were written by my grandfather's favorite authors.
my grandfather was a rabbi and he was a widower who lived alone in a small apartment in brooklyn that was my favorite place in the world when i was growing up, partly because it was filled with his very gentle, very courtly presence and partly because it was filled with books. i mean literally every table, every chair in this apartment had yielded its original function to now serve as a surface for swaying stacks of books. just like the rest of my family, my grandfather's favorite thing to do in the whole world was to read.
but he also loved his congregation, and you could feel this love in the sermons that he gave every week for the 62 years that he was a rabbi. he would takes the fruits of each week's reading and he would weave these intricate tapestries of ancient and humanist thought. and people would come from all over to hear him speak.
but here's the thing about my grandfather. underneath this ceremonial role, he was really modest and really introverted -- so much so that when he delivered these sermons, he had trouble making eye contact with the very same congregation that he had been speaking to for 62 years. and even away from the podium, when you called him to say hello, he would often end the conversation prematurely for fear that he was taking up too much of your time. but when he died at the age of 94, the police had to close down the streets of his neighborhood to accommodate the crowd of people who came out to mourn him. and so these days i try to learn from my grandfather's example in my own way.
Everyone is attracted by beauty and beauty is powerful. But what is true beauty? Perhaps you can get the answer from the following story.
This morning I went to the market to buy some vegetables with my parents. On the way we all highly praised a young man in western-style clothes and leather shoes who was riding by. But he rode so fast that he knocked an old lady down carelessly.Instead of stopping， he pretended not to see this and rode away quickly. We were all very angry with the young man. To our happiness， a girl in plain dress ran forward at once， helped the lady up and took her home. We all praised the girl.
From this we know we cannot judge a person by his appearance. A person who is dressed beautifully ma
Dear :
Good morning/afternoon! First thing first, I gotta say,wow,its funny thing to be given a chance like h be told,I really got a little bit nervous before I stand right here ,so called stage you look specifically on me may find my hands shaking,pretty assembles the guy who suffered from Pakinsons disease,and legs wobbling ,like I caught so-called ball leg.
Okay,lets stop going around the bush and get back to my topic today.I really like to talk a funny story I have just heard.A lady called Lucy emigrated to United States several years spoken English is not that fluent one day,she is just sitting on the couch with his U.S friends Mandy watching Sit-Com.A noise of bump had the attention of Mandy,which led her to go out of the house trying to figure out what had happened.
Can you imagine that Mandy go straight out with merely a Lucy shouted at her,"Lucy ,turn your clothes on." What suprised her most,beyond her wildest imagination, is that almost all the male in this country took their head out of the ttedly,Lucy made a mistake here word spitted means Mandy is totally naked to the reason that male looked out of the window.
The right sentence shall be,"put your clothing on."The story inspires you to take a careful look on the vast difference between eastern and western culture. Thats full of it,thank you for your time!
The second door is the door to the outside world. Learning goes beyond classrooms and national boundaries. My aunt remembers her previous college days as monotonous and even calls her generation “frogs in a well.” But today, as the world becomes a global village, it is important that our neighbors and we be open-minded to learn with and from each other. I have many fellow international classmates, and I am applying to an exchange program with a university abroad. As for my aunt, she is planning to get an MBA degree in the United Kingdom where her daughter, my cousin, is now doing her master's degree in biochemistry. We are now taking the opportunity to study overseas, and when we come back, we'll put to use what we have learnt abroad.
The third door is the door to lifelong learning. As new ideas appear all the time, we always need to acquire new knowledge, regardless of our age. Naturally, my aunt herself is the best example. Many of my aunt's contemporaries say that she is amazingly up-to-date for a middle-aged woman. She simply responds,“Age doesn't matter. What matters is your attitude. You may think it's strange that I am still going to college, but I don't think I'm too old to learn.”Yes, she is right. Since the government removed the age limit for college admissions in 20xx, there are already some untraditional students, sitting with us in the same classrooms. Like these people, my aunt is old but she is very young in spirit. With her incredible energy and determination, she embodies both tradition and modernity.
The doors open to us also pose challenges. For instance, we are faced with the challenge of a balanced learning, the challenge of preserving our fine tradition while learning from the West, and the challenge of learning continuously while carrying heavy responsibilities to our work and family. So, each door is a test of our courage, ability and judgment, but with the support of my teachers, parents, friends and my aunt, I believe I can meet the challenge head on. When I reach my aunt's age, I can be proud to say that I have walked through dozens of doors and will, in the remainder of my life, walk through many more. Possibly I will go back to college, too.
China, once a state of ceremonies.Five thousand years of civilization, let us be proud of it.However, today's China, these four words can play from a state of ceremonies?
In September 7th this year, Sichuan airlines from Saipan flight to Shanghai, because the two men Chinese melee, resulting in two friends to join the ranks of the fight, seriously disrupting the order of flight.Coincidentally, a few days after the incident, the flight from Zurich to Beijing of the Swiss Air, and two passengers in China clashes occurred, forced the plane to return to flight after six hours, has brought the enormous economic loss and inconvenience to other passengers and airlines.
What's the cause of the conflict?Only because of the back of the chair.It is precisely because the reasons are too simple, it makes people feel incredible.A small problem can lead to a world media brawl, and many people will not be happy to accept it.What's wrong with Chinese people?Step back a true humility as boundless as the sea and sky, it is so difficult to do?Isn't it a shame for all Chinese people to have two similar incidents in a week?This country could not match on a state of ceremonies?
For the disabled, also is one of the basic etiquette, but now, who can do these increasingly reduced.See the old man fell and stand for fear of blackmail, in order to comfort their reluctance to give up their seats for disabled people, even lose the courage to scold the thief.This country could not match on a state of ceremonies?
Behind these gloomy negative news, there are still many touching stories.The most beautiful teacher in Zhang Lili, who died when he was in order to protect the students, grinding wheels to the legs; the most beautiful driver Wu Bin, in the high-speed flying foreign body was shot in the abdomen after completion of a series of safety measures in pain, ensure all the safety of passengers, they lost the life of these people tears trickling down cheeks deeds, it is a state of ceremonies should appear.
Three months ago,twenty six boys and four girls gathered together on the ground of the university
Of Geosciences,At that moment ,they formed the class numbered 111112.
Time passed by,and I conclude one idea in my mind.Well ,this idea doesn’t only come from my unyielding
faith in the united spirit of the chinese people but it also comes from my own story.
I am an eighteen year-old boy who has never experienced being away from my parents for more than a month.At first,I thought I have to learn to be independent and I woulde have to overcome the difficulties with no one to depend on.
But a story changed my mind.
Five days ago,I got a heavy cold.Recalling that day’s event,I was in low condition and felt helpless in the bed,however,after knowing what had happened,one of classmates just say” I will accompany you along the way to the hospital and the way back to school.”That single moment of his words may not mean much.But it is where we start,it is where we all form the common belief that your guys’ shoulders will be ready for you whenever you are in need of help even though in the risky of falling behind in study.The class you are in will be your another family.
And there is also another story I would like to mention here,Our class ranked low in this month,but there are not blames,not critics,not anything like you should have done it better.We just say”We can,and we will do it better and better step after step.”
Well, I think the two things just reflect one spirit which has seared into my heart that we may come from different places and we may have different stories and we may move in the different directions towards different futures.But we all would give the world to make our class shine.we are not only the sum of its parts that out of many,we are truly one.
In my 18 years of life, there have been many things. University days are the best part of them. I can never forget the days when I stepped into my university. I was impressed by its garden'like campus, its enthusiastic students and especially its learning atmosphere. I at once fell in love with it.
After the arduous military training, I get absolutely absorbed in my studies. The classes given by the teachers are excellent. They provide us with information not only from our textbooks but from many other sources as well. They easily arouse my insatiable desire to take in as much as I can.
Frankly speaking, at first I had some difficulty following the teachers. However, through my own efforts and thanks to my teachers' guidance, I made remarkable progress. Now I've benefited a lot from lectures and many other academic reports.
Learning is a long process; I'll keep exploring in the treasure house of knowledge to enrich myself. This summer I got out of the ivory tower and entered the real world. A publishing house offered me a part'time job in compilation and revision.
At the beginning I was belittled by my colleagues. But they were really surprised when I translated seven English articles over 5,000 words on only one day. Gradually, they began to look at me with respectful eyes. In their opinion I turned out to be a useful and trustworthy colleague.
I also realize that only those who bring happiness for others can be truly happy. So I often take part in activities concerning public welfare. I once went to a barren mountain village with my classmates. We taught the kids there who could not afford school. While showing them how broad and how civilized the outer world is, I was deeply touched by their eagerness to learn, their honesty and their purity. I couldn't control my tears on the day when we left. The precious experience with the poor kids made me aware of the responsibility on the shoulders of us, future teachers.
Dear :
Good morning，ladies and gentlemen，today i am so happy to stand here to give you a speech。Or rather，a real story of mine.
Though with time going by，i can still remember what you once told should be a brave ing，you looked into my in，year out，nearly most of my memories are fading little by only this simple sentence remained，without being forgotten in my life.
Again and again，i can not stop myself from thinking about ordinary，but so impressive，so moving，just like the brightest sunshine，it helps me go through the darkest night.I am such a sensitive girl in your said，my sorroful facial expression made feel so ver，there is one thing i never tell you，that is，i am being a big girl gradually with your words and smiles.I never tell you about it，for i believe oneday，you can see the great changes of mine for yourself。That is what i want to do in i know，that will be the best gift for you.
I suddenly think of a song named MY HEART WILL GO ON。There is a beautiful sentence going like are safe in my heart。More than once，i was moved to tears by it。I know，i am also safe in your heart。i have already forgotten when i told you i was going to leave for Australia this summer just smiled as usual，gently speaking。Whatever you decide to do，i will be in favor of it，but，just onething，remember，when you fell lonely abroad，do not forget we are here，praying for are all around you，far across the distance and space between us.i closed my eyes，the flashback memories we had together，once we played games on the palyground，we played jokes on each other，you always wrote a lot of sentences on my articles to encourage the most unforgetable thing，you told me，you believed m i could be a big girl。Sooner or later.
At that specific moment，i suddenly understood the meaning of this sentence on that day，i smiled as you used to，looking at last words i said were，keep walking in sunshine.
Yes，keep walking in sunshine.I said to you，also to myself。I know i am not alone wiht your pany，and we can keep walking in sunshine till the last minute of our days.
I promise，i will be a big girl.
I promise，i will be a brave girl.
I promise，i will keep walking in sunshine.
That is my speech，thank you!
i am very glad to stand here to give thier a short speech.today my topic is that the youth are the future of motherland
很高兴站在这里做这篇短小的演讲，我演讲的主题是青年是祖国的未来。
在准备英语演讲比赛的时候，我本想简单地从网上搜索一些文章作为我演讲的内容。我看过很多文章，有著名主持人的、北大教授的、大学生的，也有初中生的。但是看完之后，我放弃了当初的想法，我甚至为当初的想法感到有一些羞愧。因为今天我站在这里向大家演讲的主题，是一个庄重而严肃的主题；是一个充满荣耀与自豪的主题；是每一个中华儿女共同期盼的主题。每个人都有属于他们自己的中国梦，而我，当然也有一直萦绕在心怀只属于我的中国梦。
so whats my chinese dream finally i will announce.
we had learned a lot of knowledge and understood a lot of truth in the book. we had a basic concept to our country at that time. we know that our country is full of sunshine , and we are the future of our country, and our dreams are to be the hope of our motherland.
我的中国梦是什么样的？先卖个关子。
记得刚刚上学那会儿，我们天真无邪。在课本里，我们学到了很多很多知识，也明白了很多很多道理，我们对祖国也有了一个最基本的概念。我们知道我们的祖国到处充满阳光，正在慢慢发展，而我们，就是祖国未来的花朵，未来的希望。我们梦想将来能够成为祖国的希望。
这，是我们最初的中国梦。最真诚的我们，最真诚的梦。
但是，不知道什么时候开始，我们长大了，生活似乎一下子变得和以前不太一样了，与此同时，虽然我们很不想承认但是却又不得不承认的是，我们的思想，我们的为人处世观，我们对我们祖国的看法，也潜移默化中慢慢开始了转变。我们的社会变得到处充满欺骗、冷漠、勾心斗角、压力、腐、险恶，我们变得暴躁，不冷静，愤世嫉俗。我们的'国家，似乎也开始变得千疮百孔。而好多我们亲爱的祖国委以重任培养的青年学生们变得轻浮、急躁，更别提什么梦想，什么中国梦了？
are we sick, or is our dear motherland sick
我很惊讶，当大街上有老人摔倒，我们不敢再去扶起；我很难过，当有人做了好事被报道，更多的人说他做作；我很伤心，当我看到我们众多的青年人变得冷漠、市侩、欺诈以及缺乏理想。
到底是我们病了，还是我们亲爱的祖国病了？
i dont want to talk about the construction of our country politics, and
also speak impassioned speech on the diaoyu island event .i just want to appeal young people,showing the side of youth,good and confidence.we must learn to organize our own thoughts, correct our own concept, and change our direction to the right side in future life. china dream actually lies in our young generation, especially of the intellectuals.
我的中国梦，不想大谈政治，也不想对钓鱼山事件发表慷慨激昂的演讲。我只想呼吁，呼吁我们年轻人，呼吁我们祖国的希望能够将我们的青春一面，将我们的善良一面，将我们的自信一面好好展现出来。我们要学会整理自己的思想，端正自己看问题的观念，摆正自己的人生方向。我们的中国梦实际上正掌握在我们自己手上，掌握在我们年青一代，尤其是知识分子手上。
也许，一个人，是渺小的；但是当他和祖国联系起来时，就是伟大的。也许，一个梦想，是渺小的，但是当它成为祖国的梦想时，就是不可估量的。也许，我无法用自己一个人的力量撬起整个中国，但是我们千千万万年轻人一起为祖国的梦想去奋斗时，我们的祖国就足以令世界颤抖、动容。
i dream to construct our beauty china with millions of young people who have the same dream. we do it without exaggeration but only with persistence.
我梦想和万千具有相同梦想的年轻人去建设我们的美丽中国，没有虚浮，只有执着，只有奋斗，只有勇于担当。这就是我的中国梦！
that is my speech,thanks everyone.
我的演讲就到这里，谢谢大家。
this is no surprise though if you look at the insights of contemporary psychology. it turns out that we can't even be in a group of people without instinctively mirroring, mimicking their opinions. even about seemingly personal and visceral things like who you're attracted to, you will start aping the beliefs of the people around you without even realizing that that's what you're doing.
and groups famously follow the opinions of the most dominant or charismatic person in the room, even though there's zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas -- i mean zero. so ... (laughter) you might be following the person with the best ideas, but you might not. and do you really want to leave it up to chance? much better for everybody to go off by themselves, generate their own ideas freed from the distortions of group dynamics, and then come together as a team to talk them through in a well-managed environment and take it from there.
now if all this is true, then why are we getting it so wrong? why are we setting up our schools this way and our workplaces? and why are we making these introverts feel so guilty about wanting to just go off by themselves some of the time? one answer lies deep in our cultural history. western societies, and in particular the u.s., have always favored the man of action over the man of contemplation and “man“ of contemplation. but in america's early days, we lived in what historians call a culture of character, where we still, at that point, valued people for their inner selves and their moral rectitude. and if you look at the self-help books from this era, they all had titles with things like “character, the grandest thing in the world.“ and they featured role models like abraham lincoln who was praised for being modest and unassuming. ralph waldo emerson called him “a man who does not offend by superiority.“