61 Theodore Roosevelt Quotes (INSPIRATIONAL)

Top 11 Most Famous Theodore (TEDDY) Roosevelt Quotes on Courage and Leadership

People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. — People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Nothing in this world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty.

Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don't have the strength. — **Courage** is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don’t have the strength.

Courage isn’t the absence of fear, it’s the choice that something else is greater than that fear. — **Courage** isn’t the absence of **fear**, it’s the choice that something else is greater than that fear.

Believe you can and you're halfway there. — Believe you can and you’re halfway there.

“I don’t pity any man who does hard work worth doing. I admire him. I pity the creature who does not work, at whichever end of the social scale he may regard himself as being.”
Theodore Roosevelt

In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.

When you're at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on. — When you’re at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on.

Knowing what's right doesn't mean much unless you do what's right. — Knowing what’s right doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.

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

“Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children’s children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.”
Theodore Roosevelt

50 Inspirational Theodore Roosevelt Quotes – Believe and Do What You Can

“I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph.”
Theodore Roosevelt

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do! That is character! — I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do! That is **character**!

The only man who never makes mistakes is the man who never does anything.

It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. In this life we get nothing save by effort.

Power invariably means both responsibility and danger. — Power invariably means both **responsibility** and danger.

Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones.

“To sit home, read one’s favorite paper, and scoff at the misdeeds of the men who do things is easy, but it is markedly ineffective. It is what evil men count upon the good men’s doing.”
Theodore Roosevelt

I am only an average man, but by George, I work harder at it than the average man. — I am only an average man, but by George, I **work harder** at it than the average man.

Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, 'Certainly I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it. — Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ’em, ‘Certainly I can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it.

If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month. — If you could kick the person in the pants **responsible** for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month.

I am an American; free born and free bred, where I acknowledge no man as my superior, except for his own worth, or as my inferior, except for his own demerit.

Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering.

“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, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”
Theodore Roosevelt

A vote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.

Unless a man is master of his soul, all other kinds of mastery amount to little. — Unless a man is master of his soul, all other kinds of **mastery** amount to little.

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

Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing. — Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to **work hard** at work worth doing.

To educate a person in the mind but not in morals is to educate a menace to society.

“We must show, not merely in great crises, but in the everyday affairs of life, the qualities of practical intelligence, of courage, of hardihood, and endurance, and above all the power of devotion to a lofty ideal, which made great the men who founded this Republic in the days of Washington, which made great the men who preserved this Republic in the days of Abraham Lincoln.”
Theodore Roosevelt

Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.

When you play, play hard; when you work, don't play at all. — When you play, play hard; when you work, don’t play at all.

People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives. — People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. **The leader leads**, and the boss drives.

With self-discipline, almost anything is possible. — With **self-discipline**, almost anything is possible.

Freedom from effort in the present merely means that there has been effort stored up in the past. — **Freedom** from effort in the present merely means that there has been effort stored up in the past.

“Much has been given us, and much will rightfully be expected from us. We have duties to others and duties to ourselves; and we can shirk neither. We have become a great nation, forced by the fact of its greatness into relations with the other nations of the earth, and we must behave as be seen as a people with such responsibilities.”
Theodore Roosevelt

Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike. — **Character**, in the long run, is the **decisive** factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike.

The unforgivable crime is soft hitting. Do not hit at all if it can be avoided; but never hit softly.

Don't hit a man at all if you can avoid it, but if you have to hit him, knock him out. — Don’t hit a man at all if you can avoid it, but if you have to hit him, knock him out.

Let us rather run the risk of wearing out than rusting out.

Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you’ve got to start young.

In life as in a football game, the principle to follow is: Hit the line hard; don’t foul and don’t shirk, but hit the line hard.

“There are many qualities which we need in order to gain success, but the three above all—for the lack of which no brilliancy and no genius can atone—are Courage, Honesty and Common Sense.”
Theodore Roosevelt

Courtesy is as much a mark of a gentleman as courage. — Courtesy is as much a mark of a **gentleman** as **courage**.

No man is above the law and no man is below it: nor do we ask any man's permission when we ask him to obey it. — No man is above the law and no man is below it: nor do we ask any man’s permission when we ask him to obey it.

A great democracy has got to be progressive, or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy.

If I must choose between peace and righteousness, I choose righteousness. — If I must choose between **peace** and righteousness, I choose righteousness.

This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in if it is not a reasonably good place for all of us to live in.

“The boy who is going to make a great man must not make up his mind merely to overcome a thousand obstacles, but to win in spite of a thousand repulses and defeats.”
Theodore Roosevelt

All the resources we need are in the mind.

There is only one quality worse than hardness of heart and that is softness of head.

Each time we face our fear, we gain strength, courage, and confidence in the doing. — Each time we face our **fear**, we gain strength, **courage**, and **confidence** in the doing.

The joy in life is his who has the heart to demand it.

No man should receive a dollar unless that dollar has been fairly earned.

“It is not the critic who counts… The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly… who, at 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

Order without liberty and liberty without order are equally destructive.

At sometime in our lives a devil dwells within us, causes heartbreaks, confusion and troubles, then dies.

It is not often that a man can make opportunities for himself. But he can put himself in such shape that when or if the opportunities come he is ready.

Death is always and under all circumstances a tragedy, for if it is not, then it means that life itself has become one.

“It is of little use for us to pay lip-loyalty to the mighty men of the past unless we sincerely endeavor to apply to the problems of the present precisely the qualities which in other crises enabled the men of that day to meet those crises.”
Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt Short Biography

Born on 27 October 1858, in New York, New York, United States, Theodore Roosevelt (often referred to as T. R., Teddy Roosevelt, or Ted Roosevelt) was the 26th president of America and the first American to receive a Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1880 Roosevelt graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University and briefly studied law in Columbia Law School.

Two years later, at the age of 23, he was elected to the New York State Assembly and continued until 1884. It was here that he became known for fighting against the issue of corruption in politics.

In 1898, during the Spanish-American war, Roosevelt organized the 1st Volunteer Cavalry, famously named the Rough Riders. The cavalry made its way to Cuba, to fight in the war. After his success there, Roosevelt became a celebrated military leader.

Roosevelt ran in the 1898 gubernatorial elections and won. His success as a governor made him a potential prospect for the presidency.

Roosevelt became vice president in 1901, and on September 14 of the same year, President William McKinley died, making Roosevelt president of the United States of America.

He was the youngest president in American history. Among his accomplishments is the successful negotiation during the coal strike of 1902, effectively avoiding the loss of heating supplies for millions of American homes.

Theodore Roosevelt received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for negotiating peace during the Russo-Japanese war. He also inspired the named “teddy bear.”

Further Reading:

How Theodore Roosevelt Combined Hunting and Conservation – Time
Theodore Roosevelt and the Environment – PBS
How Teddy Roosevelt Invented Spin – The Atlantic
10 Little-Known Facts About President Theodore Roosevelt – Constitution Daily

Here are the best Theodore Roosevelt quotes so you can be an influential leader despite backlash and negativity.

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Top 11 Most Famous Theodore (TEDDY) Roosevelt Quotes on Courage and Leadership

50 Inspirational Theodore Roosevelt Quotes – Believe and Do What You Can

Theodore Roosevelt Short Biography

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