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Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt Quotes

26th U.S. President

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Famous Theodore Roosevelt Quotes

“The settler and pioneer have at bottom had justice on their side; this great continent could not have been kept as nothing but a game preserve for squalid savages.”

Has BeensGamesPoliticsSidesJusticeBottomPreservesContinentsSavagesPioneersSettlers
Book:The Winning of the West: An Account of the Exploration and Settlement of Our Country from the Alleghanies to the Pacific
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“Love of peace is common among weak, short-sighted, timid, and lazy persons; and on the other hand courage is found among many men of evil temper and bad character. Neither quality shall by itself avail. Justice among the nations of mankind, and the uplifting of humanity, can be brought about only by those strong and daring men who with wisdom love peace, but who love righteousness more than peace.”

MenLovePersonsCharacterHandsAgeHumanityEvilFoundStrongNationsJusticeCommonQualityMankindWeakUpliftingLazyRighteousnessTemperDaringPeace LoveShort SightedBad CharacterLove Wisdom
Book:Bully!
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“In the great battle of life, no brilliancy of intellect, no perfection of bodily development, will count when weighed in the balance against the assemblage of virtues, active and passive, of moral qualities which we group together under the name of character.”

CharacterTogetherNamesQualityMoralVirtueGroupsDevelopmentBalanceBattlePerfectionIntellectActivePassiveAssemblageGreat BattleBattle Of Life
Book:Theodore Roosevelt on Bravery: Lessons from the Most Courageous Leader of the Twentieth Century
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“To the second end, we hold that minimum wage commissions should be established in the Nation and in each State to inquire into wages paid in various industries and to determine the standard which the public ought to sanction as a minimum; and we believe that, as a present installment of what we hope for in the future, there should be at once established in the Nation and its several States minimum standards for the wages of women, taking the present Massachusetts law as a basis from which to start and on which to improve.”

ShouldBelieveEndsStatesLawNationsIndustryOughtStandardsBasesPaidDetermineVariousMinimumWagesSanctionsMinimum WageMassachusettsLiving Wage
Author:Theodore Roosevelt
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“We stand for a living wage. Wages are subnormal if they fail to provide a living for those who devote their time and energy to industrial occupations. The monetary equivalent of a living wage varies according to local conditions, but must include enough to secure the elements of a normal standard of living-a standard high enough to make morality possible, to provide for education and recreation, to care for immature members of the family, to maintain the family during periods of sickness, and to permit of reasonable saving for old age.”

IfsEnoughCareAgeEnergyFailingConditionsPeriodsMoralityMembersElementsNormalStandardsLocalsOld AgeSecureSavingReasonableSicknessOccupationPermitWagesVaryRecreationMonetaryImmatureMinimum WageStandards Of LivingTime And EnergyLiving Wage
Author:Theodore Roosevelt
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“No greater wrong can ever be done than to put a good man at the mercy of a bad, while telling him not to defend himself or his fellows; in no way can the success of evil be made surer or quicker.”

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Book:From the Alleghanies to the Mississippi, 1769-1776 - - v. 2. From the Alleghanies to the Mississippi, 1777-1783
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“The true Christians are the true citizens, lofty of purpose, resolute in endeavor, ready for a hero's deeds, but never looking down on their task because it is cast in the day of small things; scornful of baseness, awake to their own duties as well as to their rights, following the higher law with reverence, and in this world doing all that in their power lies, so that when death comes they may feel that humanity is in some degree better because they lived.”

WorldFeelsWellsMayChristianLawLyingPurposeHumanityChristianityRightsThis WorldReadyDutyHeroHigherCitizensDegreesTasksCastsFollowingDeedsAwakeEndeavorReverenceSmall ThingsLoftyResoluteLooking DownBasenessHigher Law
Author:Theodore Roosevelt
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“My position as regards the monied interests can be put in a few words. In every civilized society property rights must be carefully safeguarded; ordinarily and in the great majority of cases, human rights and property rights are fundamentally and in the long run, identical; but when it clearly appears that there is a real conflict between them, human rights must have the upper hand; for property belongs to man and not man to property.”

MenHumansLongRealHandsRunningPoliticsInterestCasesRightsPositionConflictRegardMajorityPropertyHuman RightsCivilizedLong RunsIdenticalProperty RightsFew WordsCivilized SocietyUpper Hand
Author:Theodore Roosevelt
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“A man must first care for his own household before he can be of use to the state. But no matter how well he cares for his household, he is not a good citizen unless he also takes thought of the state. In the same way, a great nation must think of its own internal affairs; and yet it cannot substantiate its claim to be a great nation unless it also thinks of its position in the world at large.”

ThinkingMenWorldWayFirstsWellsMatterStatesUseCareNationsPositionCitizensClaimsAffairInternalsHouseholdGreat NationsGood CitizenInternal Affairs
Author:Theodore Roosevelt
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“Every man among us is more fit to meet the duties and responsibilities of citizenship because of the perils over which, in the past, the nation has triumphed; because of the blood and sweat and tears, the labor and the anguish, through which, in the days that have gone, our forefathers moved on to triumph.”

MenPastNationsResponsibilityGoneBloodTearsDutyFitLaborMovedEvery ManTriumphSweatCitizenshipAnguishPerilForefathersMoved OnSweat And TearsBlood And Sweat
Author:Theodore Roosevelt
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“The weakling and the coward are out of place in a strong and free community. In a republic like ours the governing class is composed of the strong men who take the trouble to do the work of government; and if you are too timid or too fastidious or too careless to do your part in this work, then you forfeit your right to be considered one of the governing and you become one of the governed insteadone of the driven cattle of the political arena.”

IfsMenGovernmentPoliticalStrongCommunityClassTroubleDrivenCowardRepublicArenaGoverningCarelessCattleStrong ManForfeitFastidious
Book:Works
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“The need for collecting large campaign funds would vanish if Congress provided an appropriation for the proper and legitimate expenses of each of the great national parties, an appropriation ample enough to meet the necessity for thorough organization and machinery, which requires a large expenditure of money. Then the stipulation should be made that no party receiving campaign funds from the Treasury should accept more than a fixed amount from any individual subscriber or donor; and the necessary publicity for receipts and expenditures could without difficulty be provided.”

IfsNeedsShouldMadeEnoughIndividualPartyAcceptingAmountOrganizationDifficultyCongressCampaignsFixedFundExpensesReceivingMachineryPublicityCollectingThoroughTreasuryExpendituresDonorsAppropriationReceiptsStipulations
Book:THEODORE ROOSEVELT - Ultimate Collection: Memoirs, History Books, Biographies, Essays, Speeches &Executive Orders: America and the World War, The Ancient Irish Sagas, The Naval War of 1812, Hero Tales From American History, Winning of the West, Through the Brazilian Wilderness, History as Literature...
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“Our loyalty is due entirely to the United States. It is due to the President only and exactly to the degree in which he efficiently serves the United States. It is our duty to support him when he serves the United States well. It is our duty to oppose him when he serves it badly. This is true about Mr. Wilson now and it has been true about all our Presidents in the past. It is our duty at all times to tell the truth about the President and about every one else, save in the cases where to tell the truth at the moment would benefit the public enemy.”

WellsHas BeensStatesMomentsPastPresidentUnitedEnemyCasesUnited StatesSupportDutyDegreesBenefitsDuesLoyaltyAll TimeTelling The TruthWilsonPublic Enemies
Book:Theodore Roosevelt Cyclopedia
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“The plea of good intentions is not one that can be allowed to have much weight in passing historical judgment upon a man whose wrong-headedness and distorted way of looking at things produced, or helped to produce, such incalculable evil; there is a wide political applicability in the remark attributed to a famous Texan, to the effect that he might, in the end, pardon a man who shot him on purpose, but that he would surely never forgive one who did so accidentally.”

MenWayEndsMightPoliticalPurposeEvilEffectsProduceJudgmentShotsWeightForgivingHistoricalIntentionWidePassingPassingsRemarksPardonGood IntentionsTexanNever Forgive
Book:Thomas H. Benton
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“Of all the officers of the Government, those of the Department of Justice should be kept most free from any suspicion of improper action on partisan or factional grounds, so that there shall be gradually a growth, even though a slow growth, in the knowledge that the Federal courts and the representatives of the Federal Department of Justice insist on meting out even-handed justice to all.”

ShouldGovernmentActionGrowthJusticeCourtDepartmentOfficersRepresentativesSuspicionPartisansSlow Growth
Book:1903-1905
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“Some reformers may urge that in the ages distant future, patriotism, like the habit of monogamous marriage, will become a needless and obsolete virtue; but just at present the man who loves other countries as much as he does his own is quite as noxious a member of society as the man who loves other women as much as he loves his wife. Love of country is an elemental virtue, like love of home.”

MenMayDoeCountryHomeAgeVirtueWifeHe ManHabitMembersPatriotismUrgesOther CountriesObsoleteLike LoveReformersElementalsWives Love
Book:American ideals and other essays, social and political
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“If I were a factory employee, a workman on the railroads or a wage-earner of any sort, I would undoubtedly join the union of my trade. If I disapproved of its policy, I would join in order to fight that policy; if the union leaders were dishonest, I would join in order to put them out. I believe in the union and I believe that all men who are benefited by the union are morally bound to help to the extent of their power in the common interests advanced by the union.”

IfsMenBelieveHelpingPoliticalOrderFightingPoliticsI BelieveInterestCommonLeaderPolicyTradeUnionsBoundsI Believe InEmployeeFactoriesRailroadsWorkmenCommon Interests
Book:Bully!
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“Any political movement directed against any body of our fellow-citizens because of their religious creed is a grave offense against American principles and American institutions. It is a wicked thing either to support or oppose a man because of the creed he possesses. . . . Such a movement directly contravenes the spirit of the Constitution itself.”

MenStatesBodyPoliticalSpiritChurchReligiousPrinciplesSupportMovementCitizensConstitutionFellowsInstitutionsGravesWickedCreedsOffensePolitical MovementsWicked Things
Book:Fear God and Take Your Own Part
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“Short-sighted men who in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things.”

IfsMenCountryBeautifulHalfGreedOur CountrySelfishnessCharmWildernessRecklessWild ThingsExterminationShort SightedWildlife Conservation
Book:The Green Roosevelt: Theodore Roosevelt in Appreciation of Wilderness, Wildlife, and Wild Places
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“At the risk of repetition let me say again that my plea is not for immunity to, but for the most unsparing exposure of, the politician who betrays his trust, of the big business man who makes or spends his fortune in illegitimate or corrupt ways. There should be a resolute effort to hunt every such man out of the position he has disgraced. Expose the crime, and hunt down the criminal; but remember that even in the case of crime, if it is attacked in sensational, lurid, and untruthful fashion, the attack may do more damage to the public mind than the crime itself.”

IfsMenWayShouldMindMayBigsRememberEffortBusinessCasesRiskFashionCrimePositionPoliticianLet MeFortuneCriminalsDamageBetrayRepetitionHuntsExposureBig BusinessResoluteImmunitySensationalBusiness Man
Author:Theodore Roosevelt
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