Every real battle involves a certain number of casualties.

But better the risk and the wounded and the dead than sham battles and unearned victories.
There is only one way in which popular standards and preferences can be improved.

The men whose standards are higher must learn to express their better message in a popularly interesting manner.

The people will never be converted to the appreciation of excellent special performances by argumentation, reproaches, lectures, associations, or persuasion.

They will rally to the good thing, only because the good thing has been made to look good to them; and so far as individual Americans are not capable of making their good things look good to a sufficient number of their fellow-countrymen, they will on the whole deserve any neglect from which they may suffer.