Theodore Roosevelt Quotes

Introduction,

Theodore Roosevelt was an American statesman, author, and explorer who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He was born on October 27, 1858, in New York City, to a prominent and wealthy family. His father, Theodore Roosevelt Sr., was a businessman and philanthropist, while his mother, Martha Bulloch Roosevelt, was a socialite from Georgia.

Roosevelt grew up in a privileged environment, but he was also plagued by poor health throughout his childhood. Despite this, he developed a strong interest in the natural world and began studying biology and ornithology at a young age. As a young man, he also developed a love of adventure and traveled extensively, including a trip to Europe and North Africa in 1869.

After completing his education at Harvard University, Roosevelt began a career in politics, serving as a member of the New York State Assembly and later as the governor of New York. In 1901, he became president of the United States following the assassination of President William McKinley. During his time in office, he pursued a progressive agenda, advocating for social and economic reforms and expanding the power of the federal government.

Roosevelt died on January 6, 1919, at the age of 60. He had suffered a heart attack while working on his memoirs at his home in Sagamore Hill, New York. Despite his relatively short time in office, Roosevelt is widely regarded as one of the most influential and dynamic presidents in American history, leaving a lasting legacy on politics, conservation, and social reform.

Believe you can and you’re halfway there.

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.

The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.

Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.

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.

Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don’t have the strength.

It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.

No man is above the law and no man is below it: nor do we ask any man’s permission when we ask him to obey it.

The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.

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.

The only way to do great work is to love what you do.

The man who does not work for the love of work but only for money is not likely to make money nor to find much fun in life.

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.