I hate to weed. I’ve hated it ever since my father put me to work weeding the garden at our home in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. It was planted with zinnias, snapdragons, and petunias, none of which seemed to grow as heartily as the weeds. After what seemed like hours of work, I never could see much progress, and I’d complain to my dad. «Mitt,» he would reply, «the pursuit of the difficult makes men strong.» It seems now like an awfully grandiose response for such a pedestrian task. I complained about the weeding often enough that I heard his homily regularly. I’m sure that’s why it sticks with me to this day.»
Mitt Romney (2010) — No Apology: The Case for American Greatness (s. 5).
