一分钟英语演讲稿（推荐23篇）
一分钟英语演讲稿 篇1
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 may not have a beautiful soul. Only a person who has a beautiful soul is really beautiful.
一分钟英语演讲稿 篇2
Youth
Youth is not a time of life, it is a state of mind ; it is not rosy cheeks , red lips and supple knees, it is a matter of the emotions : it is the freshness ; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life .
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 .
Whether 60 of 16 , there is in every human being ‘s heart the lure of wonders, the unfailing childlike appetite of what’s next and the joy of the game of living . In the center of your heart and my heart there’s 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 .
When the aerials are down , and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old ,even at 20 , but as long as your aerials are up ,to catch waves of optimism , there is hope you may die young at 80.
Thank you!
一分钟英语演讲稿 篇3
Beauty
Beauty usually refers to what appeals to the eye. A nice and well built girl is regarded as beautiful. A bunch of vigorous flowers are also considered as beautiful. A splendid waterfall coming down from a mountain is as well looked on as beautiful.
Beauty also refers to what appeals to the mind. The virtue of the Chinese nation-industry and bravery are taken as beautiful, because it helped to produce such a magnificent culture in the world. Einstein's theory of relativity is also perceived as beautiful, for it explains many natural phenomena so perfectly.
Beauty is around us. If you keep an eye or pay some attention, it is never difficult to find something beautiful somewhere about you. Wonderful natural spots, historical relics,fine arts, splendid buildings, and kind people are just a few inches away.
一分钟英语演讲稿 篇4
My favourite colour is green,we can see the colour everywhere:tree leaves are green,grass is green and so on.Green is also a healthy colour,during our lives,we seeing this colour more often is good for our eyes,and why we don't called those natural food like "Red Food","Blue Food" or "Purple Food"? So you can understand how impotant it is.Green means life,hope youth and etc.That's my favourite colour:Green,I hope more and more people will like green like me.
Thanks for listing!
一分钟英语演讲稿 篇5
Everytime I am asked what I want to do in the future. I think a minute and say being a doctor is my dream job.
Doctor is an other kind of artist who does human art by fighting with diseases and making people feel good. I think it is a pleasure to try my best to bring happiness to others. It is a feeling of pride and I am fond of it. In modern life, a mass of people work day and night to seek wealth and as a result they ignore their health. It is known that strong body is a foundation of beatific life. I dreamed to be an excellent doctor who can help them have a right to enjoy life again. Curing people is a doctor's holy responsibility.
Being a doctor is my dream job, now I should study hard to gain more knowledge to reach my goal.
一分钟英语演讲稿 篇6
As we all know, communication is one of the most essential social skills that we need for our self development. Communicating with all understanding always contributes to a deep touch between peoples' heart. Today, I am going to talk about how to communicate with classmates.
To start with, you need to realize that your classmates are just in the same age of you. So be relaxed and nature. You are not too much smarter or outstanding than others and either are they! When you talk with them, remember to mention somMy favorite book is (Italian: Cuore). This is a diary written by an Italian boy Enrico. The diary is about his life and study. It included various touching stories that happened around Enrico, the mottos taught by his parents, as well as the wonderful ten "monthly" stories told by his teacher during the class. Every word in the chapter describes the word "love". From patriotism to friendship, and to the love between parents and child -- really touching.
This novel taught me how to love, and how to learn from love. I really like this book very much. How about you? What is your favorite book?
My favorite book is . Have you read it before?
Oh, I haven't read this book before. What is it about?
Well, it is a story of a rich girl who maintained her noble character after the bankruptcy of her father. The story is happy ending.
Can you tell us why you love this book so much?
Sure. It is because the story taught us to be brave and to face the challenges and difficulties with courage. I am deeply impressed by the strength and perseverance of the little princess in the story. I have decided to learn from her from now on.
Oh I see, the story sounds very good. I cannot wait to read this book as well.
一分钟英语演讲稿 篇7
Hello! Everyone. I’m Tony, an 11-year-old happy boy.I live with my parents and we love each other.
I have many hobbies, such as sports, singing and reading books.And I love animals most. Now I will tell you about my favorite animal.
They are very precious sea animals with long bodies.Theylive on fish, shrimps and so on.They are very clever. People often train them for performances which brings us a lot of happiness and joy.They are very friendly and peaceful. They never attack people. Instead, they have saved many people in danger.
Now,do you know what they are? Yes, you are right. They are dolphins.
I hope we can take actions to protect dolphins, so they will always be with us.
一分钟英语演讲稿 篇8
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.
一分钟英语演讲稿 篇9
One day I saw a comic book on the extracurricular book, with a lot ofstumps on a slippery hillside, a man sitting on a stump, smoking, and an axbeside the stump, and a bird flew over it, Finally, it was finally found, in theyoung man's head security of a nest. After reading this comic, I was in acontemplation ... ...
Where is the bird's home? Why can not it find his own home? The bird isspiritual, and it clearly remembers that it is here, and here is their happyparadise. Where the birds are here, how happy are they, and how old are they,and the trees are turned into the stumps, and the birds are gone. Paradise isthe ignorant villagers who are ignorant of their own interests, they are theculprit of killing the birds happy.Human ah, quickly wake up. If the world isnot green trees and flowers, not this lively and lovely Of the birds accompaniedby my life will be how much lonely, how much monotonous ah!
Yes, ah, these deforestation phenomenon is less? But, who knows? Earth onlyone, it is our beautiful home, we want to protect it, cherish her? With thecurrent statistics, China's forest area In the world ranked fifth, ranking 119.But people dare to be pleased that: we Jiangyin people's environmental awarenessis stronger than the park, community, roads and other places are full of trees,from afar, Like a green Pei Tsui, shiny, beautiful. Into each town of Jiangyin,are tree-lined, as if into the green ocean.
I think: if everyone is kind of a tree, a flower, then how beautiful theearth mother will be, how charming! At that time, every corner of the world,there will be birds singing butterflies in the dancing, bees day and night YeHao, honey, human ah, let us hands together, hands together to become a realityit! Yes, afforestation can shelter; is afforestation can absorb noise; Yes,afforestation can give small animals A happy home, so that they grow freely,multiply descendants ... ... human, all this depends on you, let us worktogether!
Humans, the earth's defense experts, you have to know: If there is only oneanimal in the world, then we are lonely, let us join hands to save the earthtogether, to protect the environment where human beings live! But there is onlyone, it is our beautiful home, we want to protect it, cherish her? With thecurrent statistics, China's forest area in the world ranked No. 1 in the world,Five, per capita ranking of 119. But people dare to be pleased that: we Jiangyinpeople's environmental awareness is stronger than the park, community, roads andother places are full of trees, from afar, like a green Pei Tsui, shiny,beautiful. Into each town of Jiangyin, are tree-lined, as if into the greenocean.
I think: if everyone is kind of a tree, a flower, then how beautiful theearth mother will be, how charming! At that time, every corner of the world,there will be birds singing butterflies in the dancing, bees day and night YeHao, honey, human ah, let us hands together, hands together to become a realityit! Yes, afforestation can shelter; is afforestation can absorb noise; Yes,afforestation can give small animals A happy home, so that they grow freely,multiply descendants ... ... human, all this depends on you, let us worktogether!
Humans, the earth's defense experts, you have to know: If the world is onlya human animal, then we are lonely, let us join hands to save the earthtogether, to protect the environment for human survival it!
一分钟英语演讲稿 篇10
Good morning, honorable judges:
My name is Fang Shuo. My topic is: I’m the spokesman of Jining.
Jining is the birthplace of Confucius, Mencius, Yan Hui, Zeng Shen and Zisi， With the Great Canal passing by; it’s called the Holy Land in the East, and the kingdom of manners.
You could find the trace of the saint in the Confucius Temple, Confucian Family Residence and Confucian Cemetery. You could enjoy the peculiar rocks on the Yishan Mountian, the beautiful scenes in Quanlin of Sishui, the lotus flowers in the Weishan Lake, and the stories of the 108 heroes on the Liangshan Hill.
Confucius said, “It’s always a great pleasure to greet a friend from afar.” Welcome to Jining!
一分钟英语演讲稿 篇11
when i was young, i used to be very naughty. life then was like a glaball ,shining with bright colours. i had once gone down to the river bank, catching a great many worms and was afterwards punished by mum. i had ever cut the pillow towel into pieces in order to make clothes for my dolls. similarly, i was then blamed seriously. once i even put the hot iron on the floor which immediately burnt a big hole on the carpet. although i had done so many annoying things, my childhood seemed to be rather colourful. however, i had never had a clear definition about myself. but then something happened. it had made a great difference to my life and made who i am now.
i had always been afraid of having the intravenous drop in hospital. the first time i was taken to have the drop, i cried for almost half an hour and finally gave off at father's severe scolding. watching the cold needle stabbing into my skin, i cried even more loudly. at that time, i never dared to take a glance at my hand and always needed my mother to stay with me at my side. even if mum had told me many times," honey, there’s nothing to be scared of. just close your eyes and sleep." i would still keep my eyes wide open, watching the liquid flow through the bottle and never slept.
一分钟英语演讲稿 篇12
people are like tea bags—you have to put them in hot water before you know how strong they are." i can still remember the words that dad said to me years ago.
when i came back from the usa, my friends asked me: “how do you feel about your staying there?” “wonderful” i said. “then why do you come back?” hearing this, i told them there were lots of beautiful countries in the world, but none of them can compare with our own country—china. how true the saying is: “there’s no place like home!”
i love you, china. as a young student, all we should do is to study hard and devote ourselves whole-heartedly in the future, to the great cause of building you into an even stronger and greater country in the world. i love you, my dear motherland! i love you, china! thank you for your listening !
一分钟英语演讲稿 篇13
Good morning everyone,
today is my turn to the speech. First of all, I would like to say that a quick test, we hope that the good preparation, good test for all, is the only way home for a good year. My English is not high, I wish I could within the next two years to learn English well. I hope you will be able to learn English after graduation to have a good future.
Finally, I wish the students and teachers a happy new year, further study and work. Well! I finished the speech. Thank you for listening.
一分钟英语演讲稿 篇14
The environment of the city is getting worse and worse today. There arewastes, air pollution and so on. What can we do to save our city? About thewastes, we should sort the wastes, to see if they can be recycle used; use thereusable shopping bag instead of the plastic bags. About the air pollution, weshould go to school on foot or by bike; we should also ask our family not to usecar as much as possible, take the subway or bus instead. I hope everyone can seethe environment problem and do the best to save our city.
如今城市的环境变得越来越糟。有垃圾和空气污染等问题。我们应该如何保护我们的城市?关于垃圾，我们应该进行垃圾分类，看看它们是不是可以回收利用;使用环保购物袋来代替塑料袋。关于空气污染，我们应该走路或者骑自行车去学校;我们还应该要求家人尽量少使用汽车，用地铁或者公交车代替。我希望每个人都能看到环境问题，尽量来拯救我们的城市。
一分钟英语演讲稿 篇15
On a Saturday morning. I went to have breakfast. I felt there was aterrible smell and went over to have a look carefully. I found that there was abig pile of banana skins giving out the smell.Just then a young fellow holding adustpan rubbish to walk towards here . He raised his hands, The big pile ofrubbish was here. At once I went to him and said “Uncle , you can’t do like this. These things will rot very soon. It’s bad for our health and make the peoplefall ill.” However ,the man said “Everyone does so ,who falls ill,who will seethe doctor.”
Looking at this , I remembered another act : There is a stream through ourvillage. Over it there are two bridges .At the age of seven years old , Ienjoyed the beautiful scenery under the bridge very much. It was the best placeto swim in summer. But now the rubbish was getting more and more .Dishleaves,fruit skins,dead ducks and chickens….after rotting ,not only themosquitos flew around but also the bad smell made everyone feel quiteterrible.Though the stream was cleaned up several times, it’s still happeningnow. A lot of plastic bags always float on it .In summmer we have to go far awayfrom the village to swim.
What causes this? Who is the devil?It’s the human ourselves. I have got toknown from a book .The rubbish in the countryside mostly occupies the fields anddamages the earth’s surface .It pollutes soil,wave ,atmosphere and damages ourhealth. The adults often say “The body is capital.” But why are they able tomake woollen cloth like this ? Does it affect everybody’s safe and sound life?
Schoolmates, we are the host of society tomorrow . It’s our duty to improveand build the safe invironment.
Safety is in our hands .We must take park in more environmental protectionactivities, Plant more trees and flowers to make us live in a beautiful homewith the blue sky ,blue water and green land forever.
Safety is in our hands . Please try your best to tell people around you todeal with the rubbish , and to make a contribution to building our safe hometome.
在一个星期六的早上。我去吃早餐。我感到有一股难闻的气味，走过去仔细看看。我发现香蕉皮发出的气味一大堆。这时，一个年轻人拿着簸箕垃圾走到这里。他举起双手，垃圾堆在这里。我立刻去对他说：“叔叔，你不能这样做。这些事情会很快腐烂。这对我们的健康是坏的，使人们生病。”不过，他说，“每个人都这么做，谁生病了，谁会去看医生。”
看这个，我记得还有一幕：有在我们村里流。它有两座桥。七岁的时候，我喜欢美丽的风景桥下很。它是在夏天游泳最好的地方。但现在垃圾越来越多。菜叶子，果实皮，烂后死亡鸭和鸡的…，不仅蚊子到处乱飞，而且每个人都难闻的气味很可怕。虽然流清洗几次，它仍然发生了。很多塑料袋总是浮在上面的。夏天我们要去远离乡村游。
这是什么原因造成的?谁是魔鬼?这是人类自己。我要知道从一本书。在农村，大多处在域和损害地球表面的垃圾。它污染土壤，大气波，并损害我们的健康。人们常说“身体是本钱。”但是他们为什么能这样呢?它影响到每个人的安全和健康的生活吗?
同学们，我们是社会的主人的明天。这是构建完善的安全环境是我们的责任。
安全掌握在我们手中。我们必须参加更多的环保活动，种植更多的树木和鲜花，让我们生活在蓝天一所漂亮的房子，蓝水，绿色的土地永远。
安全是我们的手。请尽力告诉你周围的人来处理垃圾，并使我们构建安全的家乡贡献。
一分钟英语演讲稿 篇16
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 may not have a beautiful soul. only a person who has a beautiful soul is really beautiful.
一分钟英语演讲稿 篇17
Hi everybody.
Beauty usually refers to what appeals to the eye. A nice and well built girl is regarded as beautiful. A bunch of vigorous flowers are also considered as beautiful. A splendid waterfall coming down from a mountain is as well looked on as beautiful.
Beauty also refers to what appeals to the mind. The virtue of the Chinese nation-industry and bravery are taken as beautiful, because it helped to produce such a magnificent culture in the world. Einstein's theory of relativity is also perceived as beautiful, for it explains many natural phenomena so perfectly.
Beauty is around us. If you keep an eye or pay some attention, it is never difficult to find something beautiful somewhere about you. Wonderful natural spots, historical relics,fine arts, splendid buildings, and kind people are just a few inches away.
thank you.
翻译：嗨，大家。
美通常指的是吸引眼球的东西。一个漂亮而漂亮的女孩被认为是美丽的。一束有力的花也被认为是美丽的。从一座山上下来的一个美丽的瀑布，也被视为美丽的。
美也指那些对心灵有吸引力的东西。中华民族的工业和勇敢的美德是美丽的，因为它有助于产生这样一个宏伟的文化在世界上。爱因斯坦的相对论也被认为是美丽的，因为它解释了许多自然现象如此完美。
美在我们身边。如果你保持一个眼睛或支付一些关注，它永远不会很难找到一些美丽的地方关于你。奇妙的自然景点，历史文物，美术，辉煌的建筑，善良的人只是几英寸远。
谢谢您.
一分钟英语演讲稿 篇18
There is a forest, where the trees flourish, the forest green grass,flowers ... ... animals are free to live with. Later, near the residents, theybegan to cut down trees, killing animals, the forest can be seen everywhere baretrees, many animals lost their homes, and even their loved ones. The barrenearth is crying, and the animals that have lost their loved ones are bothgrieving and angry, and decide to arrest the murderers who destroy their homesand hurt their loved ones.
One day, someone went to the forest to cut down the trees and killed theanimals. Had long been ambush animals rushed out, the "murderer" surrounded.This person scared to leave the hands of the tools, trembling, cold sweatstraight. One of the animals proposed to the "murderer" for public trial. So, aforest trial conference began.
Lamb first statement: "human greed to chaos to kill the killing, resultingin a large area of soil erosion, we sheep lost a good home and the survival ofthe grass ... ..." a bird said: "human chaos cut Let us homeless, human chaoskill let us lose loved ones ... ... "Tiger said angrily:" human deforestation sothat we have no place to live, their chaos kill us to become endangered Species... ... "the animals you a word I am in a way to count the heinous crimescommitted by mankind, the trial of this person feel shame and shame to ask:" howwill you deal with me? "The judge elephant said: See you have the meaning ofrepentance, right and spare you, go back and tell you the same kind: to protectthe ecological balance of nature, not for their own time and destruction of theecological environment, or suffer not only our animals and vegetation, you humanThey will be punished ... ... "
The "murderer" was released, decided to repent their own behavior, andactively promote the concept of environmental protection, and activelyparticipate in various environmental activities. A few years later, this foresthas resumed the prosperity of the past, the animals have lived a free life.
一分钟英语演讲稿 篇19
a man who lived in a block of apartments thought it was raining and put his head out the window to check. as he did so a glaeye fell into his hand.
he looked up to see where it came from in time to see a young woman looking down.
"is this yours?" he asked.
she said, "yes, could you bring it up?" and the man agreed.
on arrival she was profuse in her thanks and offered the man a drink. as she was very attractive he agreed. shortly afterwards she said, "i'm about to have dinner. there's plenty. would you like to join me?"
he readily accepted her offer and both enjoyed a lovely meal. as the evening was drawing to a close the lady said, "i've had a marvelous evening. would you like to stay the night?"
the man hesitated then said, "do you act like this with every man you meet?"
"no," she replied, "only those who catch my eye."
一分钟英语演讲稿 篇20
good morning, ladies and gentlemen, i’m very glad to make a speech here. today my topic is “i love you, china.”
since the day i was born, i began to have a proud name—chinese. since the day i began to talk, the most beautiful sentence i’ve ever learnt has been “i love you, china!”
i love you, china, and i’m so proud of being a chinese. i’m proud that i’ve got the beautiful yellow skin, black eyes and black hair. i’m also proud that i speak the most beautiful language in the world—chinese.
i love you, china, for i can feel the deep love you give me every day, every minute. last year, i got an opportunity to visit the united states of america. during my staying there, my father’s boss once invited my family to dinner. while at table, he looked at me and asked: “little boy, how long have you been in america?” “about a month,” i answered, “how lucky you are!” he said, “if you were living in china, how could you learn such perfect english?” i smiled and told him proudly that all the students in china are able to learn english at school. i saw his surprised eyes and said to myself, “i’m proud of you, china. for you are offering us the best education.”
一分钟英语演讲稿 篇21
As we all know, pollution is harmful to living beings. There are manydifferent types of pollutions in this world. For instance, water pollution, airpollution, noise pollution and so on. Water pollution cause many kinds ofdisease that have negative effects on human beings, sometimes the diseases willtake people's life away. Dirty air will increase the rate of getting lungcancer. While the noise pollution will cause insomnia. People's health conditionwill be damaged.
In my humble opinion, people should take measures to control the pollution.Recently, not only the government, but also individual has taken part in theaction of protecting the environment. This is a good sign. Rivers are beingcleaned, air is purified, and the people come to realize that the importance ofprotecting the environment.
However, this is not enough, the problems are still exist. Not all of themhave been solved. Some factories are still pouring dirty water into the riversor give off the toxic gas into the sky. We should know that protecting theenvironment needs everybody's effort.
我们都知道，污染对生物有很大危害。在这个世界上，有许多不同类型的污染。例如：水污染，空气污染，噪音污染等等。水污染会使人们生病，甚至死亡。脏空气会使患肺癌的几率上升。而噪音污染会让人失眠。人们的健康水平会下降。
在我看来，人们应该采取措施去保护环境。最近，不仅仅是政府部门，个人也参与到环保中去。这是个好现象。河流干净了，空气清新了，人们也意识到环保的重要性。
然而，这些还远远不够。问题依旧存在。不是所有的问题都得到了解决。一些工厂依旧往河流里面排放污水，向天空排放有毒气体。我们应该谨记环境保护需要每个人的努力。
一分钟英语演讲稿 篇22
In my memory, though my hometown is a small village, it is very beautiful.When I was small, I liked to caught fish in the river, the water was so cleanthat I could see the fish. As I miss my hometown so much, last week, I went backto my hometown, I found the place in my memory was not like what it was. Thetrees were not that numerous, the roads became bigger, while there was lessplace for the river, I saw some dead fish in the river, the water was dirty, theriver pollution was so serious! I couldn't believe it, the beautiful hometownwas destroyed by the pollution, it is people's ambition results in it, theychase for the profit at the cost of polluting the environment. I wish people canpay attention to protect the environment, they are saving themselves, too.
在我的记忆中，虽然我的家乡是个小城镇，但是很美丽。当我还小的时候，我喜欢在河里抓鱼，河水是如此的干净以至于我能看到河里的鱼。由于抵挡不住对家乡的思念，上周，我回到了家乡，我发现我记忆中的城市再也不是它原来的样子了。树没以前的多，道路变得宽阔，然而河道却变得窄些了，我看到河中有一些死掉的鱼，河水是如此的脏，河流污染是如此的严重!我无法相信眼前的一切，美丽的家乡被污染给破坏了，人们的贪念导致了这个结果，他们为了追求利益，不惜以牺牲环境为代价。我希望人们能注意保护环境，这也是在保护他们自己。
一分钟英语演讲稿 篇23
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.“