Mary B. Mullett, "The
Biggest Thing That Lindbergh Has Done," The American
Magazine, October, 1927
When,
because of what we believed him to be, we gave Lindbergh the greatest ovation
in history, we convicted ourselves of having told a lie about ourselves. For we proved that the "things of good report" are the
same today as they were nineteen hundred years ago.
We
shouted ourselves hoarse. Not because a man had flown across the Atlantic! Not
even because he was an American! But because he was as clean in character as he
was strong and fine in body; because he put his "ethics" above any
desire for wealth; because he was as modest as he was courageous; and because -
as we now know, beyond any shadow of a doubt - these are the things which we
honor most in life.
To
have shown us this truth about ourselves is the biggest thing that Lindbergh
has done.