“No nation can claim rights without acknowledging the duties that go with the rights.”

An Autobiography,
1913

“Indignation is useless if it exhausts itself in words instead of taking shape in deeds.”

Letter to Samuel T. Dutton
November 24, 1915

“Alike for the nation and the individual, the one indispensable requisite is character.”

Outlook,
March 31, 1900

“I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life; I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”

Speech in Des Moines, IA,
November 4, 1910

“We must so conduct ourselves that every big nation and every little nation that behaves itself shall never have to think of us with fear.”

Outlook

September 23, 1914

“Much has been given us, and much will rightfully be expected from us.”

Inaugural Address, Washington, DC,

March 4, 1905

“The one vital factor in the permanent prosperity of the country is the high individual character of the average American worker.”

Annual Message, Washington, DC

December 5, 1905

“Our constant aim is to do justice to every man, and to treat each man as by his own actions he shows that he deserves to be treated.”

Speech in Oyster Bay, NY,
August 18, 1906

“We intend to do what is right for the ample and sufficient reason that it is right.”

Outlook, June 19, 1909

“The joy of life is won in its deepest and truest sense only by those who have not shirked life’s burdens.”

Speech in Syracuse, NY
September 7, 1903

“The only practical politics is honest politics.”

At Trinity Methodist Church, Newburgh, NY, February 28, 1900

“We need absolute honesty in public life; and we shall not get it until we remember that truth-telling must go hand in hand with it.”

Outlook, May 12, 1900