Theodore Roosevelt

Quotes

The death-knell of the republic had rung as soon as the active power became lodged in the hands of those who sought, not to do justice to all citizens, rich and poor alike, but to stand for one special class and for its interests as opposed to the interests of others.
Any man who tries to excite class hatred, sectional hate, hate of creeds, any kind of hatred in our community, though he may affect to do it in the interest of the class he is addressing, is in the long run with absolute certainly that class's own worst enemy.
When I say I believe in a square deal i do not mean ... to give every man the best hand. If the cards do not come to any man, or if they do come, and he has not got the power to play them, that is his affair. All I mean is that there shall be no crookedness in the dealing.
It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy course; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.
Justice consists not in being neutral between right and wrong, but in finding out the right and upholding it, wherever found, against the wrong.
It's not the critic who counts. Not the man who points out how the doer of deeds might have done them better. Instead, the credit belongs to the man in the arena whose face is marred by sweat and blood and tears.
It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again. Because there is no effort without error and shortcomings, he who knows the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the high achievement of triumph and who at worst, if he fails while daring greatly, knows his place shall never be with those timid and cold souls who know neither victory nor defeat".
A vote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.
To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.
Spend and be spent.
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.
Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president.
If there is not the war, you don't get the great general; if there is not a great occasion, you don't get a great statesman; if Lincoln had lived in a time of peace, no one would have known his name.
To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, right or wrong - is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.
We are face to face with our destiny and we must meet it with high and resolute 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.
We cannot afford merely to sit down and deplore the evils of city life as inevitable, when cities are constantly growing, both absolutely and relatively. We must set ourselves vigorously about the task of improving them; and this task is now well begun.
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.
To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.
The most practical kind of politics is the politics of decency.
Wars are, of course, as a rule to be avoided; but they are far better than certain kinds of peace.
Aggressive fighting for the right is the greatest sport in the world.
I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life.
Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure , than to take rank with those poor spires who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory or defeat.
The conservation of our natural resources and their proper use constitute the fundamental problem which underlies almost every other problem of our national life.
Let us speak courteously, deal fairly, and keep ourselves armed and ready.
No foreign policy-no matter how ingenious-has any chance of success if it is born in the minds of few and carried in the hearts of many.
The United States does not have a choice as to whether or not is will or will not play a great part in the world. Fate has made that choice for us. The only question is whether we will play the part well or badly.
No, I'm not a good shot, but I shoot often.
The wild life of today is not ours to do with as we please. The original stock was given to us in trust for the benefit both of the present and the future. We must render an accounting of this trust to those who come after us.
In a civilized and cultivated country, wild animals only continue to exist at all when preserved by sportsmen.
The decisions of the courts on economic and social questions depend on their economic and social philosophy.
Do what you can with what you have where you are.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer "Present" or "Not Guilty."
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.
Nine-tenths of wisdom consists in being wise in time.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, "Certainly I can!" - and get busy and find out how to do it.
A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.
The great virtue of my radicalism lies in the fact that I am perfectly ready, if necessary, to be radical on the conservative side.
The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.
Put out the light.
Do what you can with what you have, where you are.
While my interest in natural history has added very little to my sum of achievement, it has added immeasurably to my sum of enjoyment in life.
Practical efficiency is common, and lofty idealism not uncommon; it is the combination which is necessary, and the combination is rare
Far better is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the grey twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.
There is a homely old adage which runs: "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far." If the American nation will speak softly, and yet build and keep at a pitch of the highest training a thoroughly efficient navy, the Monroe Doctrine will go far.
Of all forms of tyranny the least attractive and the most vulgar is the tyranny of mere wealth, the tyranny of plutocracy.
A just war is in the long run far better for a nation's soul than the most prosperous peace obtained by acquiescence in wrong or injustice.
It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft!
Far better it is 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 the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.
When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer 'Present' or 'Not guilty.'
When you play, play hard; when you work, don't play at all.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, 'Certainly I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it.
No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expediency.
Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.
Courtesy is as much a mark of a gentleman as courage.
Speak softly and carry a big stick.
The one thing I want to leave my children is an honorable name.
I keep my good health by having a very bad temper, kept under good control.
A stream cannot rise larger than its source.
Envy is as evil a thing as arrogance.
It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.
The worst of all fears is the fear of living.
Americans learn only from catastrophe and not from experience.
It is not what we have that will make us a great nation; it is the way in which we use it.
The American people are slow to wrath, but when their wrath is once kindled it burns like a consuming flame.
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.
We demand that big business give the people a square deal; in return we must insist that when anyone engaged in big business honestly endeavors to do right he shall himself be given a square deal.
There is quite enough sorrow and shame amd suffering and baseness in real life, and there is no need for meeting it unnecessarily in fiction.
Our country offers the most wonderful example of democratic government on a giant scale that the world has ever seen; and the peoples of the world are watching to see whether we succeed or fail.
Let individuals contribute as they desire; but let us prohibit in effective fashion all corporations from making contributions for any political purpose, directly or indirectly.
Avoid the base hypocrisy of condemning in one man what you pass over in silence when committed by another.
Success, the real success, does not depend upon the position you hold but upon how you carry yourself in that position.
It is both foolish and wicked to teach the average man who is not well off that some wrong or injustice has been done him, and that he should hope for redress elsewhere than in his own industry, honesty, and intelligence.
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.
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 diffcult lives and led them well.
In this country we have no place for hyphenated Americans.
If I must choose between righteousness and peace, I choose righteousness.
A typical vice of American politics is the avoidance of saying anything real on real issues.
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.
War with evil; but show no spirit of malignity toward the man who may be responsible for the evil. Put it out of his power to do wrong.
Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you've got to start young.
Nine-tenths of wisdom is being wise in time.
The old parties are husks, with no real soul within either, divided on artificial lines, boss-ridden and privilege-controlled, each a jumble of incongruous elements, and neither daring to speak out wisely and fearlessly on what should be said on the vital issues of the day.
To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.
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 most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.
In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.
I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do. That is character!
Only those who are fit to live 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.
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.
A finer body of men has never been gathered by any nation than the men who have done the work of building the Panama Canal; the conditions under which they have lived and have done their work have been better than in any similar work ever undertaken in the tropics; they have all felt an eager pride in their work; and they have made not only America but the whole world their debtors by what they have accomplished.
This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in.
The fool who has not sense to discriminate between what is good and what is bad is well nigh as dangerous as the man who does discriminate and yet chooses the bad.
The forces that tend for evil are great and terrible, but the forces of truth and love and courage and honesty and generosity and sympathy are also stronger than ever before.
This truth should be kept constantly in mind by every free people desiring to preserve the sanity and poise indispensable to the permanent success of self-government.
Absence and death are the same - only that in death there is no suffering.
The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.
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.
Believe you can and you're halfway there.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month.