impress upon all men the necessity of physical exercise. Still more,
however, does it rest upon our failure to make a scientific study of
reducing all the variety of proposals to some standard of exceeding
simplicity. Present systems have not produced results, no matter what
the reason. Hence this book with its review of the situation and its
final practical conclusions.




AN AMERICAN CITIZEN'S CREED


I believe that a nation should be made up of people who individually
possess clean, strong bodies and pure minds; who have respect for their
own rights and the rights of others and possess the courage and strength
to redress wrongs; and, finally, in whom self-consciousness is
sufficiently powerful to preserve these qualities. I believe in
education, patriotism, justice, and loyalty. I believe in civil and
religious liberty and in freedom of thought and speech. I believe in
chivalry that protects the weak and preserves veneration and love for
parents, and in the physical strength that makes that chivalry
effective. I believe in that clear thinking and straight speaking which
conquers envy, slander, and fear. I believe in the trilogy of faith,
hope, and charity, and in the dignity of labor; finally, I believe that
through these and education true democracy may come to the world.