WIST

My position as regards the monied interests can be put in a few words. In every civilized society property rights must be carefully safeguarded; ordinarily and in the great majority of cases, human rights and property rights are fundamentally and in the long run, identical; but when it clearly appears that there is a real conflict between them, human rights must have the upper hand; for property belongs to man and not man to property.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“Citizenship in a Republic,” speech, Sorbonne, Paris (23 Apr 1910)

The good citizen will demand liberty for himself, and as a matter of pride he will see to it that others receive the liberty which he thus claims as his own. Probably the best test of true love of liberty in any country is the way in which minorities are treated in that country.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“Citizenship in a Republic,” speech, Sorbonne, Paris (23 Apr 1910)

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.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“Citizenship in a Republic,” speech, Sorbonne, Paris (23 Apr 1910)

It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out how the strong stumbled or where the doer of the deed could have done 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 and comes up short again and again. Who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumphs 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 know neither victory or defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“Citizenship in the Republic,” speech, Sorbonne, Paris, France (23 Apr 1910)

No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expediency. He is bound to do all the good possible. Yet he must consider the question of expediency, in order that he may do all the good possible, for otherwise he will do none.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“Latitude and Longitude Among Reformers,” The Century (Jun 1900)
Collected in his volume of essays and addresses, The Strenuous Life (1900); the first sentence is most often quoted, and often cited under that book's name (not to be confused with its title essay). Full text.

We can best get justice by doing justice.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“National Duties” (2 Sep 1901)

A man must first care for his own household before he can be of use to the state. But no matter how well he cares for his household, he is not a good citizen unless he also takes thought of the state. In the same way, a great nation must think of its own internal affairs; and yet it cannot substantiate its claim to be a great nation unless it also thinks of its position in the world at large.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“Nationalism and International Relations,” Social Justice and Popular Rule, ch. 12 (1926).

There are plenty of decent legislators, and plenty of able legislators; but the blamelessness and the fighting edge are not always combined. Both qualities are necessary for the man who is to wage active battle against the powers that prey. He must be clean of life, so that he can laugh when his public or his private record is searched; and yet being clean of life will not avail him if he is either foolish or timid. He must walk warily and fearlessly, and while he should never brawl if he can avoid it, he must be ready to hit hard if the need arises. Let him remember, by the way, that the unforgivable crime is soft hitting. Do not hit at all if it can be avoided; but never hit softly.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“Practical Politics,” The Outlook (26 Apr 1913)

In life, as in a football game, the principle to follow is: Hit the line hard.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“The American Boy,” The Strenuous Life (1900)

In life, as in a football game, the principle to follow is: Never flinch. Never foul. Hit the line hard.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“The American Boy,” The Strenuous Life (1900)

Distrust above all other men the man who seeks to make you pass judgment upon your fellow citizens upon any ground of artificial distinction between you and them. Distrust the man who seeks to get you to favor them or discriminate against them either because they are well off or not well off, because they occupy one social position or another, because they live in one part of the country or another, or because they profess one creed or another.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“The Cuban Dead,” speech, Arlington National Cemetery (12 Apr 1907)
Speech at the unveiling of the "Rough Riders" (1st U.S. Voluntary Cavalry) monument. Full text.

We are face to face with our destiny and we must meet it with a high and resolute courage. 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.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“The Duties of a Great Nation,” Gubernatorial campaign address, New York City (5 Oct 1898)
"The Duties of a Great Nation," Campaigns and Controversies (vol. 14 of The Works of Theodore Roosevelt), ch. 14 (1926)

The prime thing that every man who takes an interest in politics should remember is that he must act, and not merely criticize the actions of others. It is not the man who sits by his fireside reading his evening paper, and saying how bad our politics and politicians are, who will ever do anything to save us; it is the man who goes out into the rough hurly-burly of the caucus, the primary, and the political meeting, and there faces his fellows on equal terms. The real service is rendered, not by the critic who stands aloof from the contest, but by the man who enters into it and bears his part as a man should, undeterred by the blood and the sweat.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“The Manly Virtues and Practical Politics,” Forum (Jul 1894)

We are face to face with new conceptions of the relations of property to human welfare, chiefly because certain advocates of the rights of property as against the rights of men have been pushing their claims too far. The man who wrongly holds that every human right is secondary to his profit must now give way to the advocate of human welfare, who rightly maintains that 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.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“The New Nationalism,” speech, Osawatomie, Kansas (31 Aug 1910)
Full text.

Those who oppose all reform will do well to remember that ruin in its worst form is inevitable if our national life brings us nothing better than swollen fortunes for the few and the triumph in both politics and business of a sordid and selfish materialism.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“The New Nationalism,” speech, Osawatomie, Kansas (31 Aug 1910)
Full text.

The true friend of property, the true conservative, is he who insists that property shall be the servant and not the master of the commonwealth; who insists that the creature of man’s making shall be the servant and not the master of the man who made it.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“The New Nationalism,” speech, Osawatomie, Kansas (31 Aug 1910)
Full text.

Of all species of silliness the silliest is the assertion sometimes made that the woman whose primary lifework is taking care of her home and children is somehow a “parasite woman.” It is such a ridiculous in version of the truth that it ought not to be necessary even to allude to it.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“The Parasite Woman,” Metropolitan (May 1916)
Full text.

Of all species of silliness the silliest is the assertion sometimes made that the woman whose primary lifework is taking care of her home and children is somehow a “parasite woman.” It is such a ridiculous in version of the truth that it ought not to be necessary even to allude to it.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“The Parasite Woman,” editorial, Metropolitan (May 1916)
Full text.

Political parties exist to secure responsible government and to execute the will of the people. From these great tasks both of the old parties have turned aside. Instead of instruments to promote the general welfare they have become the tools of corrupt interests, which use them impartially to serve their selfish purposes. Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics, is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“The Progressive Covenant With The People,” speech (Aug 1912)
Full Recording. Roosevelt made a number of these records during his "Bull Moose" campaign, to be distributed to areas where he could not visit to speak.

Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“The Square Deal,” Labor Day speech, New York State Agricultural Association, Syracuse (7 Sep 1903)

We must act upon the motto of all for each and each for all. There must be ever present in our minds the fundamental truth that in a republic such as ours the only safety is to stand neither for nor against any man because he is rich or because he is poor, because he is engaged in one occupation or another, because he works with his brains or because he works with his hands. We must treat each man on his worth and merits as a man. We must see that each is given a square deal, because he is entitled to no more and should receive no less.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“The Square Deal,” Labor Day speech, New York State Agricultural Association, Syracuse (7 Sep 1903)

Full text.

It is all-essential to the continuance of our healthy national life that we should recognize this community of interest among our people. The welfare of each of us is dependent fundamentally upon the welfare of all of us, and therefore in public life that man is the best representative of each of us who seeks to do good to each by doing good to all; in other words, whose endeavor it is not to represent any special class and promote merely that class’s selfish interests, but to represent all true and honest men of all sections and all classes and to work for their interests by working for our common country.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“The Square Deal,” Labor Day speech, New York State Agricultural Association, Syracuse (7 Sep 1903)

Full text

In the final result, it mattered not one whit whether the movement was in favor of one class or of another. The outcome was equally fatal, whether the country fell into the hands of a wealthy oligarchy which exploited the poor or whether it fell under the domination of a turbulent mob which plundered the rich. In both cases there resulted violent alternations between tyranny and disorder, and a final complete loss of liberty to all citizens — destruction in the end overtaking the class which had for the moment been victorious as well as that which had momentarily been defeated. The death-knell of the Republic had rung as soon as the active power became lodged in the hands of those who sought, not to do justice to all citizens, rich and poor alike, but to stand for one special class and for its interests as opposed to the interests of others.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“The Square Deal,” Labor Day speech, New York State Agricultural Association, Syracuse (7 Sep 1903)

Full text.

Far better it is to dare mighty things, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those who neither enjoy much or suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“The Strenuous Life,” speech, Hamilton Club, Chicago (10 Apr 1899)

The twentieth century looms before us big with the fate of many nations. If we stand idly by, if we seek merely swollen, slothful ease and ignoble peace, if we shrink from the hard contests where men must win at hazard of their lives and at the risk of all they hold dear, then the bolder and stronger peoples will pass us by, and will win for themselves the domination of the world.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“The Strenuous Life,” speech, Hamilton Club, Chicago (10 Apr 1899)
Full text.

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

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“The Strenuous Life,” speech, Hamilton Club, Chicago (10 Apr 1899)
Full text.

To love one’s country above all others is in no way incompatible with respecting and wishing well to all others.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
“The Two Americas” (20 May 1901)

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.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
(Attributed)

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

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
(Attributed)

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

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
(Attributed)