Men with the muckrake are often indispensable to the well-being of society, but only if they know when to stop raking the muck, and to look upward to the celestial crown above them. … If they gradually grow to feel that the whole world is nothing but muck their power of usefulness is gone.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer; US President (1901–09)

Address, Laying the Cornerstone of the House Office Building, Washington (14 Apr 1906)