Theodore Roosevelt

If there is not the war, you don't get the great general; if there is not a great occasion, you read more

If there is not the war, you don't get the great general; if there is not a great occasion, you don't get a great statesman; if Lincoln had lived in a time of peace, no one would have known his name.

Rhetoric is a poor substitute for action, and we have trusted only to rhetoric. If we are really to be read more

Rhetoric is a poor substitute for action, and we have trusted only to rhetoric. If we are really to be a great nation, we must not merely talk; we must act big.

It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. In this life we get read more

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

Americanism means the virtues of courage, honor, justice, truth, sincerity, and hardihood—the virtues that made America. The things that will read more

Americanism means the virtues of courage, honor, justice, truth, sincerity, and hardihood—the virtues that made America. The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living and the get-rich-quick theory of life.

The men with the muck-rake are often indispensable to the
well-being of society, but only if they know when read more

The men with the muck-rake are often indispensable to the
well-being of society, but only if they know when to stop raking
the muck.
- Theodore Roosevelt,