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Theodore Roosevelt Quotes (1858-1919)
President, Author, Leader
About Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. (27 October 1858 – 6 January 1919), also known as T.R. or Teddy, was an American statesman, author, explorer, soldier, naturalist, and reformer who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. As a leader of the Republican Party during this time, he became a driving force for the Progressive Era in the United States in the early 20th century.
Best Theodore Roosevelt Quotes
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Explore our curated collection of the most famous and impactful Theodore Roosevelt quotes.
“Malefactors of great wealth.”
- Theodore Roosevelt, 1900s)
“We stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord.”
- Theodore Roosevelt, 1910s)
“Power invariably means both responsibility and danger.”
- Theodore Roosevelt, 1900s, Inaugural Address
“The government is us; we are the government, you and I.”
- Theodore Roosevelt, 1900s)
“If I must choose between righteousness and peace I choose righteousness.”
- Theodore Roosevelt, 1910s)
“There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country.”
- Theodore Roosevelt, 1910s)
“Let us speak courteously, deal fairly, and keep ourselves armed and ready.”
- Theodore Roosevelt, 1900s)
“A vote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.”
- Theodore Roosevelt, 1910s, Theodore Roosevelt — An Autobiography
Theodore Roosevelt's 1897 essay, addressing ineffective charity, condemns dependence and self-pity as detrimental to individual and societal progress.
“The worst lesson that can be taught a man is to rely upon others and to whine over his sufferings.”
- Theodore Roosevelt, 1890s)
Rhetorically defending his powerful platform, this quote highlights Theodore Roosevelt's playful use of "bully," a then-common slang term for "admirable."
“I suppose my critics will call that preaching, but I have got such a bully pulpit!”
- Theodore Roosevelt, 1900s, Bully Pulpit
“We propose to make the process of constitutional amendment far easier, speedier, and simpler than at present.”
- Theodore Roosevelt, 1910s)
“Throughout our history the success of the homemaker has been but another name for the up-building of the nation.”
- Theodore Roosevelt, 1900s, The Strenuous Life
“It is true of the Nation, as of the individual, that the greatest doer must also be a great dreamer.”
- Theodore Roosevelt, 1910s)
Theodore Roosevelt Quotes by Topic
Find exactly what you are looking for by browsing this categorized list of Theodore Roosevelt quotes by topic.
Theodore Roosevelt on United States 26 quotes
“True Americanism demands that we judge each man on his conduct, that we so judge him in private life and that we so judge him in public life.”
Theodore Roosevelt on Freedom of religion 8 quotes
“We must recognize that it is a cardinal sin against democracy to support a man for public office because he belongs to a given creed or to oppose him because he belongs to a given creed. It is just as evil as to draw the line between class and class, between occupation and occupation in political life.”
Theodore Roosevelt on Truth 6 quotes
Written on the eve of WWI, Theodore Roosevelt's letter to a patriotic congress warned against complacency and prioritizing comfort over national duty and core American values.
“Americanism means the virtues of courage, honor, justice, truth, sincerity, and hardihood—the virtues that made America. 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 on Conservation 5 quotes
“The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem, it will avail us little to solve all others.”
Theodore Roosevelt on President of the United States 4 quotes
Facing criticism for being preachy, Theodore Roosevelt cheekily embraced the label, boasting about the unique platform his presidency offered for spreading his message.
“Yes, Haven, most of us enjoy preaching, and I've got such a bully pulpit!”
- Theodore Roosevelt, R)
Theodore Roosevelt on Completeness 3 quotes
“The first requisite is knowledge, full and complete — which may be made public to the world.”
Theodore Roosevelt on Attitude 3 quotes
“Peace is a great good; and doubly harmful, therefore, is the attitude of those who advocate it in terms that would make it synonymous with selfish and cowardly shrinking from warring against the existence of evil.”
Theodore Roosevelt on Victory 3 quotes
“An attitude of moderation is apt to be misunderstood when passions are greatly excited and when victory is apt to rest with the extremists on one side or the other; yet I think it is in the long run the only wise attitude.”
Theodore Roosevelt on Welfare 3 quotes
“It cannot be too often repeated that in this country, in the long run, we all of us tend to go up or go down together. If the average of well-being is high, it means that the average wage-worker, the average farmer, and the average business man are all alike well-off. If the average shrinks, there is not one of these classes which will not feel the shrinkage. Of course, there are always some men who are not affected by good times, just as there are some men who are not affected by bad times. But speaking broadly, it is true that if prosperity comes, all of us tend to share more or less therein, and that if adversity comes each of us, to a greater or less extent, feels the tension.”
Theodore Roosevelt on Failure 2 quotes
View all 2 quotes on Failure →Theodore Roosevelt on United States Navy 2 quotes
“A good Navy is not a provocation to war. It is the surest guaranty of peace.”
- Theodore Roosevelt, R)
Theodore Roosevelt on Forests 2 quotes
“A true forest is not merely a storehouse full of wood, but, as it were, a factory of wood.”
What Theodore Roosevelt Said About Others
Discover personal opinions Theodore Roosevelt shared regarding contemporaries.
Theodore Roosevelt on Abraham Lincoln 5 quotes
“If there is not the war, you don't get the great general; if there is not a great occasion, you don't get the great statesman; if Lincoln had lived in times of peace, no one would have known his name now.”
Theodore Roosevelt on Ulysses S. Grant 3 quotes
“So it was in the Civil War. Farragut's father was born in Spain and Sheridan's father in Ireland; Sherman and Thomas were of English and Custer of German descent; and Grant came of a long line of American ancestors whose original home had been Scotland. But the Admiral was not a Spanish-American; and the Generals were not Scotch-Americans or Irish-Americans or English-Americans or German-Americans. They were all Americans and nothing else. This was just as true of Lee and of Stonewall Jackson and of Beauregard.”
Theodore Roosevelt on David Lloyd George 2 quotes
“Give my heartiest regards to Lloyd George. Do tell him I admire him immensely. I have always fundamentally agreed with his social program, but I wish it supplemented by Lord Roberts's external program. Nevertheless, my agreement with him in program is small compared with the fact that I so greatly admire the character he is now showing in this great crisis.”
Theodore Roosevelt on Alice Roosevelt Longworth
Theodore Roosevelt on James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce
Theodore Roosevelt on Thomas Jefferson
“Thank Heaven, I have never hesitated to criticize Jefferson; he was infinitely below Hamilton. I think the worship of Jefferson a discredit to my country.”
Theodore Roosevelt on Booker T. Washington
“It is not hyperbole to say that Booker T. Washington was a great American. For twenty years before his death he had been the most useful, as well as the most distinguished, member of his race in the world, and one of the most useful, as well as one of the most distinguished, of American citizens of any race.”
Theodore Roosevelt on George Washington
“Washington and his associates believed that it was essential to the existence of this Republic that there should never be any union of Church and State; and such union is partially accomplished wherever a given creed is aided by the State or when any public servant is elected or defeated because of his creed.”
Theodore Roosevelt on Frederic Remington
“He is, of course, one of the most typical American artists we have ever had, and he has portrayed a most characteristic and yet vanishing type of American life. The soldier, the cowboy and rancher, the Indian, the horses and the cattle of the plains, will live in his pictures and bronzes, I verily believe, for all time.”
Theodore Roosevelt on Muslim
“Wherever the Mohammedans have had complete sway, wherever the Christians have been unable to resist them by the sword, Christianity has ultimately disappeared. From the hammer of Charles Martel to the sword of Sobieski, Christianity owed its safety in Europe to the fact that it was able to show that it could and would fight as well as the Mohammedan aggressor.”
- Theodore Roosevelt, R)
Theodore Roosevelt on William Tecumseh Sherman
“So it was in the civil war. Farragut's father was born in Spain and Sheridan's father in Ireland; Sherman and Thomas were of English and Custer of German descent; and Grant came of a long line of American ancestors whose original home had been Scotland. But the Admiral was not a Spanish-American; and the Generals were not Scotch-Americans or Irish-Americans or English-Americans or German-Americans. They were all Americans and nothing else. This was just as true of Lee and of Stonewall Jackson and of Beauregard.”
Theodore Roosevelt on Robert E. Lee
“So it was in the civil war. Farragut's father was born in Spain and Sheridan's father in Ireland; Sherman and Thomas were of English and Custer of German descent; and Grant came of a long line of American ancestors whose original home had been Scotland. But the Admiral was not a Spanish-American; and the Generals were not Scotch-Americans or Irish-Americans or English-Americans or German-Americans. They were all Americans and nothing else. This was just as true of Lee and of Stonewall Jackson and of Beauregard.”
Theodore Roosevelt on Thomas Babington Macaulay
“Browning the philosopher is read by countless thousands to whom otherwise philosophy would be a sealed book, for exactly the same reason that Macaulay the historian is read by countless thousands to whom otherwise history would be a sealed book; because both Browning's works and Macaulay's works are material additions to the great sum of English literature. Philosophy is a science just as history is a science. There is need in one case as in the other for vivid and powerful presentation of scientific matter in literary form.”
Theodore Roosevelt on Alexander Hamilton
“Hamilton, the most brilliant American statesman who ever lived, possessing the loftiest and keenest intellect of his time, was of course easily the foremost champion in the ranks of the New York Federalists; second to him came Jay, pure, strong and healthy in heart, body, and mind. Both of them watched with uneasy alarm the rapid drift toward anarchy; and both put forth all their efforts to stem the tide. They were of course too great men to fall in with the views of those whose antagonism to tyranny made them averse from order. They had little sympathy with the violent prejudices produced by the war. In particular, they abhorred the vindictive laws directed against the persons and property of Tories; and they had the manliness to come forward as the defenders of the helpless and excessively unpopular Loyalists. They put a stop to the wrongs which were being inflicted on these men and finally succeeded in having them restored to legal equality with other citizens, standing up with generous fearlessness against the clamor of the mob.”
Theodore Roosevelt on John Muir
“Ordinarily, the man who loves the woods and mountains, the trees, the flowers, and the wild things, has in him some indefinable quality of charm, which appeals even to those sons of civilization who care for little outside of paved streets and brick walls. John Muir was a fine illustration of this rule. He was by birth a Scotchman — a tall and spare man, with the poise and ease natural to him who has lived much alone under conditions of labor and hazard. He was a dauntless soul, and also one brimming over with friendliness and kindliness. He was emphatically a good citizen. Not only are his books delightful, not only is he the author to whom all men turn when they think of the Sierras and northern glaciers, and the giant trees of the California slope, but he was also — what few nature lovers are — a man able to influence contemporary thought and action on the subjects to which he had devoted his life. He was a great factor in influencing the thought of California and the thought of the entire country so as to secure the preservation of those great natural phenomena — wonderful canyons, giant trees, slopes of flower-spangled hillsides — which make California a veritable Garden of the Lord. … John Muir talked even better than he wrote. His greatest influence was always upon those who were brought into personal contact with him. But he wrote well, and while his books have not the peculiar charm that a very, very few other writers on similar subjects have had, they will nevertheless last long. Our generation owes much to John Muir.”
Quotes About Theodore Roosevelt
Gain deeper perspective through quotes about Theodore Roosevelt from others.
Anonymous on Theodore Roosevelt
“There is trouble in the White House More than you can tell; Yelling like wild men, Niggers raising hell.I see a way to settle it Just as clear as water, Let Mr. Booker Washington Marry Teddy's daughter.Or, if this does not overflow Teddy's cup of joy, Then let miss Dinah Washington Marry Teddy's boy.But everything is settled, Roosevelt is dead; Niggers in the White House Cut off Teddy's head.”
Daron Acemoglu on Theodore Roosevelt
“Consider the divergent paths of the United States and Mexico. Blaming this disparity on the ignorance of the leaders of the two nations is, at best, highly implausible. It wasn’t differences in knowledge or intentions between John Smith and Cortés that laid the seeds of divergence during the colonial period, and it wasn’t differences in knowledge between later U.S. presidents, such as Teddy Roosevelt or Woodrow Wilson, and Porfirio Díaz that made Mexico choose economic institutions that enriched elites at the expense of the rest of society at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries while Roosevelt and Wilson did the opposite. Rather, it was the differences in the institutional constraints the countries’ presidents and elites were facing. Similarly, leaders of African nations that have languished over the last half century under insecure property rights and economic institutions, impoverishing much of their populations, did not allow this to happen because they thought it was good economics; they did so because they could get away with it and enrich themselves at the expense of the rest, or because they thought it was good politics, a way of keeping themselves in power by buying the support of crucial groups or elites.”
Henry Brooks Adams on Theodore Roosevelt
“My dear Roosevelt You have established a record as the best herder of Emperors since Napoleon. I should long ago have written you my gratitude had not men — and women — taught me to hold my tongue before my betters. On public affairs I am still a scholar, not a professor; and when I think I know enough to help you, I will do it ... You have taught us how to herd Emperors, but also you have shown that, of all cattle, Emperors are most easily herded.”
Jane Addams on Theodore Roosevelt
“I second the nomination of Theodore Roosevelt because he is one of the few men in our public life who has been responsive to the social appeal and and who has caught the significance of the modern movement. Because of that, because the program will require a leader of invincible courage, of open mind, of democratic sympathies, one endowed with power to interpret the common man and to identify himself with the common lot, I heartily second the nomination.”
Thomas A. Bailey on Theodore Roosevelt
“Roosevelt was a great personality, a great activist, a great preacher of the moralities, a great controversialist, a great showman. He dominated his era as he dominated conversations ... the masses loved him; he proved to be a great popular idol and a great vote getter.”
Source on Theodore Roosevelt 2 quotes
“In 1908, as he prepared to retire from the presidency, Theodore Roosevelt reflected that his “business” as a Republican leader had been:
To take hold of the conservative party and turn it into what it had been under Lincoln, that is, a party of progressive conservatism, or conservative radicalism; for of course wise radicalism and wise conservatism go hand in hand.”
Abraham Cahan on Theodore Roosevelt
“The Republicans did likewise. They nominated one who had already made a reputation for fighting dishonest politicians: Theodore Roosevelt. Young and aristocratic, Assemblyman Roosevelt had been among those who had "revolted" against Blaine.”
Georges Clemenceau on Theodore Roosevelt
Linda Colleyhttps on Theodore Roosevelt
“...In 1907, Theodore Roosevelt, who relished most forms of aggression, dispatched the Great White Fleet around the world with the intention (not always fulfilled) of showcasing the new, trans-oceanic capacities of American naval power.”
Stephen Colbert on Theodore Roosevelt
During a satirical "Better Know a President" segment on *The Colbert Report*, Stephen Colbert grilled a Theodore Roosevelt impersonator about failed promises of the Spanish-American War.
“You said the war would pay for itself in fruit baskets. You said that our soldiers would march in the streets of Havana and people would shower them with bananas and cigars. That didn't happen. Would you like to look into the camera and apologize to the American people?”
Penny Colman on Theodore Roosevelt
“What she liked about him were his "progressive ideas," or his ideas that everybody should get a "square deal"... not just big business owners. ...Roosevelt thought it was time for reforms—time to put some limits on big business, to drive out corrupt politicians, to provide better opportunities for working people, and to improve conditions in the cities. ..."Out of the period ...a whole generation ...emerged... who had a great passion for social justice," Perkins said years later.”
Calvin Coolidge on Theodore Roosevelt
“That the principles for which these three men stood might be still more firmly established destiny raised up Theodore Roosevelt. To political freedom he strove to add economic freedom. By building the Panama Canal he brought into closer relationship the east and the west and realized the vision that inspired Columbus in his search for a new passage to the Orient.”
Disputed Quotes
Quotes attributed to Theodore Roosevelt that are questionable.
“A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.”
“Comparison is the thief of joy.”
Misattributed Quotes
Quotes mistakenly credited to Theodore Roosevelt
“To anger a conservative, lie to him. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.”
About Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. (27 October 1858 – 6 January 1919), also known as T.R. or Teddy, was an American statesman, author, explorer, soldier, naturalist, and reformer who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. As a leader of the Republican Party during this time, he became a driving force for the Progressive Era in the United States in the early 20th century.