This post features the best Theodore Roosevelt quotes you need to know.
Theodore Roosevelt was an American statesman, politician, conservationist, naturalist, writer, and served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909.
Below are some inspirational Theodore Roosevelt Quotes that will inspire you in the conservation of nature and to be a great leader.
Table of Contents
Best Theodore Roosevelt quotes of all time
“The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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!” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Order without liberty and liberty without order are equally destructive.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“No great intellectual thing was ever done by great effort.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Absence and death are the same – only that in death there is no suffering.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you’ve got to start young.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The one thing I want to leave my children is an honorable name.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The reactionary is always willing to take a progressive attitude on any issue that is dead.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt motivational quotes
“The worst lesson that can be taught to a man is to rely upon others and to whine over his sufferings.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The truth is that any good modern rifle is good enough. The determining factor is the man behind the gun.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars, but remember to keep your feet on the ground.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Comparison is the thief of joy.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“In the long run, the most unpleasant truth is a safer companion than a pleasant falsehood.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“It is always better to be an original than an imitation.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“You can’t choose your potential, but you can choose to fulfill it.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“For those who fight for it life has a flavor the sheltered will never know.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Your attitude about who you are and what you have is a very little thing that makes a very big difference.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“No man should receive a dollar unless that dollar has been fairly earned.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The wildlife and its habitat cannot speak, so we must and we will.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Malefactors of great wealth have arrogantly ignored the public welfare.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Unrestrained greed means the ruin of the great woods and the drying up of the sources of the rivers.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“When I hear of the destruction of a species, I feel just as if all the works of some great writer have perished.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt inspirational quotes
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“With self-discipline most anything is possible.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Honesty first; then courage; then brains – and all are indispensable.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The joy in life is his who has the heart to demand it.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“I do. That is character!” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Nine tenths of wisdom consists in being wise in time.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Some men can live up to their loftiest ideals without ever going higher than a basement.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“I think there is only one quality worse than hardness of heart and that is softness of head.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Freedom from effort in the present merely means that there has been effort stored up in the past.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Most of us tiptoe through life in order to make it safely to death.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Make preparations in advance … you never have trouble if you are prepared for it.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt quotes on critics
“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 at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Criticism is necessary and useful; it is often indispensable; but it can never take the place of action, or be even a poor substitute for it. The function of the mere critic is of very subordinate usefulness. It is the doer of deeds who actually counts in the battle for life, and not the man who looks on and says how the fight ought to be fought, without himself sharing the stress and the danger.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The man who really counts in the world is the doer, not the mere critic — the man who actually does the work, even if roughly and imperfectly, not the man who only talks or writes about how it ought to be done.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the president… is morally treasonable to the American public.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt quotes on leadership
“People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“If a strong man has not in him the lift toward lofty things, his strength makes him only a curse to himself and his neighbor.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“He who makes no mistakes makes no progress.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The leader works in the open and the boss in covert. The leader leads, and the boss drives.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“My power vanishes into thin air the instant that my fellow citizens, who are straight and honest, cease to believe that I represent them and fight for what is straight and honest. That is all the strength that I have.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The stream will not permanently rise higher than the main source; and the main source of national power and national greatness is found in the average citizenship of the nation. Therefore it behooves us to do our best to see that the standard of the average citizen is kept high; and the average cannot be kept high unless the standard of the leaders is very much higher.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt quotes on nature
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children’s children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“We have become great because of the lavish use of our resources … But the time has come to inquire seriously what will happen when our forests are gone, when the coal, the iron, the oil and the gas are exhausted.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“If we would have our citizens contented and law-abiding, we must not sow the seeds of discontent in childhood by denying children their birthright of play.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The lack of power to take joy in outdoor nature is as real a misfortune as the lack of power to take joy in books.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“In the Grand Canyon, Arizona has a natural wonder which is in kind absolutely unparalleled throughout the rest of the world. I want to ask you to keep this great wonder of nature as it now is. I hope you will not have a building of any kind, not a summer cottage, a hotel or anything else, to mar the wonderful grandeur, the sublimity, the great loneliness and beauty of the canyon. Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt quotes on patriotism
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“A man who is good enough to shed his blood for the country is good enough to be given a square deal afterwards.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“I am an American; free born and free bred, where I acknowledge no man as my superior, except for his own worth, or as my inferior, except for his own demerit.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Americanism means the virtues of courage, honor, justice, truth, sincerity, and hardihood – the virtues that made America.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Some reformers may urge that in the ages distant future, patriotism, like the habit of monogamous marriage, will become a needless and obsolete virtue; but just at present the man who loves other countries as much as he does his own is quite as noxious a member of society as the man who loves other women as much as he loves his wife. Love of country is an elemental virtue, like love of home.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or leave the country.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“A typical vice of American politics is the avoidance of saying anything real on real issues.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“It is necessary for the welfare of the nation that men’s lives be based on the principles of the Bible. No man, educated or uneducated, can afford to be ignorant of the Bible.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt quotes about courage
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Courtesy is as much a mark of a gentleman as courage.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Don’t foul, don’t flinch-hit the line hard.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The great lawyer who employs his talent and his learning in the highly emunerative task of enabling a very wealthy client to override or circumvent the law is doing all that in him lies to encourage the growth in the country of a spirit of dumb anger against all laws and of disbelief in their efficacy.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Knowing what’s right doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Nothing worth having was ever achieved without effort.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The great body of our citizens shoot less as time 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!” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Character is far more important than intellect in making a man a good citizen or successful at his calling- meaning by character not only such qualities as honesty and truthfulness, but courage, perseverance and self-reliance.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“All the resources we need are in the mind.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Let us rather run the risk of wearing out than rusting out.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“We Americans have many grave problems to solve, many threatening evils to fight, and many deeds to do, if, as we hope and believe, we have the wisdom, the strength, and the courage and the virtue to do them. But we must face facts as they are. We must neither surrender ourselves to a foolish optimism, nor succumb to a timid and ignoble pessimism.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“A man’s usefulness depends on his living up to his ideals insofar as he can. It is hard to fail but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. All daring and courage, all iron endurance of misfortune, make for a finer, nobler type of manhood. 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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“There is need of a sound body, and even more need for a sound mind. But above mind and above body stands character-the sum of those qualities which we mean when we speak of a man’s force and courage, of his good faith and sense of honor.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Courage is not having the strength to go on, it is going on when you don’t have the strength. Industry and determination can do anything that genius and advantage can do and many things that they cannot.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt quotes about work
“Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“When you play, play hard; when you work, don’t play at all.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Nothing worth having comes easy.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“I don’t pity any man who does hard work worth doing. I admire him. I pity the creature who does not work, at whichever end of the social scale he may regard himself as being.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Courage, hard work, self-mastery, and intelligent effort are all essential to successful life.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“I am only an average man but, by George, I work harder at it than the average man.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Work hard at work worth doing.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt quotes about politics
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Don’t hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer ‘Present’ or ‘Not guilty.’” – Theodore Roosevelt
“When you are asked if you can do a job, tell ’em, ‘Certainly I can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The most successful politician is the one who says what the people are thinking most often in the loudest voice.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Every reform movement has a lunatic fringe.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“No greater wrong can ever be done than to put a good man at the mercy of a bad, while telling him not to defend himself or his fellows; in no way can the success of evil be made surer or quicker.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Rhetoric is a poor substitute for action, and we have trusted only rhetoric. If we are really to be a great nation, we must not merely talk; we must act big.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“I don’t go so far as to think that the only good Indians are dead Indians, but I believe nine out of ten are, and I shouldn’t like to inquire too closely into the case of the tenth.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The most practical kind of politics is the politics of decency.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“We can just as little afford to follow the doctrinaires of an extreme individualism as the doctrinaires of an extreme socialism.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Much of the discussion about socialism and individualism is entirely pointless, because of failure to agree on terminology.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“It is both foolish and wicked to teach the average man who is not well off that some wrong or injustice has been done to him, and that he should hope for redress elsewhere than in his own industry, honesty, and intelligence.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Those who advocate total lack of regulation, those who advocate lawlessness in the business world, themselves give the strongest impulse to what I believe would be the deadening movement toward unadulterated state socialism.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“I took the Canal Zone and let Congress debate; and while the debate goes on, the canal does also.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“What counts in a man or in a nation is not what the man or the nation can do, but what he or it actually does.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“There is superstition in science quite as much as there is superstition in theology, and it is all the more dangerous because those suffering from it are profoundly convinced that they are freeing themselves from all superstition.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The settler and pioneer have at bottom had justice on their side; this great continent could not have been kept as nothing but a game preserve for squalid savages.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt quotes on country
“We can have no ’50-50′ allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else, or he is not an American at all.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“This country has nothing to fear from the crooked man who fails. We put him in jail. It is the crooked man who succeeds who is a threat to this country.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Free speech exercised both individually and through a free press, is a necessity in any country where people are themselves free.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“There should be at least ten times the number of rifles in the country as there are now.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Short-sighted men who in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“There can be no fifty-fifty Americanism in this country. There is room here for only 100% Americanism, only for those who are Americans and nothing else.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Optimism is a good characteristic, but if carried to an excess, it becomes foolishness. We are prone to speak of the resources of this country as inexhaustible; this is not so.
“We have room in this country for but one flag, the Stars and Stripes!” – Theodore Roosevelt
“I do not dislike but I certainly have no especial respect or admiration for and no trust in, the typical big moneyed men of my country. I do not regard them as furnishing sound opinion as respects either foreign or domestic business.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The pacifist is as surely a traitor to his country and to humanity as is the most brutal wrongdoer.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“90% of the work in this country is done by people who don’t feel good.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“A people without children would face a hopeless future; a country without trees is almost as helpless.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“If there is any one duty which more than another we owe it to our children and our children’s children to perform at once, it is to save the forests of this country, for they constitute the first and most important element in the conservation of the natural resources of this country.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The name Roosevelt has this legendary force in our country at this time.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“In this country we have no place for hyphenated Americans.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“A revolution is sometimes necessary, but if revolutions become habitual the country in which they take place is going down-hill.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt quotes on war
“A good Navy is not a provocation to war. It is the surest guarantee of peace.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Profanity is the parlance of the fool. Why curse when there is such a magnificent language with which to discourse?” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Life brings sorrows and joys alike. It is what a man does with them – not what they do to him – that is the true test of his mettle.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Wars are, of course, as a rule to be avoided; but they are far better than certain kinds of peace.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“We must diligently strive to make our young men decent, God-fearing, law-abiding, honor-loving, justice-doing and also fearless and strong.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The wise and honorable and Christian thing to do is to treat each black man and each white man (or any person) on his merits as a man, giving him no more and no less than he is worthy to have.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“After the war, and until the day of his death, his position on almost every public question was either mischievous or ridiculous, and usually both.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“No triumph of peace is quite so great as the supreme triumphs of war.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Councils of War never fight.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“I am rather more apt to read old books than new ones.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Such an experiment without actual conditions of war to support it is a foolish waste of time. . . . I once saw a man kill a lion with a 30-30 caliber rifle under certain conditions, but that doesn’t mean that a 30-30 rifle is a lion gun.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“No triumph of peace can equal the armed triumph of war.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The sons of all of us will pay in the future if we of the present do not do justice in the present.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The most ultimately righteous of all wars is a war with savages.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“A just war is in the long run far better for a man’s soul than the most prosperous peace.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The foes from whom we pray to be delivered are our own passions, appetites, and follies; and against these there is always the need that we should war.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“War is not merely justifiable, but imperative upon honorable men, upon an honorable nation, where peace can only be obtained by the sacrifice of conscientious conviction or of national welfare.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Abraham Lincoln – the spirit incarnate of those who won victory in the Civil War – was the true representative of these people, not only for his own generation, but for all time, because he was a man among men.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt quotes on duty
“No man who is corrupt, no man who condones corruption in others, can possibly do his duty by the community.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The first requisite of a good citizen in this republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his own weight.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The great corporations which we have grown to speak of rather loosely as trusts are the creatures of the State, and the State not only has the right to control them, but it is duty bound to control them wherever the need of such control is shown.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Rarely has any people enjoyed greater prosperity than we are now enjoying. For this we render heartfelt and solemn thanks to the Giver of Good; and we seek to praise Him -not by words only -but by deeds, by the way in which we do our duty to ourselves and to our fellow men.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The weakling and the coward cannot be saved by honesty alone; but without honesty the brave and able man is merely a civic wild beast who should be hunted down by every lover of righteousness. No man who is corrupt, no man who condones corruption in others, can possibly do his duty by the community.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Great corporations exist only because they are created and safeguarded by our institutions; and it is therefore our right and duty to see that they work in harmony with these institutions.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“It is no limitation upon property rights or freedom of contract to require that when men receive from the government the privilege of doing business under corporate form… they shall do so under absolutely truthful representations… Great corporations exist only because they were created and safeguarded by our institutions; and it is therefore our right and duty to see that they work in harmony with these institutions.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Our duty to the whole, including the unborn generations, bids us to restrain an unprincipled present-day minority from wasting the heritage of these unborn generations. The movement for the conservation of wildlife and the larger movement for the conservation of all our natural resources are essentially democratic in spirit, purpose, and method.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The performance of duty, and not an indulgence in vapid ease and vapid pleasure, is all that makes life worthwhile.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“We have duties to others, and duties to ourselves, and we cannot shirk either.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The man who does not think it was America’s duty to fight for her own sake in view of the infamous conduct of Germany toward us stands on a level with a man who wouldn’t think it necessary to fight in a private quarrel because his wife’s face was slapped.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Conservation is a great moral issue, for it involves the patriotic duty of ensuring the safety and continuance of the nation.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The duties are even more important than the rights; and in the long run I think that the reward is ample and greater for duty well done, than for the insistence upon individual rights.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The first duty of an American citizen, then, is that he shall work in politics.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Much has been given us, and much will rightfully be expected from us. We have duties to others and duties to ourselves; and we can shirk neither. We have become a great nation, forced by the fact of its greatness into relations with other nations of the earth, and we must behave as beseems a people with such responsibilities.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The greatest privilege and greatest duty for any man is to be happily married, and no other form of success or service, for either man or woman, can be wisely accepted as a substitute or alternative.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“I hold it to be our duty to see that the wage-worker, the small producer, the ordinary consumer, shall get their fair share of business prosperity. But it either is or ought to be evident to everyone that business has to prosper before anybody can get any benefit from it.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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 days that have gone, our forefathers moved on to triumph.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt quotes on education
“A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“I am a part of everything that I have read.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“No educated man can afford to be ignorant of the Bible.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The one quality which sets one man apart from another- the key which lifts one to every aspiration while others are caught up in the mire of mediocrity- is not talent, formal education, nor intellectual brightness – it is self-discipline. With self-discipline all things are possible. Without it, even the simplest goal can seem like the impossible dream.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“We stand for a living wage. Wages are subnormal if they fail to provide a living for those who devote their time and energy to industrial occupations. The monetary equivalent of a living wage varies according to local conditions, but must include enough to secure the elements of a normal standard of living-a standard high enough to make morality possible, to provide for education and recreation, to care for immature members of the family, to maintain the family during periods of sickness, and to permit of reasonable saving for old age.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Americans learn only from catastrophe and not from experience.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The best lesson that any people can learn is that there is no patent cure-all which will make the body politic perfect, and that any man who is able glibly to answer every question as to how to deal with the evils of the body politic is at best a foolish visionary and at worst an evil-minded quack.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt quotes on life
“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 certainty that class’s own worst enemy.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expedience.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“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.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“It’s not having been in the Dark House, but having left it that counts.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“There is a delight in the hardy life of the open.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“The world wants the kind of men who do not shrink from temporary defeats in life; but come again and wrestle triumph from defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“In life, as in football, the principle to follow is to hit the line hard.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Famous Theodore Roosevelt quotes
“The joy of living is his who has the heart to demand it. Life is a great adventure, and I want to say to you, accept it in such a spirit.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Justice consists not in being neutral between right and wrong, but finding out the right and upholding it, wherever found, against the wrong.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“I put myself in the way of things happening, and they happened.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Everyone loves justice in the affairs of another.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Life is a great adventure…accept it in such a spirit.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“With great victory comes great sacrifice.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Let us speak courteously, deal fairly, and keep ourselves armed and ready.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Politeness [is] a sign of dignity, not subservience.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“If a man does not have an ideal and try to live up to it, then he becomes a mean, base and sordid creature, no matter how successful.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“We shall make mistakes; and if we let these mistakes frighten us from our work we shall show ourselves weaklings.” – Theodore Roosevelt
FAQs | Motivational Theodore Roosevelt quotes
Here are some frequently asked questions about Theodore Roosevelt quotes.
Who was Theodore Roosevelt?

Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th U.S. President (1901-1909). He promoted conservation, founded the U.S. Forest Service, and won the Nobel Peace Prize. His “Square Deal” aimed at fair business practices. Roosevelt is a notable figure for his leadership and reforms.
What is Theodore Roosevelt famous for?
Theodore Roosevelt is known for his role as the 26th President of the United States, his efforts in conservation, winning the Nobel Peace Prize, his “Big Stick” diplomacy, and overseeing the construction of the Panama Canal.
What was a famous Theodore Roosevelt quote?
A famous quote by Theodore Roosevelt is:
“Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.”
This quote shows his foreign policy style: he believed in using diplomacy first but also in being ready to use military power if needed.
What are 3 fun facts about Theodore Roosevelt?
Here are 3 fun facts about Theodore Roosevelt:
1. Nobel Peace Prize Winner: Theodore Roosevelt was the first American to win a Nobel Peace Prize, which he received in 1906 for his role in mediating the end of the Russo-Japanese War.
2. Avid Naturalist and Conservationist: Roosevelt was so passionate about nature and wildlife that he established the United States Forest Service and designated 150 national forests, 51 federal bird reserves,
4 national game preserves, 5 national parks, and 18 national monuments during his presidency.
3. Posthumous Medal of Honor: Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 2001 for his acts of bravery at the Battle of San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War, making him the only U.S. President to receive the award.
What are Theodore Roosevelt’s top 10 rules for success?
Here are 10 rules for success inspired by Theodore Roosevelt’s approach to life and leadership:
1. Embrace Challenges: Roosevelt believed in facing challenges head-on, using them as opportunities to grow and prove oneself.
2. Lead by Example: He was a firm believer in leading through action, demonstrating the qualities and values he expected from others.
3. Stay Physically and Mentally Active: A proponent of the “strenuous life,” Roosevelt maintained a lifestyle that kept both his mind and body engaged and healthy.
4. Cultivate a Love for Learning: An avid reader and writer, Roosevelt underscored the importance of continual learning and intellectual curiosity.
5. Practice Perseverance: His life showed that perseverance in the face of adversity is crucial to overcoming obstacles.
6. Serve the Common Good: Roosevelt’s policies and actions often aimed at the betterment of society and the welfare of the common man.
7. Advocate for Fair Play and Justice: He fought against corruption and advocated for fairness and justice, believing in the equality of opportunity for all.
8. Embrace Conservation: As a conservationist, he highlighted the importance of preserving natural resources and the environment for future generations.
9. Value Family and Relationships: Despite his busy career, Roosevelt prioritized his family and cherished his relationships.
10. Keep a Positive Attitude: He faced life with a vigorous and optimistic outlook, often saying, “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”
These principles, drawn from Roosevelt’s actions and philosophy, offer timeless guidance on leading a successful, fulfilling life.
Final thoughts on Theodore Roosevelt quotes
I hope you enjoyed this epic list of the best inspirational Theodore Roosevelt quotes.
“Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.”

Theodore Roosevelt
The 26th President of the United States
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