Question

Which sentence in this excerpt from Theodore Roosevelt's "Citizenship in a Republic" speech conveys his central opinion about cynical people

With you here, and with us in my own home, in the long run, success or failure will be conditioned upon the way in which the average man, the average women, does his or her duty, first in the ordinary, every-day affairs of life, and next in those great occasional cries which call for heroic virtues.

The stream will not permanently rise higher than the main source; and the main source of national power and national greatness is found in the average citizenship of the nation

Let the man of learning, the man of lettered leisure, beware of that queer and cheap temptation to pose to himself and to others as a cynic, as the man who has outgrown emotions and beliefs, the man to whom good and evil are as one

There is no more unhealthy being, no man less worthy of respect, than he who either really holds, or feigns to hold, an attitude of sneering disbelief toward all that is great and lofty, whether in achievement or in that noble effort which, even if it fails, comes to second achievement

There is no more unhealthy being, no man less worthy of respect, than he who either really holds, or feigns to hold, an attitude of sneering disbelief toward all that is great and lofty, whether in achievement or in that noble effort which, even if it fails, comes to second achievement

Answer 1

The stream will not permanently rise higher than the main source; and the main source of national power and national greatness is found in the average citizenship of the nation

Answer 2

Answer:

The answer is the fourth sentence: There is no more unhealthy being, no man less worthy of respect, than he who either really holds, or feigns to hold, an attitude of sneering disbelief toward all that is great and lofty, whether in achievement or in that noble effort which, even if it fails, comes to second achievement,

Explanation:

Roosevelt begins to address cynical people in the previous sentence, "Let the man of learning, the man of lettered leisure, beware of that queer and cheap temptation to pose to himself and to others as a cynic, as the man who has outgrown emotions and beliefs, the man to whom good and evil are as one." Here, however, is much more describing what a cynical is than really stating his opinion.

In the following sentence, however, he openly conveys his opinion. Cynical people, according to him, are the unhealthiest ones, the type that is least worth of respect. Roosevelt despises the man who would rather do nothing while criticizing those who do something, who try. He sees such an attitude as a mix of pride and fear that leads to accomplishing nothing in life. Being knowledgeable but actionless is of no use to society. Cynical people are therefore nothing but cowards, too afraid to risk anything, too conceited to admit it.