Theodore Roosevelt, (1858-1919) 26th US President Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quote Share via Email Print this Page [1-28] of 28 Theodore Roosevelt quotesTheodore Roosevelt QuotesTheodore Roosevelt Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to befoul the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.~ Theodore Roosevelt If an American is to amount to anything he must rely upon himself, and not upon the State; he must take pride in his own work, instead of sitting idle to envy the luck of others. He must face life with resolute courage, win victory if he can, and accept defeat if he must, without seeking to place on his fellow man a responsibility which is not theirs.~ Theodore Roosevelt No people is wholly civilized where a distinction is drawn between stealing an office and stealing a purse.~ Theodore Roosevelt The one absolute certain way to bring this nation to ruin ... would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities.~ 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 To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.~ Theodore Roosevelt To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.~ Theodore Roosevelt To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.~ Theodore Roosevelt To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.~ Theodore Roosevelt When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer 'present' or 'not guilty.'~ Theodore Roosevelt Freedom is not a gift which can be enjoyed save by those shown themselves worthy of it.~ Theodore Roosevelt To educate a man in mind, and not in morals, is to educate a menace to society.~ Theodore Roosevelt No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expediency.~ Theodore Roosevelt No man who is corrupt, no man who condones corruption in others, can possibly do his duty by the community.~ Theodore Roosevelt We cannot afford to differ on the question of honesty if we expect our republic permanently to endure. Honesty is not so much a credit as an absolute prerequisite to efficient service to the public. Unless a man is honest, we have no right to keep him in public life; it matters not how brilliant his capacity.~ 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, who 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 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 neither know victory nor defeat.~ Theodore Roosevelt There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism.~ Theodore Roosevelt Any man who tries to incite class hatred, sectional hate, hate of creeds, any kind of hatred in our community, though he may affect to do so in the interest of the class he is addressing, is in the long run with absolute certainty that class’s own worst enemy.~ Theodore Roosevelt Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President or any other public official save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. ... Every man who parrots the cry of “stand by the President” without adding the proviso “so far as he serves the Republic” takes an attitude as essentially unmanly as that of any Stuart royalist who championed the doctrine that the King could do no wrong. No self-respecting and intelligent free man could take such an attitude.~ Theodore Roosevelt '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 To divide along the lines of section or caste or creed is un-American.~ Theodore Roosevelt All constitutions, those of the States no less than that of the nation, are designed, and must be interpreted and administered so as to fit human rights.~ Theodore Roosevelt All privileges based on wealth, and all emnity to honest men merely because they are wealthy, are un-American.~ Theodore Roosevelt Free speech exercised both individually and through a free press, is a necessity in any country where people are themselves free.~ Theodore Roosevelt In life, as in a football game, the principle to follow is: Hit the line hard.~ Theodore Roosevelt In strict confidence … I should welcome almost any war, for I think this country needs one.~ Theodore Roosevelt No triumph of peace can equal the armed triumph of war.~ Theodore Roosevelt Wide differences of opinion in matters of religious, political and social belief must exist if conscience and intellect alike are not to be stunted.~ Theodore Roosevelt Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print