Theodore Roosevelt Quotes (163 Quotes)

We need the iron qualities that go with true manhood. We need the positive virtues of resolution, of courage, of indomitable will, of power to do without shrinking the rough work that must always be done.

It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things.

To waste, to destroy, our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed.

A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.

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

The American people abhor a vacuum.

Believe you can and you're halfway there.

The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.

Wars are, of course, as a rule to be avoided; but they are far better than certain kinds of peace.

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.

There is a point, of course, where a man must take the isolated peak and break with all his associates for clear principle but until that time comes he must work, if he would be of use, with men as they are. As long as the good in them overbalances the evil, let him work with them for the best that can be obtained.

Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster.

Men with the muckrake are often indispensable to the well-being of society, but only if they know when to stop raking the muck.

I am simply unable to understand the value placed by so many people upon great wealth.

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.

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

Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars and keep your feet on the ground.

A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.

Speak softly and carry a big stick.

The spirit of brotherhood recognizes of necessity both the need of self-help and also the need of helping others in the only way which every ultimately does great god, that is, of helping them to help themselves.

Some men can live up to their loftiest ideals without ever going higher than a basement.

Appraisals are where you get together with your team leader and agree what an outstanding member of the team you are, how much your contribution has been valued, what massive potential you have and, in recognition of all this, would you mind having your salary halved.

The boy who is going to make a great man must not make up his mind merely to overcome a thousand obstacles, but to win in spite of a thousand repulses and defeats.

The man who loves other countries as much as his own stands on a level with the man who loves other women as much as he loves his own wife.

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.

Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people.

He and I are happy today that the worst of the crisis is over.

No people ever yet benefited by riches if their prosperity corrupted their virtue

Don't foul, don't flinch. Hit the line hard.

Probably the greatest harm done by vast wealth is the harm that we of moderate means do ourselves when we let the vices of envy and hatred enter deep into our own natures.

With self-discipline most anything is possible.

I took the Canal Zone and let Congress debate; and while the debate goes on, the canal does also.

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

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.

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.

No man is above the law and no man is below it: nor do we ask any man's permission when we ask him to obey it.

People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.

For unflagging interest and enjoyment, a household of children, if things go reasonably well, certainly all other forms of success and achievement lose their importance by comparison.

It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.

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.

Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or leave the country.

I am a part of everything that I have read.

Germany has reduced savagery to a science, and this great war for the victorious peace of justice must go on until the German cancer is cut clean out of the world body.

The pacifist is as surely a traitor to his country and to humanity as is the most brutal wrongdoer.

A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.

Keep your eyes on the stars, keep your feet on the ground.

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.

Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones.