Famous Theodore Roosevelt Quotes on Leadership, Attitude and Democracy

Often referred to as Teddy Roosevelt or by his initials T.R., he was the 26th President of the United States. Besides being a major part of the country’s politics, Roosevelt was also a writer as well as a historian. Some of his great works were “The Rough Riders”, “Citizenship in a Republic”, and many more.

As a President, Roosevelt was greatly known for his policies, tactics, and his leadership qualities.

Here are some of the best Theodore Roosevelt quotes, who happened to be the youngest President of the United States:

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

The secret to success is dreaming big but starting from small. One should always aim for the stars, the highest, but always be down to earth in terms of their actions and behaviour, and just be themselves. This is because being humble is as important as dreaming big, and both of these are interdependent, so if you wish to succeed in life in any aspect, you will need to balance both of these.

Believe you can and you’re halfway there.

Nothing is going to be possible if you yourself don’t think it is. This is why believing in oneself is greatly crucial, for that is the key to actually being able to do it.

The more faith you have in yourself, the higher the chances are of you actually making it. And the more you doubt yourself and don’t believe in yourself, the farther you get away from your goals.

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

Roosevelt, through this inspiring quote, tries to send the message of normalising failures. Yes, failing is hard to process, but that does not change the fact that it is an essential part of learning and growing, regardless of what the task or situation is. Without failing and making mistakes, how will one ever learn?

Failures are the ultimate test for an individual, for it is at that time when one should take their loss in stride and learn from it, instead of losing hope and simply giving up. Besides, failures are not worse than not even putting the effort to succeed. The latter is the worst, because people who fail, at least are on the path of trying, unlike those who are not even there yet.

To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace in society.

As much value as intelligence and knowledge hold, having principles and moral value towards the society and people, in general, is also extremely crucial. An intelligent person who is not educated in terms of morality, is nothing but a liability, to both the society as well as him/herself. This is because contrary to popular belief, it is an individual’s ideals and principles that identify him and not his intelligent capacity.

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

It is not possible to succeed for an individual without overcoming obstacles and making mistakes, because to reach the destination of your goals, you need to pass many crossroads of failures and mistakes. That is because it is exactly those mistakes that make one learn, and more experienced; without any experience, it is rendered futile.

A person who does or wants to do something with their life would be very well aware of the fact that ups and downs and lessons are just a part of the journey. But a person who claims otherwise certainly is not doing anything at all in the first place.

There has never yet been a man in our history who led a life of ease whose name is worth remembering. 

Anybody who is remembered after they die, must have done something great while they were alive. If someone is forgotten after their death, then they simply did not commence an act great enough to be acknowledged after they were gone. This is because for one to stay in people’s hearts and minds even in their absence, he/she needs to do something like that. after all, recognition and reputation does not just come to a person, they need to earn it themselves to get it.

Nine-tenths of wisdom is being wise in time.

If you are wise at the right time, when it counts the most, only then are you said to have achieved true wisdom, for claiming to have wisdom but not applying it when needed the most, is simply a portrayal of being all talk and no show.

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

The implementation of even the best laws takes time to work its magic and improve any country’s economic condition. And as the President of the United States, Roosevelt says so, form first-hand experience, which is why it is more than just a quote; it is an established fact. But no matter how long a good law might take to work its effect, a bad law will take much lesser, but only to deteriorate the country’s situation and ruin it, instead of making it better.

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

Instead of complaining about how something is not going your way, or how you aren’t getting what you want, do whatever it is that you can with all that you have. Half of the times growth in life does not even require everything that you think it does and want; all you really have to put in are your efforts, time, and determination and give it your best, wherever you are, with whatever you have, and that would be more than enough.

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In any moment of decision, the best you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.

Doing something, even if its result is not what you anticipated it to be, is still way better than doing nothing. In any situation, you can either do the right thing, and even if not the right, at least something, or you could simply do nothing which is the worst of all.

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

Yes, an individual is considered to be strong when they have the required mental and physical capacity, but rthe eal strength is not that. True strength and courage come from the situation where you are exhausted of your maximum capacity but still continue rather than giving up. That is when one shows how strong one can really be.

Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ‘em, ‘Certainly I can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it.

People are always waiting for your downfall and mistakes. So, don’t give them a chance at all to see you down, even if you are! When somebody asks you whether or not you can do something, always say that you can, even if you aren’t sure; all you have to do is change that and simply start working on it! That way, you will be able to pull something off you didn’t even know, and the other person wouldn’t even have any idea, because of which they would be unable to pass any sort of negative energies your way.

Comparison is the thief of joy.

One is always at joy and is better off without comparing where they are and what they have with other people, for it is bound to obliterate our happiness. This is because when we compare ourselves with others and our lives with those of others, we will always remain unhappy and unsatisfied because it will look better to us and whatever we have will feel less. This is severely harmful for one’s self-interests and personality and one should always avoid comparison, for there seldom comes anything good out of it.

All the resources we need are in the mind.

Roosevelt, through this quote, is trying to send a message which basically means that everything and anything is possible if one thinks and believes it is. Yes, resources are necessary to do something, but they are not everything one needs. The real resources that one actually needs reside in their minds.

If a person has the willingness to do something, the confidence, dedication, and has faith in him/herself, then nothing can stop him/her from doing it, even if they lack the physical resources at a point of time, they will still be able to overcome obstacles and get what they want. It all starts and ends with one’s mindset. If you believe you can, nothing and no one could possibly stop you, but if you let your inhibitions and self-doubts take over, then you will not be able to do it, even if you have the resources.

The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.

There are going to many types of people in the course of your life, some who get you and others who simply get on your nerves. But once you master the art of getting along with people of all kinds and personalities, it is then that you unlock the door to success because it is of utter importance.

There can be no life without change, and to be afraid of what is unfamiliar or different is to be afraid of life.

Change is inevitable and much needed in life because, without change and difference, there will be nothing new there would not be any growth either.

Change is a mandatory part of any and everybody’s life. So, the sooner one accepts it, the better it will be for them to adjust and come to terms with it. Those who are afraid and unwilling to let change enter their lives, on the other hand, are the ones who are afraid of living, for there is no future and no life without change. All you can do is endure it and move on.

With self-discipline most, anything is possible.

The ability and capacity to control oneself from urges and indulge in things that are right for one is known as self-discipline. Once a person learns to do that, they will automatically start doing as well as attracting what is right for them, and nobody would be able to stop them from achieving their goal.

Self-discipline is an art, which is not mastered by everybody but should be because it always tends to work out in your favour and benefit in the long run.

It is of no use to preach to children if you do not act decently yourself.

Giving advice to children or those younger to you, or to someone who is less experienced than you are, is completely futile if you don’t follow it on your own first.

Your words will be of no value if you do not practice what you preach.

It is only through labour and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move onto better things.

Nothing good ever comes easy to anyone. If you desire the best result of your work, then it is going to require your best work effort too! The unending effort, hardcore determination, energy, and strength, along with numerous other factors, are what it takes to move onto better things in life.

Without hard work, failures, and one’s time and energy, one is always going to end up wanting better for themselves but would never actually be able to get it.

The joy of living is his who has the heart to demand it.

Happiness is only going to come your way if you genuinely want it, and work towards getting it. True joy of life isn’t just handed over to anyone. One needs to earn it, and when they do, they need to make sure that they do everything not to lose it.

Theodore Roosevelt Quotes - Man in the Arena

1. 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 Quotes on Critics

1. 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 Quotes on Patriotism

1. Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president. 

Theodore Roosevelt Quotes on Leadership

1. People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives. 

2. There is something to be said for government by a great aristocracy which has furnished leaders to the nation in peace and war for generations; 

3. A leader is an average, everyday person who is highly motivated. 

Theodore Roosevelt Quotes on Courage

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

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

3. Character is far more important than intellect in making a man a good citizen or successful at his calling- meaning by character not only such qualities as honesty and truthfulness, but courage, perseverance and self-reliance. 

4. Courtesy is as much a mark of a gentleman as courage. 

5. Honesty first; then courage; then brains – and all are indispensable. 

6. Courage, hard work, self-mastery, and intelligent effort are all essential to successful life. 

7. What such a man needs is not courage but nerve control, cool headedness. This he can get only by practice. 

8. Courtesy is as much a mark of a gentleman as courage. 

9. Honesty first; then courage; then brains – and all are indispensable. 

10. Courage, hard work, self-mastery, and intelligent effort are all essential to successful life. 

11. What such a man needs is not courage but nerve control, cool headedness. This he can get only by practice. 

12. All daring and courage, all iron endurance of misfortune-make for a finer, nobler type of manhood. 

Theodore Roosevelt Quotes on Failure

1. Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat. 

Theodore Roosevelt Quotes on Nature and Environment

1. To exist as a nation, to prosper as a state, and to live as a people, we must have trees. 

2. The little owls call to each other with tremulous, quavering voices throughout the livelong night, as they sit in the creaking trees. 

Theodore Roosevelt Quotes on Fear

1. I have often been afraid, but I would not give in to it. I made myself act as though I was not afraid and gradually my fear disappeared. 

2. 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. 

3. 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. 

4. There are dreadful moments when death comes very near those we love, even if for the time being it passes by. But life is a great adventure, and the worst of all fears is the fear of living. 

Famous Theodore Roosevelt Quotes

1. Believe you can and you’re halfway there. 

2. Comparison is the thief of joy. 

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

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

5. No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care. 

6. When you play, play hard; when you work, don’t play at all. 

7. Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty. I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well. 

8. 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. 

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

10. The only man who never makes mistakes is the man who never does anything. 

11. Complaining about a problem without posing a solution is called whining. 

12. Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering. 

13. Knowing what's right doesn't mean much unless you do what's right. 

14. No man needs sympathy because he has to work, because he has a burden to carry. Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing. 

15. When you're at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on. 

16. I am a part of everything that I have read. 

17. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred with dust and sweat; who strives valiantly; who errs and may fall again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming. 

18. If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month. 

19. Nothing worth having was ever achieved without effort. 

20. All the resources we need are in the mind.  

21. Do Something Now. If not you, who? If not here, where? If not now, when? 

22. Work hard at work worth doing. 

23. Get action. Do things; be sane; don’t fritter away your time; create, act, take a place wherever you are and be somebody; get action. 

24. With self-discipline most anything is possible. 

25. It is not often that a man can make opportunities for himself. But he can put himself in such shape that when or if the opportunities come he is ready. 

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

27. To anger a conservative, lie to him. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth. 

28. To educate a person in the mind but not in morals is to educate a menace to society. 

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

30. 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. 

31. The joy in life is his who has the heart to demand it. 

32. I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do! That is character! 

33. It is not the critic who counts. 

34. The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people. 

35. Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children’s children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance. 

36. For those who fight for it life has a flavor the sheltered will never know. 

37. The wildlife and its habitat cannot speak, so we must and we will. 

38. Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you’ve got to start young. 

39. The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty. The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits. 

40. Rhetoric is a poor substitute for action... 

41. Conservation is a great moral issue, for it involves the patriotic duty of insuring the safety and continuance of the nation.  

42. The farther one gets into the wilderness, the greater is the attraction of its lonely freedom. 

43. I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life. 

44. There is no effort without error or shortcoming. 

45. Over-sentimentality, over-softness, in fact washiness and mushiness are the great dangers of this age and of this people. Unless we keep the barbarian virtues, gaining the civilized ones will be of little avail. 

46. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat. 

47. You can’t choose your potential, but you can choose to fulfill it. 

48. Success, the real success, does not depend upon the position you hold but upon how you carry yourself in that position. 

49. The reason fat men are good natured is they can neither fight nor run. 

50. Justice consists not in being neutral between right and wrong, but finding out the right and upholding it, wherever found, against the wrong. 

51. We want men who will fix their eyes on the stars, but who will not forget that their feet must walk on the ground. 

52. 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. 

53. Profanity is the parlance of the fool. Why curse when there is such a magnificent language with which to discourse? 

54. If given the choice between Righteousness and Peace, I choose Righteousness. 

55. Each man must work for himself, and unless he so works, no outside help can avail him. 

56. I do. That is character! 

57. We must all either wear out or rust out, every one of us. My choice is to wear out. 

58. No people on earth have more cause to be thankful than ours, and this is said reverently, in no spirit of boastfulness in our own strength, but with the gratitude to the Giver of good who has blessed us. 

59. Don’t foul, don’t flinch-hit the line hard. 

60. With great victory comes great sacrifice. 

61. The most practical kind of politics is the politics of decency. 

62. 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. 

63. The greatest historian should also be a great moralist. It is no proof of impartiality to treat wickedness and goodness on the same level. 

64. 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. 

65. Freemasonry teaches not merely temperance, fortitude, prudence, justice, brotherly love, relief, and truth, but liberty, equality, and fraternity, and it denounces ignorance, superstition, bigotry, lust tyranny and despotism. 

66. Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work must no longer be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. 

67. Cowardice in a race, as in an individual, is the unpardonable sin. 

68. We can have no ‘50-50’ allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else, or he is not an American at all. 

69. Perhaps there is no more important component of character than steadfast resolution. 

70. The mother is the one supreme asset of national life; she is more important by far than the successful statesman, or business man, or artist, or scientist. 

71. Freedom from effort in the present merely means that there has been effort stored up in the past. 

72. 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. 

73. All contributions by corporations to any political committee or for any political purpose should be forbidden by law. 

74. From the greatest to the smallest, happiness and usefulness are largely found in the same soul, and the joy of life is won in its deepest and truest sense only by those who have not shirked life’s burdens. 

75. The Armenian massacre was the greatest crime of the war... 

76. It may be that ‘the voice of the people is the voice of God’ in fifty one cases out of a hundred, but in the remaining forty nine it is quite as likely to be the voice of the devil, of, what is still worse, the voice of a fool. 

77. I am simply unable to understand the value placed by so many people upon great wealth. 

78. No man should receive a dollar unless that dollar has been fairly earned. 

79. The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem it will avail us little to solve all others. 

80. There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country. 

81. Society has no business to permit degenerates to reproduce their kind. 

82. 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. 

83. Each one must do his part if we wish to show that the nation is worthy of its good fortune. 

84. There should be at least ten times the number of rifles in the country as there are now. 

85. No triumph of peace can equal the armed triumph of war. 

86. The country is the place for children, and if not the country, a city small enough so that one can get out into the country.  

87. The farther one gets into the wilderness, the greater is the attraction of its lonely freedom. 

88. I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life. 

89. There is no effort without error or shortcoming. 

90. Over-sentimentality, over-softness, in fact washiness and mushiness are the great dangers of this age and of this people. Unless we keep the barbarian virtues, gaining the civilized ones will be of little avail. 

91. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat. 

92. You can’t choose your potential, but you can choose to fulfill it. 

93. Success, the real success, does not depend upon the position you hold but upon how you carry yourself in that position. 

94. The reason fat men are good natured is they can neither fight nor run. 

95. Justice consists not in being neutral between right and wrong, but finding out the right and upholding it, wherever found, against the wrong. 

96. We want men who will fix their eyes on the stars, but who will not forget that their feet must walk on the ground. 

97. 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. 

98. Profanity is the parlance of the fool. Why curse when there is such a magnificent language with which to discourse? 

99. If given the choice between Righteousness and Peace, I choose Righteousness. 

100. Each man must work for himself, and unless he so works, no outside help can avail him. 

101. I do. That is character! 

102. We must all either wear out or rust out, every one of us. My choice is to wear out. 

103. No people on earth have more cause to be thankful than ours, and this is said reverently, in no spirit of boastfulness in our own strength, but with the gratitude to the Giver of good who has blessed us. 

104. Don’t foul, don’t flinch-hit the line hard. 

105. With great victory comes great sacrifice. 

106. The most practical kind of politics is the politics of decency. 

107. 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. 

108. The greatest historian should also be a great moralist. It is no proof of impartiality to treat wickedness and goodness on the same level. 

109. 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. 

110. Freemasonry teaches not merely temperance, fortitude, prudence, justice, brotherly love, relief, and truth, but liberty, equality, and fraternity, and it denounces ignorance, superstition, bigotry, lust tyranny and despotism. 

111. Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work must no longer be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. 

112. Cowardice in a race, as in an individual, is the unpardonable sin. 

113. We can have no ‘50-50’ allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else, or he is not an American at all. 

114. Perhaps there is no more important component of character than steadfast resolution. 

115. The mother is the one supreme asset of national life; she is more important by far than the successful statesman, or business man, or artist, or scientist. 

116. Freedom from effort in the present merely means that there has been effort stored up in the past. 

117. 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. 

118. All contributions by corporations to any political committee or for any political purpose should be forbidden by law. 

119. From the greatest to the smallest, happiness and usefulness are largely found in the same soul, and the joy of life is won in its deepest and truest sense only by those who have not shirked life’s burdens. 

120. The Armenian massacre was the greatest crime of the war... 

121. It may be that ‘the voice of the people is the voice of God’ in fifty one cases out of a hundred, but in the remaining forty nine it is quite as likely to be the voice of the devil, of, what is still worse, the voice of a fool. 

122. I am simply unable to understand the value placed by so many people upon great wealth. 

123. No man should receive a dollar unless that dollar has been fairly earned. 

124. The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem it will avail us little to solve all others. 

125. There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country. 

126. Society has no business to permit degenerates to reproduce their kind. 

127. 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. 

128. Each one must do his part if we wish to show that the nation is worthy of its good fortune. 

129. There should be at least ten times the number of rifles in the country as there are now. 

130. No triumph of peace can equal the armed triumph of war. 

131. The country is the place for children, and if not the country, a city small enough so that one can get out into the country.  

132. Let us speak courteously, deal fairly, and keep ourselves armed and ready. 

133. Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike. 

134. Oh, if only I could be President and Congress, too, just for ten minutes. 

135. What I am to be, I am becoming. 

136. There is nothing brilliant or outstanding in my record, except perhaps this one thing. I do the things I believe ought to be done. And when I make up my mind to do a thing, I act. 

137. Free speech exercised both individually and through a free press, is a necessity in any country where people are themselves free. 

138. Most of us tiptoe through life in order to make it safely to death. 

139. Men with the muckrake are often indispensable to the well-being of society, but only if they know when to stop raking the muck. 

140. For us is the life of action, of strenuous performance of duty; let us live in the harness, striving mightily; let us rather run the risk of wearing out than rusting out. 

141. Don’t hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft. 

142. Thank God for the iron in the blood of our fathers. 

143. The man who loves other countries as much as his own stands on a level with the man who loves other women as much as he loves his own wife. 

144. The unforgivable crime is soft hitting. Do not hit at all if it can be avoided; but never hit softly. 

145. I never keep boys waiting. It’s a hard trial for a boy to wait. 

146. Of all forms of tyranny the least attractive and the most vulgar is the tyranny of mere wealth. 

147. Malefactors of great wealth have arrogantly ignored the public welfare. 

148. The woman has the right to be emancipated from the position of a drudge or a toy. She is entitled to a full equality in rights with man... 

149. It is a bad thing for a nation to raise and to admire a false standard of success; and there can be no falser standard than that set by the deification of material well-being in and for itself. 

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

151. There is quite enough sorrow and shame and suffering and baseness in real life, and there is no need for meeting it unnecessarily in fiction. 

152. In the Grand Canyon, Arizona has a natural wonder which is in kind absolutely unparalleled throughout the rest of the world. 

153. There is but one answer to terrorism and it is best delivered with a Winchester rifle. 

154. In life, as in football, the principle to follow is to hit the line hard. 

155. In a civilized and cultivated country, wild animals only continue to exist at all when preserved by sportsmen. 

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

157. 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. 

158. Men can never escape being governed. Either they must govern themselves or they must submit to being governed by others. 

159. It is of little use for us to pay lip-loyalty to the mighty men of the past unless we sincerely endeavor to apply to the problems of the present precisely the qualities which in other crises enabled the men of that day to meet those crises. 

160. I do not intend that our natural resources shall be exploited by the few against the interests of the many. 

161. The Constitution was made for the people and not the people for the Constitution. 

162. Conservation means development as much as it does protection. 

163. 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. 

164. There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy and its charm. 

165. Not trying is the surest way of achieving nothing at all. 

166. Americanism is a question of spirit, of conviction and purpose, not creed or birthplaces. The test of our worth is the service we render. 

167. No man who is corrupt, no man who condones corruption in others, can possibly do his duty by the community. 

168. A grove of giant redwood or sequoias should be kept just as we keep a great and beautiful cathedral. 

169. The biggest corporation, like the humblest private citizen, must be held to strict compliance with the will of the people as expressed in the fundamental law. 

170. Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds. 

171. The White House is a bully pulpit. 

172. Every man holds his property subject to the general right of the community to regulate its use to whatever degree the public welfare may require it. 

173. I am only an average man but, by George, I work harder at it than the average man. 

174. Certain rich men, whose lives are evil and corrupt, are the representatives of predatory wealth accumulated by all forms of inequity, from the oppression of wage workers to unfair methods of crushing out competition. 

175. 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. 

176. Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. 

177. We face the future with our past and our present as guarantors of our promises; and we are content to stand or to fall by the record which we have made and are making. 

178. 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. 

179. Let us speak courteously, deal fairly, and keep ourselves armed and ready. 

180. Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike. 

181. Oh, if only I could be President and Congress, too, just for ten minutes. 

182. What I am to be, I am becoming. 

183. There is nothing brilliant or outstanding in my record, except perhaps this one thing. I do the things I believe ought to be done. And when I make up my mind to do a thing, I act. 

184. Free speech exercised both individually and through a free press, is a necessity in any country where people are themselves free. 

185. Most of us tiptoe through life in order to make it safely to death. 

186. Men with the muckrake are often indispensable to the well-being of society, but only if they know when to stop raking the muck. 

187. For us is the life of action, of strenuous performance of duty; let us live in the harness, striving mightily; let us rather run the risk of wearing out than rusting out. 

188. Don’t hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft. 

189. Thank God for the iron in the blood of our fathers. 

190. The man who loves other countries as much as his own stands on a level with the man who loves other women as much as he loves his own wife. 

191. The unforgivable crime is soft hitting. Do not hit at all if it can be avoided; but never hit softly. 

192. I never keep boys waiting. It’s a hard trial for a boy to wait. 

193. Of all forms of tyranny the least attractive and the most vulgar is the tyranny of mere wealth. 

194. Malefactors of great wealth have arrogantly ignored the public welfare. 

195. The woman has the right to be emancipated from the position of a drudge or a toy. She is entitled to a full equality in rights with man... 

196. It is a bad thing for a nation to raise and to admire a false standard of success; and there can be no falser standard than that set by the deification of material well-being in and for itself. 

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

198. There is quite enough sorrow and shame and suffering and baseness in real life, and there is no need for meeting it unnecessarily in fiction. 

199. In the Grand Canyon, Arizona has a natural wonder which is in kind absolutely unparalleled throughout the rest of the world. 

200. There is but one answer to terrorism and it is best delivered with a Winchester rifle. 

201. In life, as in football, the principle to follow is to hit the line hard. 

202. In a civilized and cultivated country, wild animals only continue to exist at all when preserved by sportsmen. 

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

204. 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. 

205. Men can never escape being governed. Either they must govern themselves or they must submit to being governed by others. 

206. It is of little use for us to pay lip-loyalty to the mighty men of the past unless we sincerely endeavor to apply to the problems of the present precisely the qualities which in other crises enabled the men of that day to meet those crises. 

207. I do not intend that our natural resources shall be exploited by the few against the interests of the many. 

208. The Constitution was made for the people and not the people for the Constitution. 

209. Conservation means development as much as it does protection. 

210. 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. 

211. There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy and its charm. 

212. Not trying is the surest way of achieving nothing at all. 

213. Americanism is a question of spirit, of conviction and purpose, not creed or birthplaces. The test of our worth is the service we render. 

214. No man who is corrupt, no man who condones corruption in others, can possibly do his duty by the community. 

215. A grove of giant redwood or sequoias should be kept just as we keep a great and beautiful cathedral. 

216. The biggest corporation, like the humblest private citizen, must be held to strict compliance with the will of the people as expressed in the fundamental law. 

217. Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds. 

218. The White House is a bully pulpit. 

219. Every man holds his property subject to the general right of the community to regulate its use to whatever degree the public welfare may require it. 

220. I am only an average man but, by George, I work harder at it than the average man. 

221. Certain rich men, whose lives are evil and corrupt, are the representatives of predatory wealth accumulated by all forms of inequity, from the oppression of wage workers to unfair methods of crushing out competition. 

222. 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. 

223. Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. 

224. We face the future with our past and our present as guarantors of our promises; and we are content to stand or to fall by the record which we have made and are making. 

225. 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. 

226. The extermination of the buffalo has been a veritable tragedy of the animal world. 

227. 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. 

228. A churchless community, a community where men have abandoned and scoffed at or ignored their religious needs, is a community on the rapid downgrade. 

229. It is not what we have that will make us a great nation; it is the way in which we use it. 

230. Nothing is gained by debate on non-debatable subjects. 

231. I have a perfect horror of words that are not backed up by deeds. 

232. The human body has two ends on it: one to create with and one to sit on. Sometimes people get their ends reversed. When this happens they need a kick in the seat of the pants. 

233. The nation should be ruled by the Ten Commandments. 

234. Germany has reduced savagery to a science, and this great war for the victorious peace of justice must go on until the German cancer is cut clean out of the world body. 

235. The wild life of today is not ours to do with as we please. The original stock was given to us in trust for the benefit both of the present and the future. We must render an accounting of this trust to those who come after us. 

236. There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. 

237. Weasel words from mollycoddles will never do when the day demands prophetic clarity from greathearts. Manly men must emerge for this hour of trial. 

238. Unrestrained greed means the ruin of the great woods and the drying up of the sources of the rivers. 

239. No educated man can afford to be ignorant of the Bible. 

240. The six great gifts of an Irish girl are beauty, soft voice, sweet speech, wisdom, needlework, and chastity. 

241. The reader, the booklover, must meet his own needs without paying too much attention to what his neighbors say those needs should be. 

242. The duties are even more important than the rights; and in the long run I think that the reward is ampler and greater for duty well done, than for the insistence upon individual rights. 

243. 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. 

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

245. No ability, no strength and force, no power of intellect or power of wealth, shall avail us, if we have not the root of right living in us. 

246. The foes from whom we pray to be delivered are our own passions, appetites, and follies; and against these there is always need that we should war. 

247. The country’s honor must be upheld at home and abroad. 

248. It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things. 

249. From the very beginning our people have markedly combined practical capacity for affairs with power of devotion to an ideal. The lack of either quality would have rendered the other of small value. 

250. Under government ownership corruption can flourish just as rankly as under private ownership. 

251. There were all kinds of things I was afraid of at first, ranging from grizzly bears to ‘mean’ horses and gun-fighters; but by acting as if I was not afraid I gradually ceased to be afraid. 

252. I want to see you game, boys, I want to see you brave and manly, and I also want to see you gentle and tender. 

253. 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. 

254. Death by violence, death by cold, death by starvation – they are the normal endings of the stately creatures of the wilderness. The sentimentalists who prattle about the peaceful life of nature do not realize its utter mercilessness. 

255. I think there is only one quality worse than hardness of heart and that is softness of head. 

256. The American people are slow to wrath, but when their wrath is once kindled it burns like a consuming flame. 

257. The wolf is the arch type of ravin, the beast of waste and desolation. 

258. The worst lesson that can be taught to a man is to rely upon others and to whine over his sufferings. 

259. The dreams of golden glory in the future will not come true unless, high of heart and strong of hand, by our own mighty deeds we make them come true. 

260. I want to see you shoot the way you shout. 

261. No, I’m not a good shot, but I shoot often. 

262. The reactionary is always willing to take a progressive attitude on any issue that is dead. 

263. I hate a man who skins the land. 

264. In a crisis, the man worth his salt is the man who meets the needs of the situation in whatever way is necessary. 

265. My hat’s in the ring. The fight is on and I’m stripped to the buff. 

266. The man of great wealth owes a peculiar obligation to the state because he derives special advantages from the mere existence of government. 

267. A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy. 

268. Nothing could be more lonely and nothing more beautiful than the view at nightfall across the prairies to these huge hill masses, when the lengthening shadows had at last merged into one and the faint after-glow of the red sunset filled the west. 

269. Death is always, under all circumstances, a tragedy, for if it is not then it means that life has become one. 

270. We have room but for one Language here and that is the English Language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans of American nationality and not as dwellers in a polyglot boarding-house. 

271. The chase is among the best of all national pastimes; it cultivates that vigorous manliness for the lack of which in a nation, as in an individual, the possession of no other qualities can possibly atone. 

272. To borrow a simile from the football field, we believe that men must play fair, but that there must be no shirking, and that the success can only come to the player who hits the line hard.

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Co-author:  Khushi Shah 

Khushi has just passed her school and is now studying at PDPU. Apart from writing, she likes to sketch and dance. She also has other blogs where she posts proses and poetry.