Quotes from Theodore Roosevelt

We cannot do great deeds unless we're willing to do the small things that make up the sum of greatness.

It is an incalculable added pleasure to any one's sum of happiness if he or she grows to know, even slightly and imperfectly, how to read and enjoy the wonder-book of nature.

The lack of power to take joy in outdoor nature is as real a misfortune as the lack of power to take joy in books

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.

If I have to choose between peace and righteousness, I'll choose righteousness.

We wish peace, but we wish the peace of justice, the peace of righteousness. We wish it because we think it is right and not because we are afraid.

We do not admire a man of timid peace.

The decisions of the courts on economic and social questions depend on their economic and social philosophy.

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.

The dull, purblind folly of the very rich men, their greed and arrogance, and the corruption in business and politics, have tended to produce a very unhealthy condition.

The conservation of our natural resources and their proper use constitute the fundamental problem which underlies almost every other problem of our national life.

It is difficult to make our material condition better by the best law, but it is easy enough to ruin it by bad laws.

I would rather go out of politics having the feeling that I had done what was right than stay in with the approval of all men, knowing in my heart that I have acted as I ought not to.

I don't go so far as to think that the only good Indians are dead Indians, but I believe nine out of ten are, and I shouldn't like to inquire too closely into the case of the tenth.

It is, of course, the merest truism to say a party is of use only so far as it serves the nation.

My hat's in the ring. The fight is one and I'm stripped to the buff.

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

Believe that you can and you are halfway there

I believe that the next half century will determine if we will advance the cause of Christian civilization or revert to the horrors of brutal paganism.

Thank God for the iron in the blood of our fathers

Laws are essential emanations from the self-poised character of God; they radiate from the sun to the circling edge of creation. Verily, the mighty Lawgiver hath subjected himself unto laws.

This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in.

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.

The first requisite of a good citizen in this republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his own weight.