Theodore Roosevelt Quotes

1858-1919, Twenty-sixth President of the USA
quotes
67
topics
12
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“The American people abhor a vacuum.”
America
“It is better to be faithful than famous.”
Loyalty
“All the resources we need are in the mind”
Mind
“I want to see you shoot the way you shout.”
Soldier
“Don't foul, don't flinch. Hit the line hard.”
Courage
“No man is above the law, and no man is below it.”
VerifiedThird State of the Union Address (7 December 1903) · evidenceEquality
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
Action
“Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.”
VerifiedLetter to Henry L. Sprague (26 January 1900); this is the first known use of this phrase, which became a signature motto of Roosevelt's after he used it in a speech as vice president at the Minnesota State Fair · evidencePower
“Nine-tenths of wisdom consists in being wise in time.”
Wisdom
“The government is us; we are the government, you and I.”
VerifiedSpeech at Asheville, North Carolina (9 September 1902) · evidenceGovernment
“Obedience of the law is demanded; not asked as a favor.”
Obedience
“The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything”
Mistakes
“No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expediency.”
Expediency
“My hat's in the ring. The fight is on and I'm stripped to the buff.”
Competition
“Aggressive fighting for the right is the greatest sport in the world.”
Right and Rightness
“Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster.”
Action
“To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.”
Education
“I am only an average man but, by George, I work harder at it than the average man.”
Averages
“Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting, but never hit soft.”
Strength
“Some men can live up to their loftiest ideals without ever going higher than a basement.”
Ideals and Idealism
“Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering.”
Work
“I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life.”
Dedication
“I think there is only one quality worse than hardness of heart and that is softness of head.”
Heart
“Freedom from effort in the present merely means that there has been effort stored up in the past.”
Effort
“Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”
Work
“The pacifist is as surely a traitor to his country and to humanity as is the most brutal wrongdoer.”
Peace
“There has never yet been a man in our history who led a life of ease whose name is worth remembering.”
Effort
“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.”
Success
“At sometime in our lives a devil dwells within us, causes heartbreaks, confusion and troubles, then dies.”
Devil