245 quotes
Is America a weakling, to shrink from the work of the great world powers? No!
It is no use to preach to [children] if you do not act decently yourself.
To sit home, read one's favorite paper, and scoff at the misdeeds of the men who do things is easy, but it is markedly ineffective. It is what evil men count upon the good men's doing.
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. Both life and death are parts of the same Great Adventure.
We cannot afford weakly to blind ourselves to the actual conflict which faces us today. The issue is joined, and we must fight or fail.
The New Nationalism (1910)
Friends, I shall ask you to be as quiet as possible. I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot; but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose.
Address at Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1912)
The two feelings, envy and arrogance, are but opposite sides of the same shield, but different developments of the same spirit.
A Square Deal (1903)
The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem, it will avail us little to solve all others.
We are passing through a period of great commercial prosperity, and such a period is as sure as adversity itself to bring mutterings of discontent.
Address at Providence (1901)
Any given case must be treated on its special merits.
The Progressives, Past and Present (1910)
I believe that the officers, and, especially, the directors, of corporations should be held personally responsible when any corporation breaks the law.
The New Nationalism (1910)
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.
There are good men and bad men of all nationalities, creeds and colors; and if this world of ours is ever to become what we hope some day it may become, it must be by the general recognition that the man's heart and soul, the man's worth and actions, determine his standing.
It is well indeed for our land that we of this generation have learned to think nationally.
We shall make mistakes; and if we let these mistakes frighten us from our work we shall show ourselves weaklings.
The Strenuous Life: Essays and Addresses (1900)
This country will not be a permanently good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a reasonably good place for all of us to live in.
Power invariably means both responsibility and danger.
Inaugural Address (1905)
We wish peace, but we wish the peace of justice, the peace of righteousness. We wish it because we think it is right and not because we are afraid.
Inaugural Address (1905)
All for each, and each for all, is a good motto; but only on condition that each works with might and main to so maintain himself as not to be a burden to others.
Theodore Roosevelt — An Autobiography (1913)
We must treat each man on his worth and merits as a man. We must see that each is given a square deal, because he is entitled to no more and should receive no less.
A Square Deal (1903)