Theodore Roosevelt

Quotes are word for word from the source.

• Passion and Judgment

  “With soul of flame and temper of steel we must act as our coolest judgment bids us.”

  Our noteHe emphasizes balancing intense passion with disciplined, rational decision-making.

• Individual Responsibility

  “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.”

  Our noteRoosevelt explains that collective success depends entirely on individual self-reliance and effort.

• Resourcefulness in trouble

  “he was even better at getting out of a scrape than into it.”

  Our noteRoosevelt reflects on his father's ability to handle unexpected risks and accidents.

• Purpose in travel

  “I was old enough and had read enough to enjoy the temples and the desert scenery and the general feeling of romance; but this in time would have palled if I had not also had the serious work of collecting and preparing my specimens.”

  Our noteHe explains how having a specific project or 'work' made his travels more meaningful and lasting.

• Self-schooling and grit

  “Any man, if he chooses, can gradually school himself to the requisite nerve, and gradually learn the requisite seat and hands, that will enable him to do respectably”

  Our noteRoosevelt argues that competence is a matter of choice and gradual self-discipline rather than innate talent.

• Learning from failure

  “The experience taught me what probably no amount of good advice could have taught me. I made up my mind that I must try to learn”

  Our noteAfter being bullied, Roosevelt realized that personal experience is the most powerful motivator for change.

• Strategic patience

  “He was misled by my quietness and by the fact that I had not in any way resented either his actions or his language during the days we had been together”

  Our noteRoosevelt used his guide's underestimation of him to regain control of a dangerous situation.

• Distrusting Selective Reformers

  “We grew heartily to distrust the reformer who never denounced wickedness unless it was embodied in a rich man.”

  Our noteHe warns against leaders who only attack corruption when it aligns with popular class resentment.

• deterrence through composure

  “Indians--and, for the matter of that, white men--do not like to ride in on a man who is cool and means shooting”

  Our noteRoosevelt was describing how he stood his ground against a group of charging riders.

• Focus on business

  “He has his own interests, his own business, and it is difficult for him to spare the time to go around to the primaries”

  Our noteHe explains why ordinary business owners often neglect political or community management.

• Clear communication

  “I mention Mills saying this because it was exactly the kind of definite order the giving of which does so much to insure success in a fight”

  Our noteRoosevelt emphasizes the importance of specific, actionable orders in high-stakes situations.

• Total focus on mission

  “I did not mind the matter much, for I had at the time no idea of being a candidate for anything--while in the campaign I ate and drank and thought and dreamed regiment and nothing but regiment”

  Our noteRoosevelt explains how his singular focus on his military unit made him indifferent to political fallout.

• Insoluble mysteries

  “One of the innumerable mysteries of nature which are at present absolutely insoluble is why some snakes should be so vicious and others absolutely placid and good-tempered.”

  Our noteRoosevelt reflects on the unpredictable temperaments found in nature while observing snakes.

• Calm under pressure

  “The mussurama displayed not the slightest sign of excitement. Apparently it trusted little to its eyes, for it began to run its head along the body of the jararaca, darting out its flickering tongue to feel just where it was”

  Our noteRoosevelt describes a non-venomous snake calmly preparing to fight a deadly poisonous one.

• Limits of authority

  “But it is a mistake to accept him as an authority on that concerning which he was ignorant.”

  Our noteRoosevelt critiques a writer who was excellent in one area but ignorant of the wilderness.

• Instinct and mass action

  “Where much persecuted the survivors gradually grow more willing to run, but their instinct is not to run but to trust to their truculence and their mass-action for safety.”

  Our noteRoosevelt observes the defensive behavior of peccaries when threatened by hunters.

• Limits of Leadership

  “No continent is ever really conquered, or thoroughly explored, by a few leaders, or exceptional men, although such men can render great service.”

  Our noteRoosevelt explains that true progress requires more than just a few famous leaders.

• Effort as currency

  “In this life we get nothing save by effort.”

  Our noteHe emphasizes that all achievements come from labor and strife.

• Daring mighty things

  “Far better it is 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”

  Our noteRoosevelt encourages taking big risks rather than living a mediocre, safe life.

• Fair judgment

  “Of course we must remember not to judge any public servant by any one act, and especially should we beware of attacking the men who are merely the occasions and not the causes of disaster.”

  Our noteRoosevelt advises distinguishing between those who cause a failure and those who are simply present when it happens.

• Thorough preparation

  “Nothing was forgotten. Nothing that he could do was left undone.”

  Our noteDescribing Washington's meticulous planning and effort despite the desperate situation before Trenton.

• Duty over safety

  “It is true that the position is not without danger, but I presume that when the President did me the honor of naming me to this embassy, it was not for my personal pleasure or safety, but to promote the interests of my country.”

  Our noteGouverneur Morris explaining why he stayed in Paris during the French Revolution.

• Desperate leadership efforts

  “Captain Manners himself was wounded, and realizing that he was doomed to defeat unless by some desperate effort he could avert it, he gave the signal to board.”

  Our noteRoosevelt describes the British captain's final attempt to turn the tide of battle.

• Raw talent and courage

  “They were a wild and ill-disciplined band, little used to restraint or control, but they were men of iron courage and great bodily powers”

  Our noteDescribing the defenders of the Alamo and their unconventional but formidable nature.

• Decisive Forward Movement

  “General Grant, looking at this grave political situation with the eye of a statesman, decided, as a soldier, that under no circumstances would he withdraw the army, but that, whatever happened, he would "press forward to a decisive victory.”

  Our noteRoosevelt describes Grant's refusal to retreat despite political pressure and military risks.

• Play hard

  “To borrow a simile from the football field, we believe that men must play fair, but that there must be no shirking, and that the success can only come to the player who hits the line hard.”

  Our noteHe was speaking at Sagamore Hill about effort and fairness.

• Diplomatic Strength

  “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.”

  Our noteRoosevelt quoted this West African proverb in a letter regarding his political strategy.

• Past vs present

  “It is a very poor thing, whether for nations or individuals, to advance the history of great deeds done in the past as an excuse for doing poorly in the present”

  Our noteHe wrote this in an introduction to the papers of Abraham Lincoln.

• Ethics and success

  “This country has nothing to fear from the crooked man who fails. We put him in jail. It is the crooked man who succeeds who is a threat to this country.”

  Our noteHe was delivering an address in Memphis, Tennessee.

• Diversity of Work

  “The work may be done in a thousand different ways - with the brain or the hands, in the study, the field, or the workshop”

  Our noteRoosevelt explains that any honest work well done is valuable to the community.