WIST Quotations

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Autobiography, Introduction (1913)

Dave — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 23:15:50 +0000

All for each, and each for all, is a good motto; but only on condition that each works with might and main to so maintain himself as not to be a burden to others.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer; US President (1901–09)
Autobiography, Introduction (1913)
(Source)

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Autobiography, ch. 1 “Boyhood and Youth” (1913)

Dave — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 22:28:30 +0000

The teaching which I received was genuinely democratic in one way. It was not so democratic in another. I grew into manhood thoroughly imbued with the feeling that a man must be respected for what he made of himself. But I had also, consciously or unconsciously, been taught that socially and industrially pretty much the whole duty of the man lay in thus making the best of himself; that he should be honest in his dealings with others and charitable in the old-fashioned way to the unfortunate; but that it was no part of his business to join with others in trying to make things better for the many by curbing the abnormal and excessive development of individualism in a few.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer; US President (1901–09)
Autobiography, ch. 1 “Boyhood and Youth” (1913)
(Source)

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Autobiography, ch. 1 “Boyhood and Youth” (1913)

Dave — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 20:19:59 +0000

In addition to, not as a substitute for, individual responsibility, there is a collective responsibility.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer; US President (1901–09)
Autobiography, ch. 1 “Boyhood and Youth” (1913)
(Source)

Jacobs, Jane -- The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Part 1, ch. 4 (1961)

Dave — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 23:12:15 +0000

The first fundamental of successful city life: People must take a modicum of responsibility for each other even if they have no ties to each other. This is a lesson no one learns by being told. It is learned from the experience of having other people without ties of kinship or close friendship or formal responsibility to you take a modicum of responsibility for you.

Jane Jacobs (1916–2006) American-Canadian journalist, author, urban theorist, activist
The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Part 1, ch. 4 (1961)
(Source)

Thoreau, Henry David -- A Week on the Concord and Marrimack Rivers, “Wednesday” (1849)

Dave — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 14:14:30 +0000

It takes two to speak the truth, — one to speak, and another to hear.

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) American philosopher and writer
A Week on the Concord and Marrimack Rivers, “Wednesday” (1849)
(Source)

Berry, Wendell -- The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture, ch. 1 (1977)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all, our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it, and to foster its renewal, is our only hope.

Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture, ch. 1 (1977)
(Source)