Famous Theodore Roosevelt Quotations

First 1 Last 
"Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education."
by 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."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"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."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"The pacifist is as surely a traitor to his country and to humanity as is the most brutal wrongdoer."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"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."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"No man needs sympathy because he has to work. Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."
by 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."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Nine-tenths of wisdom consists in being wise in time."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"It is essential that there should be organization of labor. This is an era of organization. Capital organizes and therefore labor must organize."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"I am only an average man but, by George, I work harder at it than the average man."
by 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!"
by Theodore Roosevelt
"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."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or leave the country."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"The government is us; we are the government, you and I."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"I am a part of everything that I have read."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground."
by 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."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"The human body has two ends on it: one to create with and one to sit on. Sometimes people get their ends reversed. When this happens they need a kick in the seat of the pants."
by 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."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough to be given a square deal afterwards."
by 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"
by 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."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"A vote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends upon the character of the user."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"A typical vice of American politics is the avoidance of saying anything real on real issues."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Absence and death are the same - only that in death there is no suffering."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Absence and death are the same - only that in death there is no suffering"
by Theodore Roosevelt
"All the resources we need are in the mind."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Americans learn only from catastrophe and not from experience"
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Believe you can and you're halfway there."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Courtesy is as much a mark of a gentleman as courage."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Do what you can with what you have, where you are."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Do what you can with what you have where you are."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are"
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting but never hit soft"
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Every reform movement has a lunatic fringe."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Far better it 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 nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"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."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"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."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though chequered 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 or defeat."
by 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."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Freedom from effort in the present merely means that there has been effort stored up in the past."
by 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."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"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."
by 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! by"
by 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!"
by 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."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"I keep my good health by having a very bad temper, kept under good control"
by Theodore Roosevelt
"I think there is only one quality worse than hardness of heart and that is softness of head."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"I took the Canal Zone and let Congress debate; and while the debate goes on, the canal does also."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"I took the canal zone and let congress debate, and while the debate goes on the canal does also"
by Theodore Roosevelt
"I wish that all Americans would realize that American politics is world politics."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"If I must choose between righteousness and peace, I choose righteousness."
by 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."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month"
by Theodore Roosevelt
"In a moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing"
by 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."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"In life, as in a football game, the principle to follow is:hit the line hard."
by 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."
by 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."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"It is difficult to make our material condition better by the best law, but it is easy enough to ruin it by bad laws."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. In this life we get nothing save by effort."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"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."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"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 dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; 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, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"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'."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"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."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"It is not the critic that counts not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or the doer of deeds could have 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 no effort without error and shortcoming but he who does actually strive to do the deed who knows 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 while daring greatly, knows that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls, who know neither victory nor defeat."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"It is only through labour and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Justice consists not in being neutral between right and wrong, but in finding out the right and upholding it, wherever found, against the wrong."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"No great intellectual thing was ever done by great effort."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expediency."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expediency"
by Theodore Roosevelt
"No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expedience."
by 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."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"No man is above the law and no man below it."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"No people is wholly civilized where a distinction is drawn between stealing an office and stealing a purse."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Of all forms of tyranny the least attractive and the most vulgar is the tyranny of mere wealth, the tyranny of plutocracy."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Obedience of the law is demanded; not asked as a favor."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Our chief usefulness to humanity rests on our combining power with high purpose. Power undirected by high purpose spells calamity, and high purpose by itself is utterly useless if the power to put it into effect is lacking."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Order without liberty and liberty without order are equally destructive."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives."
by Theodore Roosevelt
"Practical efficiency is common, and lofty idealism not uncommon; it is the combination which is necessary, and the combination is rare"
by Theodore Roosevelt


Hire a Writer