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Theodore Roosevelt Quotes - Page 24

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There is a homely old adage which runs: Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far. If the American nation will speak softly, and yet build and keep at a pitch of the highest training a thoroughly efficient

There is a homely old adage which runs: "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far." If the American nation will speak softly, and yet build and keep at a pitch of the highest training a thoroughly efficient navy, the Monroe Doctrine will go far.

Theodore Roosevelt
Running, Patriotic, Training
Speech at Chicago, 3 April 1903, in 'New York Times' 4 April 1903

From time to time, little men will find fault with what you have done...but they will go down the stream like bubbles, they will vanish. But the work you have done will remain for the ages.

Theodore Roosevelt
Men, Age, Done

The spirit of brotherhood recognizes of necessity both the need of self-help and also the need of helping others in the only way which every ultimately does great god, that is, of helping them to help themselves.

Theodore Roosevelt
Helping Others, Self, Brotherhood

Conservation and rural-life policies are really two sides of the same policy; and down at the bottom this policy rests upon the fundamental law that neither man nor nation can prosper unless, in dealing with the present, thought is steadily given for the future.

Theodore Roosevelt
Men, Law, Two Sides
Theodore Roosevelt (1941). “Theodore Roosevelt Cyclopedia”

A President has a great chance; his position is almost that of a king and a prime minister rolled into one. Once he has left office he cannot do very much; and he is a fool if he fails to realize it all and to be profoundly thankful for having had the great chance.

Theodore Roosevelt
Kings, Office, President
Theodore Roosevelt (1941). “Theodore Roosevelt Cyclopedia”

Conservation of our resources is the fundamental question before this nation, and that our first and greatest task is to set our house in order and begin to live within our means.

Theodore Roosevelt
Mean, Order, House
Theodore Roosevelt (1910). “Presidential addresses and state papers”

The lives of truest heroism are those in which there are no great deeds to look back upon. It is the little things well done that go to make up a truly successful and good life.

Theodore Roosevelt
Good Life, Successful, Deeds

I would a great deal rather be anything, say professor of history, than vice president.

Theodore Roosevelt
President, Vices, Professors
Theodore Roosevelt (1951). “1898-1903”

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

Theodore Roosevelt
Good Health, Temper, Bad Temper
Theodore Roosevelt, Paul H. Jeffers (1998). “The Bully Pulpit: A Teddy Roosevelt Book of Quotations”, p.69, Taylor Trade Publications

There comes a time in the life of a nation, as in the life of an individual, when it must face great responsibilities, whether it will or no. We have now reached that time. We cannot avoid facing the fact that we occupy a new place among the people of the world.

Theodore Roosevelt
Responsibility, People, World

We have room for but one loyalty, loyalty to the United States.

Theodore Roosevelt
Loyalty, Military, United States
1919 Message to theAmerican Defense Society two days before his death, 3 Jan.

Alike for the nation and the individual, the one indispensable requisite is character.

Theodore Roosevelt
Character, Individual, Indispensable
Theodore Roosevelt (2012). “In the Words of Theodore Roosevelt: Quotations from the Man in the Arena”, p.60, Cornell University Press

Every special interest is entitled to justice - full, fair, and complete... but not one is entitled to a vote in Congress, to a voice on the bench, or to representation in any public office.

Theodore Roosevelt
Voice, Justice, Office
"New Nationalism Speech". Theodore Roosevelt's speech at the Dedication of the John Brown Memorial Park in Osawatomie, Kansas, teachingamericanhistory.org. August 31, 1910.

I took the Canal Zone and let Congress debate; and while the debate goes on, the canal does also.

Theodore Roosevelt
Political, Doe, Goes On
Quoted in N.Y. Times, 24 Mar. 1911

'Liar' is just as ugly a word as 'thief,' because it implies the presence of just as ugly a sin in one case as in the other. If a man lies under oath or procures the lie of another under oath, if he perjures himself or suborns perjury, he is guilty under the statute law.

Theodore Roosevelt
Liars, Lying, Men
Theodore Roosevelt (2012). “The Strenuous Life: Essays and Addresses”, p.61, Courier Corporation

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
Nature, Children, Play
Theodore Roosevelt (1952). “The Big Stick, 1905-1909”

It's not the critic who counts.

Theodore Roosevelt
Daring Greatly, Critics
Address at the Sorbonne, Paris, 23 Apr. 1910. Richard M. Nixon quoted this passage in his address to the nation announcing his decision to resign the presidency, 8 Aug. 1974. See Theodore Roosevelt 1; Theodore Roosevelt 2; Theodore Roosevelt 5

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
Country, Home, Men
Theodore Roosevelt (1897). “American ideals and other essays, social and political”

A people without children would face a hopeless future; a country without trees is almost as helpless; forests which are so used that they cannot renew themselves will soon vanish, and with them all their benefits. A true forest is not merely a storehouse full of wood, but, as it were, a factory of wood and at the same time a reservoir of water. When you help to preserve our forests or plant new ones you are acting the part of good citizens.

Theodore Roosevelt
Country, Children, People

I hate a man who skins the land.

Theodore Roosevelt
Hate, Men, Land

If we are to be really great people, we must strive in good faith to play a great part in the world. We cannot avoid meeting great issues. All that we can determine for ourselves is whether we shall meet them well or ill.

Theodore Roosevelt
Faith, Greatness, Play
Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge (2017). “The Complete Works of Theodore Roosevelt”, p.2907, Madison & Adams Press

The one being abhorrent to the powers above the earth and under them is the hyphenated American

Theodore Roosevelt
America, Abhorrent, Earth
Theodore Roosevelt (1941). “Theodore Roosevelt Cyclopedia”

When great nations fear to expand, shrink from expansion, it is because their greatness is coming to an end. Are we, still in the prime of our lusty youth, still at the beginning of our glorious manhood, to sit down among the outworn people, to take our place with the weak and the craven? A thousand times no!

Theodore Roosevelt
Greatness, People, Expansion
Theodore Roosevelt (1941). “Theodore Roosevelt Cyclopedia”

Our surest protection against assault from abroad has been not all our guards, gates and guns, or even our two oceans, but our essential goodness as a people. Our richest asset has been not our material wealth but our values.

Theodore Roosevelt
Ocean, Gun, Two

In this country we have no place for hyphenated Americans.

Theodore Roosevelt
Country, Diversity