If You Ask Me
by Eleanor Roosevelt

He was fond of "Anchors Aweigh" and of "Ancient of Days."

No, I see no reason. Two of my own children, one of whom died very young, were named after their father, and many of my grandchildren have been named after their fathers.

I doubt that anyone does not really believe in God. People may think they don't have any belief, but you will usually find that somewhere down in a human being's soul there is a belief in something beyond himself. In any case, I would not judge a man's character by his belief or unbelief. I would judge his character by his deeds; and no matter what he said about his beliefs, his behavior would soon show whether he was a man of good character or bad.

Certainly not. I am not a member of the family nor a close friend, but I think the wedding was all arranged with so much taste and simplicity, and it just suited her own charming personality and her mother's and father's good sense.

I don't suppose one is ever too old for anything, but if at 67 you have not learned to know yourself, it is a little hard for me to believe that anyone else can help you to do so. I would certainly advise you to do it, however, if you really feel it will help.

Probably the Palestinian refugee camps in the Near East, and then next to these the camps of refugees in Germany after World War II.

Just not to travel by herself! If I were a girl, I would join a group like the Experiments in International Living or a group of students. I would not try to travel alone in Europe.

I really cannot tell you because to be a good President you have to be a great many other things first. Perhaps it is best first to try to be a good man and later find out whether you can be a leader of men. If you can become a leader of men, then inevitably, I imagine, you will go into politics, and where you arrive in the long run will be partly a matter of character and partly luck or the will of God.

Yes. Their mother is my first cousin.

I don't think you are doing anything wrong. I think you have shown remarkable patience, and I think if you will devote yourselves to raising your own standard of living as rapidly as possible you will find that some of your difficulties, even in the South, will fade away.

I am deeply distressed if I said anything of this kind. What I meant, of course, was the chief reason the U.S. was willing to see Spain admitted to the U.N. was because the Pentagon wants to be friendly with Spain.