25 Inspiring Theodore Roosevelt Quotes

Born in New York City in 1858, Theodore Roosevelt grew up to become an influential politician and conservationist. He was also one of the most quotable figures in our nation’s history. The 26th president was known for his rousing speeches, informative books, and witty letters—most of which are still available for the public to appreciate today. Read on for some of the quotes that contributed to Theodore Roosevelt's reputation as a great writer and speaker—and make sure to subscribe to Mental Floss's new podcast, History Vs., which is all about TR, here.

1. On Hardship

“I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph.”

—From the speech “The Strenuous Life,” given in 1899

2. On Power

“Power invariably means both responsibility and danger.”

—From his inaugural address given in 1905

3. On Conservation

“We have become great in a material sense because of the lavish use of our resources, and we have just reason to be proud of our growth. But the time has come to inquire seriously what will happen when our forests are gone, when the coal, the iron, the oil, and the gas are exhausted, when the soils shall have been still further impoverished and washed into the streams, polluting the rivers, denuding the fields, and obstructing navigation. These questions do not relate only to the next century or to the next generation. One distinguishing characteristic of really civilized men is foresight; we have to, as a nation, exercise foresight for this nation in the future; and if we do not exercise that foresight, dark will be the future!”

—From the speech “Conservation as a National Duty,” given in 1908

4. On His Life’s Motto

“I have always been fond of the West African proverb: ‘Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.’”

—From a letter written to Henry L. Sprague in 1900

5. On Woodrow Wilson

“Instead of speaking softly and carrying a big stick, President Wilson spoke bombastically and carried a dish rag.”

—From an address given in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1916

6. On Democracy

“Democracy to be successful, must mean self-knowledge, and above all, self-mastery.”

—From an address to the Union League Club in Chicago in 1911

More Articles About Roosevelt:

7. On Progress

“I don’t for a moment believe that we can turn back the wheels of progress.”

—From his 1911 address to the Union League Club

8. On Yosemite

“There can be nothing in the world more beautiful than the Yosemite, the groves of the giant sequoias and redwoods, the Canyon of the Colorado, the Canyon of the Yellowstone, the Three Tetons; and our people should see to it that they are preserved for their children and their children’s children forever, with their majestic beauty all unmarred.”

—From Outdoor Pastimes of an American Hunter, 1905

9. On His Fighting Style

“Don't hit a man at all if you can avoid it, but if you have to hit him, knock him out.”

—From a speech given in Cleveland in 1916

10. On Success

“There are many qualities which we need in order to gain success, but the three above all—for the lack of which no brilliancy and no genius can atone—are Courage, Honesty and Common Sense.”

—From the pamphlet "The Key to Success in Life," 1916

11. On Perseverance

“Sometimes in life, both at school and afterwards, fortune will go against anyone, but if he just keeps pegging away and don’t lose his courage things always take a turn for the better in the end.”

—From a letter to his son Kermit Roosevelt written in 1904

12. On Life and Football

“In life as in a football game, the principle to follow is: Hit the line hard; don’t foul and don’t shirk, but hit the line hard.”

—From “The Strenuous Life”

13. On Takeaways from George Washington's Career

“Washington's career shows that we need to keep our faces steadily toward the sun. You can change the simile, to keep our eyes to the stars, but remember that our feet have got to be on the ground.”

—From a 1911 speech at the Union League Club in Chicago

14. On Brains vs. Brawn

“Bodily vigor is good, and vigor of intellect is even better, but far above both is character.”

—From “The Strenuous Life”

15. On Wilderness

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

—From Outdoor Pastimes of an American Hunter

16. On What Makes a Great Democracy

“A great democracy has got to be progressive, or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy.”

—From a speech given to the Colorado Legislature in 1910

17. On Passion

“Remember always that the man who does a thing so that it is worth doing is always a man who does his work for the work’s sake […] A scientific man, a writer, a historian, an artist, can only be a good man of science, a first-class artist, a first-class writer, if he does his work for the sake of doing it well.”

—From an address given at Columbia University in 1902

18. On Wisdom

“Nine-tenths of wisdom is being wise in time!”

—From a speech about military preparedness given in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1917

19. On Equality

“This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in if it is not a reasonably good place for all of us to live in.”

—From the speech "What a Progressive Is," given in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1912

20. On Failure

"Far better 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 not victory nor defeat."

—From “The Strenuous Life”

21. On Criticizing the President

“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.”

—From an editorial written in 1918

22. On Being in the Arena

"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."

—From the speech “Citizenship in a Republic," a.k.a. "The Man in the Arena” given in 1910

23. On Death

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

—From a letter to Cecil Spring-Rice from 1900

24. On William McKinley’s Assassination

“It is a dreadful thing to come into the presidency in this way; but it would be far worse to be morbid about it. Here is the task, and I have got to do it to the best of my ability.”

—Likely from 1901, the year of McKinley's assassination

25. On Prejudice

“There are good men and bad men of all nationalities, creeds and colors; and if this world of ours is ever to become what we hope some day it may become, it must be by the general recognition that the man's heart and soul, the man's worth and actions, determine his standing.”

—From a letter written in 1903