38 Historical Theodore Roosevelt Quotes

Theodore Roosevelt was an American Statesman who served as the 26th President of the United States of America from 1901 – 1909. He was also an explorer, soldier and author.

Check out Theodore Roosevelt’s quotes below:

38 Inspirational & Motivational Theodore Roosevelt Quotes:

1. “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt

2. “The reactionary is always willing to take a progressive attitude on any issue that is dead.” – Theodore Roosevelt

3. “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt

4. “Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” – Theodore Roosevelt

5. “Freedom from effort in the present merely means that there has been effort stored up in the past.” – Theodore Roosevelt

6. “It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things.” – Theodore Roosevelt

7. “Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” – Theodore Roosevelt

8. “People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.” – Theodore Roosevelt

9. “With self-discipline, almost anything is possible.” – Theodore Roosevelt

10. “The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” – Theodore Roosevelt

11. “Nine-tenths of wisdom is being wise in time.” – Theodore Roosevelt

12. “Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster.” – Theodore Roosevelt

13. “Courtesy is as much a mark of a gentleman as courage.” – Theodore Roosevelt

14. “If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month.” – Theodore Roosevelt

15th Theodore Roosevelt Quote –“Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind.” – Theodore Roosevelt

16. “Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you’ve got to start young.” – Theodore Roosevelt

17. “The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.” – Theodore Roosevelt

18. “There has never yet been a man in our history who led a life of ease whose name is worth remembering.” – Theodore Roosevelt

19. “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

20. “It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” – Theodore Roosevelt

21. “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

22. “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.” – Theodore Roosevelt

23. “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” – Theodore Roosevelt

24. “I am a part of everything that I have read.” – Theodore Roosevelt

25th Theodore Roosevelt Quote – “The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.” – Theodore Roosevelt

26. “Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones.” – Theodore Roosevelt

27. “A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.” – Theodore Roosevelt

28. “I am only an average man but, by George, I work harder at it than the average man.” – Theodore Roosevelt

29. “When you play, play hard; when you work, don’t play at all.” – Theodore Roosevelt

30. “When you are asked if you can do a job, tell ’em, ‘Certainly I can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it.” – Theodore Roosevelt

31. “Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.” – Theodore Roosevelt

32. “Order without liberty and liberty without order are equally destructive.” – Theodore Roosevelt

33. “Some men can live up to their loftiest ideals without ever going higher than a basement.” – Theodore Roosevelt

34. “The human body has two ends on it: one to create with and one to sit on. Sometimes people get their ends reversed. When this happens they need a kick in the seat of the pants.” – Theodore Roosevelt

35. “Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt

36. “No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his well-being, to risk his body, to risk his life, in a great cause.” – Theodore Roosevelt

37. “It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.” – Theodore Roosevelt

38. “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!” – Theodore Roosevelt

What’s your favorite Theodore Roosevelt Quote? Share your favorite quote in the comment section below.