I Was Only One Woman Alone, And

The Red Cross In Its Nature, It Aims And Purposes, And Consequently, Its Methods, Is Unlike Any Other Organization In The Country.it Is An Organization Of Physical Action, Of Instantaneous Action, At The Spur Of The Moment; It Cannot Await The Ordinary Deliberation Of Organized Bodies If It Would Be Of Use To Suffering Humanity,[ellipsis In Original] It Has By Its Nature A Field Of Its Own.

I Have An Almost Complete Disregard Of Precedent, And A Faith In The Possibility Of Something Better. It Irritates Me To Be Told How Things Have Always Been Done. I Defy The Tyranny Of Precedent. I Go For Anything New That Might Improve The Past.

Offering A Hand Up Is Not A Hand-out.

I May Be Compelled To Face Danger, But Never Fear It, And While Our Soldiers Can Stand And Fight, I Can Stand And Feed And Nurse Them.

My Business Is Stanching Blood And Feeding Fainting Men; My Post The Open Field Between The Bullet And The Hospital. I Sometimes Discuss The Application Of A Compress Or A Wisp Of Hay Under A Broken Limb, But Not The Bearing And Merits Of A Political Movement. I Make Gruel--not Speeches; I Write Letters Home For Wounded Soldiers, Not Political Addresses.