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Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt Quotes

26th U.S. President

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Famous Theodore Roosevelt Quotes

“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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“Conservation means development as much as it does protection. I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that come after us.”

MeanDoeUseNatureNaturalGenerationsLandDutyDevelopmentWasteResourcesProtectionConservationDinosaursNatural ResourcesThis GenerationNature ConservationLand ConservationSmart GrowthProtect Nature
Book:The Bully Pulpit: A Teddy Roosevelt Book of Quotations
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“We of an older generation can get along with what we have, though with growing hardship; but in your full manhood and womanhood you will want what nature once so bountifully supplied and man so thoughtlessly destroyed; and because of that want you will reproach us, not for what we have used, but for what we have wasted...So any nation which in its youth lives only for the day, reaps without sowing, and consumes without husbanding, must expect the penalty of the prodigal whose labor could with difficulty find him the bare means of life.”

MenWantMeanUsedNationsGrowingGenerationsYouthLaborDifficultyDestroyedHardshipPenaltiesWomanhoodManhoodReapDinosaursReproachSowingProdigalsNature ConservationOlder GenerationArbor DayYouth Life
Book:Theodore Roosevelt Cyclopedia
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“It is the people, and not the judges, who are entitled to say what their constitution means, for the constitution is theirs, it belongs to them and not to their servants in office—any other theory is incompatible with the foundation principles of our government.”

PeopleMeanGovernmentPrinciplesJudgingTheoryOfficeConstitutionFoundationServantEntitled
Book:Majority Rule and the Judiciary: An Examination of Current Proposals for Constitutional Change Affecting the Relation of Courts to Legislation
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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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“I regard the Masonic institution as one of the means ordained by the Supreme Architect to enable mankind to work out the problem of destiny; to fight against, and overcome, the weaknesses and imperfections of his nature, and at last to attain to that true life of which death is the herald and the grave the portal.”

MeanProblemLastsFightingDestinyMankindWeaknessOvercomingRegardInstitutionsWork OutSupremeGravesImperfectionArchitectTrue LifePortalMasonic
Author:Theodore Roosevelt
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“Our country, we have faith to believe, is only at the beginning of its growth. Unless the forests of the United States can be made ready to meet the vast demands which this growth will inevitably bring, commercial disaster, that means disaster to the whole country, is inevitable.”

BelieveMeanMadeCountryStatesWholeGrowthUnitedUnited StatesReadyDemandDisasterForestsOur CountryInevitableHave Faith
Book:Presidential Addresses and State Papers of Theodore Roosevelt: With Portrait Frontispiece
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“... the Armenian massacre was the greatest crime of the war, and the failure to act against Turkey is to condone it ... the failure to deal radically with the Turkish horror means that all talk of guaranteeing the future peace of the world is mischievous nonsense.”

WorldMeanWarDealsCrimeHorrorNonsenseGenocideTurkeysTurkishMassacresMischievousArmeniansArmeniaArmenian GenocideFailure To Act
Book:Letters: The days of Armageddon, 1909-1914
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“There are always in life countless tendencies for good and for evil, and each succeeding generation sees some of these tendencies strengthened and some weakened; nor is it by any means always, alas! that the tendencies for evil are weakened and those for good strengthened. But during the last few decades there certainly have been some notable changes for good in boy life. The great growth in the love of athletic sports, for instance, while fraught with danger if it becomes one-sided and unhealthy, has beyond all question had an excellent effect in increased manliness.”

IfsMeanHas BeensLastsEvilSportsGrowthBoysGenerationsEffectsDangerSucceedDecadesTendenciesInstanceExcellentAlasAthleticNotableUnhealthyManlinessOne Sided
Book:The Strenuous Life: Essays and Addresses
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“I stand for the square deal. I mean not merely that I stand for fair play under the present rules of the game, but that I stand for having those rules changed so as to work for a more substantial equality of opportunity and of reward for equally good service.”

MeanPlayOpportunityGamesDealsChangedFairsRewardsSquaresFair PlayRules Of The GameEquality Of OpportunityGood Service
Book:In the Words of Theodore Roosevelt: Quotations from the Man in the Arena
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“The great body of our citizens shoot less as times goes on. We should encourage rifle practice among schoolboys, and indeed among all classes, as well as in the military services by every means in our power. Thus, and not otherwise, may we be able to assist in preserving peace in the world... The first step – in the direction of preparation to avert war if possible, and to be fit for war if it should come – is to teach men to shoot!”

IfsMenWorldShouldFirstsWellsMayMeanWarBodyAbleStepsClassTeachPracticeMilitaryGoes OnCitizensFitGunPreparationFirst StepsGun ControlMiscellaneousRiflesPro GunHandgunsAvertTime Goes OnMilitary ServiceAnti Gun
Author:Theodore Roosevelt
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“There is a delight in the hardy life of the open. There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy and its charm. The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased; and not impaired in value. Conservation means development as much as it does protection.”

IfsWellsMeanDoeSpiritValuesTurnsNextNationsNaturalGenerationsMysteryDevelopmentResourcesTreatsDelightProtectionBehaveCharmWildernessMelancholyAssetsConservationNext GenerationNatural ResourcesNatural EnvironmentHardyNature ConservationNature LifeNature And Life
Book:Theodore Roosevelt's America: Selections from the Writings of the Oyster Bay Naturalist
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“Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else.”

MeanDoeCountryTruthPresidentSupportFailingEventsDutyDegreesOfficialsTelling The TruthPatriotismPatrioticDissentInefficiencyPublic OfficialsUnpatriotic
Book:Theodore Roosevelt on Bravery: Lessons from the Most Courageous Leader of the Twentieth Century
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“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”

PeopleWorldHumansWellsMeanPainSuccessEasyDifficultHuman BeingsEffortDifficultyAdversityEnvyEnviedEasy ThingsEasy LifeDifficult LifeNothing Is Easy
Book:The Bully Pulpit: A Teddy Roosevelt Book of Quotations
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“Freemasonry must stand upon the Rock of Truth, religion, political, social, and economic. Nothing is so worthy of its care as freedom in all its aspects. "Free" is the most vital part of Freemasonry. It means freedom of thought and expression, freedom of spiritual and religious ideals, freedom from oppression, freedom from ignorance, superstition, vice and bigotry, freedom to acquire and possess property, to go and come at pleasure, and to rise or fall according to will of ability.”

MeanCareSpiritualPoliticalFallSocialReligiousAbilityPleasureEconomicRocksIgnoranceExpressionAspectIdealsPropertyVicesWorthyOppressionAcquireBigotrySuperstitionsFreedom Of ThoughtMasonicFreemasonry
Author:Theodore Roosevelt
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