Theodore Roosevelt Quotes on Life (16 Quotes)

Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering.

Willful sterility is, from the standpoint of the nation, from the standpoint of the human race, the one sin for which the penalty is national death, race death a sin for which there is no atonement. No man, no woman, can shirk the primary duties of life, whether for love of ease and pleasure, or for any other cause, and retain his or her self-respect.

In life, as in a football game, the principle to follow is Hit the line hard.

The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life.

The world wants the kind of men who do not shrink from temporary defeats in life but come again and wrestle triumph from defeat.

There has never yet been a man in our history who led a life of ease whose name is worth remembering.

No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his well-being, to risk his body, to risk his life, in a great cause.

I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life.

Let us show, not merely in great crises, but in every day of life, qualities of practical intelligence, of hardihood and endurance, and above all, the power of devotion to a lofty ideal.

Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike.

The men and women who have the right ideals ... are those who have the courage to strive for the happiness which comes only with labor and effort and self-sacrifice, and those whose joy in life springs in part from power of work and sense of duty.

Courage, hard work, self-mastery, and intelligent effort are all essential to successful life.

It is impossible to win the great prizes of life without running risks, and the greatest of all prizes are those connected with the home.

Only those are fit to live who do not fear to die and none are fit to die who have shrunk from the joy of life and the duty of life. Both life and death are parts of the same Great Adventure.

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.

We are face to face with our destiny and we must meet it with a high and resolute courage. For us it 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.