Quotes By Theodore Roosevelt
To announce that there must be no criticism of the president... is morally treasonable to the American public.
Theodore Roosevelt
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
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
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
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
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 reactionary is always willing to take a progressive attitude on any issue that is dead.
Theodore Roosevelt
There has never yet been a man in our history who led a life of ease whose name is worth remembering.
Theodore Roosevelt
Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind.
Theodore Roosevelt
I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life.
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
The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.
Theodore Roosevelt
Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike.
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 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
Wars are, of course, as a rule to be avoided; but they are far better than certain kinds of peace.
Theodore Roosevelt
Rhetoric is a poor substitute for action, and we have trusted only to rhetoric. If we are really to be a great nation, we must not merely talk; we must act big.
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 unforgivable crime is soft hitting. Do not hit at all if it can be avoided; but never hit softly.
Theodore Roosevelt
Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or leave the country.
Theodore Roosevelt