“The greatest piece of good luck that can befall any one of us is to have the chance to take part in some work worth doing, and to do it well.“

Speech in Kansas City
September 24, 1912

“It is eminently fitting that once a year our people should set apart a day for praise and thanksgiving to the Giver of Good.”

Proclamation
November 2, 1905

“I care immensely for this country, and I wish to have it a land of which my grandchildren will be proud to be citizens.”

Letter to John Callin Laughlin
April 13, 1917

“I can hardly say how proud I am of this regiment. It is so typically American! It is just the ideal body for me to lead; and the men are devoted to me.”

Speaking Proudly of His Rough Riders in a Letter to Anna Roosevelt Cowles
July 28, 1898

“I want to see every man vote. I would rather have you come to the polls even if you voted against me than have you shirk your duty.” 

Speech in Richland, NY
October 29, 1898

“You win, not by shirking difficulties, but by facing and overcoming them.”

The Key to Success in Life
1916

“It is unpatriotic to refuse to do the best possible, merely because the people have not put us in the position to do what we regard as the very best.“

Speech at the Progressive National Committee
1916

“Americanism is a matter of the spirit and of the soul.”

Address to the Knights of Columbus
New York City
October 12, 1915

“We do not admire the man of timid peace; we admire the man who embodies victorious effort; the man who never wrongs his neighbor, who is prompt to help a friend, but who has those virile qualities necessary to win in the stern strife of actual life.”

The Strenuous Life
1900

“I would a great deal rather be anything, say professor of history, than Vice-President.“

Letter to Senator Thomas Platt
February 7, 1900