Theodore Roosevelt Quotes

528 Sourced Quotes

Much of the discussion about socialism and individualism is entirely pointless, because of failure to agree on terminology.

Theodore Roosevelt
When we undertake the impossible, we often fail to do anything at all.

Theodore Roosevelt
I have no business to feel downcast or querulous merely because when so much as been given me I have not had even more.

Theodore Roosevelt
Nothing should be permitted to stand in the way of the preservation of the forests, and it is criminal to permit individuals to purchase a little gain for themselves through the destruction of forests when this destruction is fatal to the well-being of the whole country in the future.

Theodore Roosevelt
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.

Theodore Roosevelt
The liar is no whit better than the thief, and if his mendacity takes the form of slander he may be worse than most thieves. It puts a premium upon knavery untruthfully to attack an honest man, or even with hysterical exaggeration to assail a bad man with untruth.

Theodore Roosevelt
I can no more explain why I like "natural history" than why I like California canned peaches; nor why I do not care for that enormous brand of natural history which deals with invertebrates any more than why I do not care for brandied peaches. All I can say is that almost as soon as I began to read at all I began to like to read about the natural history of beasts and birds and the more formidable or interesting reptiles and fishes.

Theodore Roosevelt
We sincerely and earnestly believe in peace; but if peace and justice conflict, we scorn the man who would not stand for justice though the whole world came in arms against him.

Theodore Roosevelt
I never keep boys waiting. It's a hard trial for a boy to wait.

Theodore Roosevelt
Mother went off for three days to New York and Mame and Quentin took instant advantage of her absence to fall sick. Quentin's sickness was surely due to a riot in candy and ice-cream with chocolate sauce.

Theodore Roosevelt
There should be at least ten times the number of rifles in the country as there are now.

Theodore Roosevelt
Each man must work for himself, and unless he so works, no outside help can avail him.

Theodore Roosevelt
The establishment of the National Park Service is justified by considerations of good administration, of the value of natural beauty as a National asset, and of the effectiveness of outdoor life and recreation in the production of good citizenship.

Theodore Roosevelt
It is an incalculable added pleasure to any one's sum of happiness if he or she grows to know, even slightly and imperfectly, how to read and enjoy the wonder-book of nature.

Theodore Roosevelt
In the long run, the most unpleasant truth is a safer companion than a pleasant falsehood.

Theodore Roosevelt
All contributions by corporations to any political committee or for any political purpose should be forbidden by law

Theodore Roosevelt
In other words, character is far more important than intellect to the race as to the individual. We need intellect, and there is no reason why we should not have it together with character; but if we must choose between the two we choose character without a moment's hesitation.

Theodore Roosevelt
When liberty becomes license, some form of one-man power is not far distant.

Theodore Roosevelt
All that the law can do is to shape things so that no injustice shall be done by one to the other, and that each man shall be given the first chance to show the stuff that is in him.

Theodore Roosevelt
If a man has a very decided character, has a strongly accentuated career, it is normally the case of course that he makes ardent friends and bitter enemies.

Theodore Roosevelt
Men can never escape being governed. Either they must govern themselves or they must submit to being governed by others.

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
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.

Theodore Roosevelt
We do not admire the man of timid peace. We admire the man who embodies victorious effort; the man who never wrongs his neighbor, who is prompt to help a friend, but who has those virile qualities necessary to win in the stern strife of actual life.

Theodore Roosevelt
The great virtue of my radicalism lies in the fact that I am perfectly ready, if necessary, to be radical on the conservative side.

Theodore Roosevelt
There can be nothing in the world more beautiful than the Yosemite, the groves of the giant sequoias and redwoods, the Canyon of the Colorado, the Canyon of the Yellowstone, the Three Tetons; and our people should see to it that they are preserved for their children and their children's children forever, with their majestic beauty all unmarred.

Theodore Roosevelt
I am a man who believes with all fervor and intensity in moderate progress. Too often men who believe in moderation believe in it only moderately and tepidly and leave fervor to the extremists of the two sides - the extremists of reaction and the extremists of progress. Washington, Lincoln... are men who, to my mind, stand as the types of what wide, progressive leadership should be.

Theodore Roosevelt
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.

Theodore Roosevelt
I keep my good health by having a very bad temper, kept under good control.

Theodore Roosevelt
There can be no effective control of corporations while their political activity remains.

Theodore Roosevelt