Jefferson Smith: Did you ever have so much to say about something, you just couldn't say it?
Clarissa Saunders: Try sitting down.
Jefferson Smith: I did - I got right back up again.
Clarissa Saunders: Now look. Let's get down to particulars. How big is this thing? Where's it gonna be? How many boys will it accommodate? You've got to have all of that in it, you know.
Jefferson Smith: Yeah, yeah, and something else, Miss Saunders. The uh, the spirit of it. The idea - the - '[[He snaps his fingers] How do ya say it? [He walks to the window in which the lighted Capitol Dome is seen. He points out at the Dome] That's what's got to be in it!
Clarissa Saunders: What?
Jefferson Smith: The Capitol Dome.
Clarissa Saunders: On paper? [She lifts her eyebrows a little]
Jefferson Smith: I want to make that come to life for every boy in this land. Yes, and all lighted up like that too! You see, you see, boys forget what their country means by just reading 'the land of the free' in history books. And they get to be men - they forget even more. Liberty's too precious a thing to be buried in books, Miss Saunders. Men should hold it up in front of them every single day of their lives and say: 'I'm free to think and to speak. My ancestors couldn't. I can. And my children will.' Boys want to grow up remembering that.
[Saunders looks at Smith with a new expression - she has stopped taking notes]
Jefferson Smith: And that-that steering committee, or whatever it is, they've got to see it like that. And I know Senator Paine will do all he can to help me, because he's a wonderful man, isn't he Miss Saunders? You know, he knew my father real well.
Clarissa Saunders: [uneasy] He did.
Jefferson Smith: Yeah, yeah. We need a lot more like him, his kind of character, his ideals.
Clarissa Saunders: Try sitting down.
Jefferson Smith: I did - I got right back up again.
Clarissa Saunders: Now look. Let's get down to particulars. How big is this thing? Where's it gonna be? How many boys will it accommodate? You've got to have all of that in it, you know.
Jefferson Smith: Yeah, yeah, and something else, Miss Saunders. The uh, the spirit of it. The idea - the - '[[He snaps his fingers] How do ya say it? [He walks to the window in which the lighted Capitol Dome is seen. He points out at the Dome] That's what's got to be in it!
Clarissa Saunders: What?
Jefferson Smith: The Capitol Dome.
Clarissa Saunders: On paper? [She lifts her eyebrows a little]
Jefferson Smith: I want to make that come to life for every boy in this land. Yes, and all lighted up like that too! You see, you see, boys forget what their country means by just reading 'the land of the free' in history books. And they get to be men - they forget even more. Liberty's too precious a thing to be buried in books, Miss Saunders. Men should hold it up in front of them every single day of their lives and say: 'I'm free to think and to speak. My ancestors couldn't. I can. And my children will.' Boys want to grow up remembering that.
[Saunders looks at Smith with a new expression - she has stopped taking notes]
Jefferson Smith: And that-that steering committee, or whatever it is, they've got to see it like that. And I know Senator Paine will do all he can to help me, because he's a wonderful man, isn't he Miss Saunders? You know, he knew my father real well.
Clarissa Saunders: [uneasy] He did.
Jefferson Smith: Yeah, yeah. We need a lot more like him, his kind of character, his ideals.
Jefferson Smith : Did you ever have so much to say about something, you just couldn't say it?
Clarissa Saunders : Try sitting down.
Jefferson Smith : I did - I got right back up again.
Clarissa Saunders : Now look. Let's get down to particulars. How big is this thing? Where's it gonna be? How many boys will it accommodate? You've got to have all of that in it, you know.
Jefferson Smith : Yeah, yeah, and something else, Miss Saunders. The uh, the spirit of it. The idea - the - '[[He snaps his fingers] How do ya say it? [He walks to the window in which the lighted Capitol Dome is seen. He points out at the Dome] That's what's got to be in it!
Clarissa Saunders : What?
Jefferson Smith : The Capitol Dome.
Clarissa Saunders : On paper? [She lifts her eyebrows a little]
Jefferson Smith : I want to make that come to life for every boy in this land. Yes, and all lighted up like that too! You see, you see, boys forget what their country means by just reading 'the land of the free' in history books. And they get to be men - they forget even more. Liberty's too precious a thing to be buried in books, Miss Saunders. Men should hold it up in front of them every single day of their lives and say: 'I'm free to think and to speak. My ancestors couldn't. I can. And my children will.' Boys want to grow up remembering that.
[Saunders looks at Smith with a new expression - she has stopped taking notes]
Jefferson Smith : And that-that steering committee, or whatever it is, they've got to see it like that. And I know Senator Paine will do all he can to help me, because he's a wonderful man, isn't he Miss Saunders? You know, he knew my father real well.
Clarissa Saunders : [uneasy] He did.
Jefferson Smith : Yeah, yeah. We need a lot more like him, his kind of character, his ideals.
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