That Printer of Udell's by Harold Bell Wright – in my commonplace book

“But what I wanted to tell ye'” said Uncle Bobbie, coming suddenly back to the present and speaking in his usual abrupt manner, “you’ll find out, same as I have, that it don’t much matter how the other feller dabbles in the dirt, you’ve got to keep your hands clean anyhow. An’ ’tain’t the question whether the other feller’s mean or not, but am I livin’ square?” P. 74

“Let me suggest first that there are two classes in this city, as in every city, two classes who present their claims for assistance: the deserving and undeserving. Any plan which does not distinguish between these two classes must prove a failure, because it would encourage the idle in their idleness, and so prove a curse instead of a blessing. It would make fraud profitable by placing a premium rather than a penalty on crime, and it would make the sufferings of the truly unfortunate much keener by compelling them to yield their self-respect as the price of their succor. The only test that can possibly succeed in distinguishing between these two classes is the test of work.” P. 123

President Ronald Reagan said of the book, ” [it] had an impact I shall always remember…The term “role model” was not a familiar term in that time and place. But I realize I found a role model in that traveling printer whom Harold Bell Wright had brought to life. He set me on a course I’ve tried to follow even unto this day. I shall always be grateful.”