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Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt Quotes

26th U.S. President

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Famous Theodore Roosevelt Quotes

“We cannot afford to differ on the question of honesty if we expect our republic permanently to endure. Honesty is not so much a credit as an absolute prerequisite to efficient service to the public. Unless a man is honest, we have no right to keep him in public life; it matters not how brilliant his capacity.”

IfsMenMatterGovernmentTruthHonestHonestyCapacityAbsolutesEndureCreditBrilliantVotingRepublicEfficientPublic LifePrerequisites
Book:The Strenuous Life: Essays and Addresses
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“There were all kinds of things I was afraid of at first, ranging from grizzly bears to 'mean' horses and gun-fighters; but by acting as if I was not afraid I gradually ceased to be afraid.”

IfsFirstsKindMeanFearPresidentActingBearsGunHorseAll KindsFighterNot AfraidBetter LifeGrizzliesGrizzly BearsActing As If
Book:Theodore Roosevelt on Bravery: Lessons from the Most Courageous Leader of the Twentieth Century
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“Each child represents either a potential addition to the protective capacity and enlightened citizenship of the nation or, if allowed to suffer from neglect, a potential addition to the destructive forces of a community. . . . The interests of the nation are involved in the welfare of this array of children no less than in our great material affairs.”

IfsChildrenSufferingForceNationsInterestCommunityMaterialsInvolvedCapacityAffairWelfareDestructiveEnlightenedNeglectCitizenshipProtective
Author:Theodore Roosevelt
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“I am delighted to have you play football. I believe in rough, manly sports. But I do not believe in them if they degenerate into the sole end of any one's existence. I don't want you to sacrifice standing well in your studies to any over-athleticism; and I need not tell you that character counts for a great deal more than either intellect or body in winning success in life. Athletic proficiency is a mighty good servant, and like so many other good servants, a mighty bad master.”

IfsWantNeedsBelieveWellsEndsPlayCharacterBodyWinningI BelieveSportsDealsExistenceStudySacrificeFootballMastersStandingI Believe InIntellectSoccerServantRoughSoleSuccess In LifeAthleticDelightedManlyDegeneratesProficiencyAthleticism
Book:Theodore Roosevelt's Letters to His Children
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“I always believe in going hard at everything, whether it is Latin or mathematics, boxing or football, but at the same time I want to keep the sense of proportion. It is never worth while to absolutely exhaust one's self or to take big chances unless for an adequate object. I want you to keep in training the faculties which would make you, if the need arose, able to put your last ounce of pluck and strength into a contest. But I do not want you to squander these qualities.”

IfsWantNeedsBelieveSelfHardBigsAbleLastsSportsChanceQualityObjectsFootballTrainingMathematicsBoxingProportionFacultyLatinI Want YouContestsInspirational SportsAdequateAlways BelievePluckGo Hard
Book:A Bully Father: Theodore Roosevelt's Letters to His Children
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“If there is any one duty which more than another we owe it to our children and our children's children to perform at once, it is to save the forests of this country, for they constitute the first and most important element in the conservation of the natural resources of this country.”

IfsFirstsChildrenImportantCountryNaturalTreeDutyElementsResourcesOur ChildrenForestsConservationNatural Resources
Book:Presidential addresses and state papers
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“The function of our Government is to insure to all its citizens, now and hereafter, their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If we of this generation destroy the resources from which our children would otherwise derive their livelihood, we reduce the capacity of our land to support a population, and so either degrade the standard of living or deprive the coming generations of their fight to life on this continent.”

IfsChildrenGovernmentFightingLibertySupportRightsGenerationsLandCitizensStandardsResourcesCapacityFunctionOur ChildrenPopulationPursuitContinentsPursuit Of HappinessHereafterLivelihoodDegradeStandards Of LivingThis GenerationLife Liberty And The Pursuit Of HappinessRights To Life
Author:Theodore Roosevelt
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“The civilized people of today look back with horror at their medieval ancestors who wantonly destroyed great works of art or sat slothfully by while they destroyed. We have passed this stage.... Here in the U.S. we turn our rivers and streams into sewers and dumping grounds, we pollute the air, we destroy our forests and exterminate fishes, birds and mammals - not to speak of vulgarizing charming landscapes with hideous advertisements. But at best it looks as if our people were awakening.”

PeopleIfsLooksArtTodayTurnsSpeakEnvironmentAirStageHorrorBirdRiversFishesAwakeningForestsDestroyedLandscapeSatStreamsCivilizedWorks Of ArtAncestorCharmingGreat WorkMedievalHideousAdvertisementsMammalsSewers
Author:Theodore Roosevelt
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“Our chief usefulness to humanity rests on our combining power with high purpose. Power undirected by high purpose spells calamity, and high purpose by itself is utterly useless if the power to put it into effect is lacking.”

IfsPurposeHumanityPowerEffectsChiefsUselessSpellsLackingCalamityUsefulnessCombining
Book:Theodore Roosevelt on Bravery: Lessons from the Most Courageous Leader of the Twentieth Century
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“We Americans have many grave problems to solve, many threatening evils to fight, and many deeds to do, if, as we hope and believe, we have the wisdom, the strength, and the courage and the virtue to do them. But we must face facts as they are. We must neither surrender ourselves to a foolish optimism, nor succumb to a timid and ignoble pessimism.”

IfsBelieveFactsProblemFacesFightingEvilVirtueBalanceOptimismDeedsSolveFoolishGravesSurrenderPessimismThreateningIgnoble
Book:Theodore Roosevelt on Bravery: Lessons from the Most Courageous Leader of the Twentieth Century
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“A soft, easy life is not worth living, if it impairs the fibre of brain and heart and muscle. We must dare to be great; and we must realize that greatness is the fruit of toil and sacrifice and high courage... For us is the life of action, of strenuous performance of duty; let us live in the harness, striving mightily; let us rather run the risk of wearing out than rusting out.”

IfsHeartRunningActionLife IsEasyRealizingBrainRiskSacrificeGreatnessDutyPerformancesFruitStriveDareMusclesToilWorth LivingHarnessTeddyEasy LifeHeart And BrainLife Is Not Worth LivingLeadership CourageDare To Be Great
Book:The Works of Theodore Roosevelt
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“No nation deserves to exist if it permits itself to lose the stern and virile virtues; and this without regard to whether the loss is due to the growth of a heartless and all-absorbing commercialism, to prolonged indulgence in luxury and soft, effortless ease, or to the deification of a warped and twisted sentimentality.”

IfsNationsGrowthLosesLossVirtueDeserveRegardDuesLuxuryEasePermitTwistedIndulgenceHeartlessAbsorbingSentimentalityEffortlessCommercialism
Author:Theodore Roosevelt
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“There are good men and bad men of all nationalities, creeds and colors; and if this world of ours is ever to become what we hope some day it may become, it must be by the general recognition that the man's heart and soul, the man's worth and actions, determine his standing.”

IfsMenWorldHeartMaySoulActionThis WorldColorStandingDetermineRecognitionGood ManCreedsNationalityHeart And SoulBad Man
Book:The Bully Pulpit: A Teddy Roosevelt Book of Quotations
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“There should be relentless exposure of and attack upon every evil practice, whether in politics, in business, or in social life. I hail as a benefactor every writer or speaker, every man who, on the platform, or in book, magazine or newspaper, with merciless severity makes such attack, provided always that he in his turn remembers that the attack is of use only if it is absolutely truthful.”

IfsMenShouldBookUseRememberTurnsEvilSocialPracticeEvery ManNewspapersMagazinesSpeakersTruthfulPlatformsExposureRelentlessSocial LifeHailSeverityBenefactors
Author:Theodore Roosevelt
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“But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American and nothing but an American. If he tries to keep segregated with men of his own origin and separated from the rest of America, then he isn't doing his part as an American. There can be no divided allegiance here. . . We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, of American nationality, and not as dwellers in a polyglot boarding-house; and we have room for but one soul loyalty, and that is loyalty to the American people.”

PeopleIfsMenTryingSoulFactsAmericaTurnsHouseLanguageRoomsBecomingLoyaltyDividedEnglish LanguageNationalityAllegianceCrucibleDwellersPolyglotsBoarding House
Book:Theodore Roosevelt Cyclopedia
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“If an American is to amount to anything he must rely upon himself, and not upon the State; he must take pride in his own work, instead of sitting idle to envy the luck of others. He must face life with resolute courage, win victory if he can, and accept defeat if he must, without seeking to place on his fellow man a responsibility which is not theirs.”

IfsMenStatesAmericaFacesWinningResponsibilityAcceptingPrideAmountVictorySittingFellowsLuckDefeatSeekingEnvyRelyIdlePatriotFellow ManResoluteRely Upon
Book:The Bully Pulpit: A Teddy Roosevelt Book of Quotations
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“If we lose the virile, manly qualities, and sink into a nation of mere hucksters, putting gain over national honor, and subordinating everything to mere ease of life, then we shall indeed reach a condition worse than that of the ancient civilizations in the years of their decay.”

IfsYearsNationsLosesQualityConditionsHonorCivilizationGainsMereAncientEaseDecayManlyAncient Civilizations
Book:The Works of Theodore Roosevelt: American ideals, with a biographical sketch by F. V. Greene. Administration
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“Every thinking man, when he thinks, realizes that the teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and intertwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be literally, I do not mean figuratively, but literally impossible for us to figure what the loss would be if these teachings were removed. We would lose all the standards by which we now judge both public and private morals; all the standards toward which we, with more or less resolution, strive to raise ourselves.”

IfsThinkingMenMeanWholeWould BeSocialRealizingLosesLossMoralImpossibleTeachingFiguresJudgingStandardsRaisesStrivePresidentialResolutionCivicsSocial LifeIntertwinedThinking Man
Author:Theodore Roosevelt
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“If we seek merely swollen, slothful ease and ignoble peace, if we shrink from the hard contests where men must win at the hazard of their lives and at the risk of all they hold dear, then bolder and stronger peoples will pass us by, and will win for themselves the domination of the world.”

IfsMenWorldLifeHardWinningPeaceRiskStrongerDearEaseContestsDominationShrinksHazardsIgnobleSwollen
Book:Theodore Roosevelt on Bravery: Lessons from the Most Courageous Leader of the Twentieth Century
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“Progress has brought us both unbounded opportunities and unbridled difficulties. Thus, the measure of our civilization will not be that we have done much, but what we have done with that much. I believe that the next half century will determine if we will advance the cause of Christian civilization or revert to the horrors of brutal paganism. The thought of modern industry in the hands of Christian charity is a dream worth dreaming. The thought of industry in the hands of paganism is a nightmare beyond imagining. The choice between the two is upon us.”

IfsBelieveTwoDoneDreamHandsChristianReligionChoicesNextOpportunityI BelieveCausesHalfProgressModernCenturyIndustryCivilizationHorrorDifficultyCharityDetermineVotingNightmareBrutalPaganism
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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“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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“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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“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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