Inspirational Quotes by Theodore Roosevelt (American Head of State)

Inspirational Quotes by Theodore Roosevelt (American Head of State)

In this world the one thing supremely worth having is the opportunity to do well and worthily a piece of work of vital consequence to the welfare of mankind.
—Theodore Roosevelt
Topics: Opportunities

The boy who is going to make a great man must not make up his mind merely to overcome a thousand obstacles, but to win in spite of a thousand repulses and defeats.
—Theodore Roosevelt
Topics: Failure

My view was that every executive officer, and above all every executive officer in high position, was a steward of the people bound actively and affirmatively to do all he could for the people, and not to content himself with the negative merit of keeping his talents undamaged in a napkin. I declined to adopt the view that what was imperatively necessary for the Nation could not be done by the President unless he could find some specific authorization to do it. My belief was that it was not only his right but his duty to do anything that the needs of the Nation demanded unless such action was forbidden by the Constitution or by the laws. Under this interpretation of executive power I did and caused to be done many things not previously done by the President and the heads of the departments. I did not usurp power, but I did greatly broaden the use of executive power. In other words, I acted for the public welfare, I acted for the common well-being of all our people, whenever and in whatever manner was necessary, unless prevented by direct constitutional or legislative prohibition.
—Theodore Roosevelt

Wars are, of course, as a rule to be avoided; but they are far better than certain kinds of peace.
—Theodore Roosevelt

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.
—Theodore Roosevelt

Probably the greatest harm done by vast wealth is the harm that we of moderate means do to ourselves when we let the vices of envy and hatred enter deep into our own natures.
—Theodore Roosevelt
Topics: Wealth

No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his body, to risk his well-being, to risk his life, in a great cause.
—Theodore Roosevelt
Topics: Patriotism

Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground.
—Theodore Roosevelt
Topics: Stars, Ideal

Yes, Haven, most of us enjoy preaching, and Ive got such a bully pulpit!
—Theodore Roosevelt

It is impossible to win the great prizes of life without running risks, and the greatest of all prizes are those connected with the home.
—Theodore Roosevelt
Topics: Success, Risk

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
Topics: Action

The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he wants them to do, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.
—Theodore Roosevelt
Topics: Leadership, Business, Leaders

Pray not for lighter burdens, but for stronger backs.
—Theodore Roosevelt
Topics: Prayer

Here in the United States we turn our rivers and streams into sewers and dumping-grounds, we pollute the air, we destroy forests, and exterminate fishes, birds, and mammalsnot to speak of vulgarizing charming landscapes with hideous advertisements. But at last it looks as if our people were awakening. Many leading men, Americans and Canadians, are doing all they can for the Conservation movement.
—Theodore Roosevelt

He has been called a mediocre man; but this is unwarranted flattery. He was a politician of monumental littleness.
—Theodore Roosevelt

Short-sighted men who in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things…
—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 need for collecting large campaign funds would vanish if Congress provided an appropriation for the proper and legitimate expenses of each of the great national parties, an appropriation ample enough to meet the necessity for thorough organization and machinery, which requires a large expenditure of money. Then the stipulation should be made that no party receiving campaign funds from the Treasury should accept more than a fixed amount from any individual subscriber or donor; and the necessary publicity for receipts and expenditures could without difficulty be provided.
—Theodore Roosevelt

The worst of all fears is the fear of living.
—Theodore Roosevelt
Topics: Anxiety, Fear

We cannot afford merely to sit down and deplore the evils of city life as inevitable, when cities are constantly growing, both absolutely and relatively. We must set ourselves vigorously about the task of improving them; and this task is now well begun.
—Theodore Roosevelt

The first requisite of a good citizen in this Republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his weight; that he shall not be a mere passenger, but shall do his share in the work that each generation of us finds ready to hand; and, furthermore, that in doing his work he shall show, not only the capacity for sturdy self-help, but also self-respecting regard for the rights of others.
—Theodore Roosevelt
Topics: Duty

A man must first care for his own household before he can be of use to the state. But no matter how well he cares for his household, he is not a good citizen unless he also takes thought of the state. In the same way, a great nation must think of its own internal affairs; and yet it cannot substantiate its claim to be a great nation unless it also thinks of its position in the world at large.
—Theodore Roosevelt

Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars and keep your feet on the ground.
—Theodore Roosevelt
Topics: Dreams

No man who is not willing to bear arms and to fight for his rights can give a good reason why he should be entitled to the privilege of living in a free community.
—Theodore Roosevelt

No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expediency.
—Theodore Roosevelt
Topics: Evil

Much has been given us, and much will rightfully be expected from us. We have duties to others and duties to ourselves; and we can shirk neither.
—Theodore Roosevelt
Topics: Duty

Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike.
—Theodore Roosevelt
Topics: Character

Some men can live up to their loftiest ideals without ever going higher than a basement.
—Theodore Roosevelt
Topics: Idealism, Ideals

Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.
—Theodore Roosevelt

The most practical kind of politics is the politics of decency.
—Theodore Roosevelt

There is a delight in the hardy life of the open. There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy and its charm. The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased and not impaired in value. Conservation means development as much as it does protection.
—Theodore Roosevelt

It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.
—Theodore Roosevelt

The most successful politician is he who says what the people are thinking most often and in the loudest voice.
—Theodore Roosevelt
Topics: Thinking, Politics

There has never yet been a man in our history who led a life of ease whose name is worth remembering.
—Theodore Roosevelt
Topics: Effort

The weakling and the coward are out of place in a strong and free community. In a republic like ours the governing class is composed of the strong men who take the trouble to do the work of government; and if you are too timid or too fastidious or too careless to do your part in this work, then you forfeit your right to be considered one of the governing and you become one of the governed insteadone of the driven cattle of the political arena.
—Theodore Roosevelt

Absence and death are the same—only that in death there is no suffering.
—Theodore Roosevelt
Topics: Absence

I think there is only one quality worse than hardness of heart and that is softness of head.
—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 no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; 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, 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 nor defeat.
—Theodore Roosevelt
Topics: Challenges, Risk, Failures, Doing Your Best, Truth, Accomplishment, Success, Mistakes, Courage, Criticism, Defeat

Our loyalty is due entirely to the United States. It is due to the President only and exactly to the degree in which he efficiently serves the United States. It is our duty to support him when he serves the United States well. It is our duty to oppose him when he serves it badly. This is true about Mr. Wilson now and it has been true about all our Presidents in the past. It is our duty at all times to tell the truth about the President and about every one else, save in the cases where to tell the truth at the moment would benefit the public enemy.
—Theodore Roosevelt

If a man does not have an ideal and try to live up to it, then he becomes a mean, base and sordid creature, no matter how successful.
—Theodore Roosevelt

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• Richard Nixon American Head of State
• Lyndon B. Johnson American Head of State
• Calvin Coolidge American Head of State
• Jimmy Carter American Head of State
• Ronald Reagan American Head of State
• George H. W. Bush American Head of State