“I do not intend to offend the prejudices of anyone else, but neither do I intend to allow their prejudices to make me false to my principles.”

Letter,
November 8, 1901

“The United States of America has not the option as to whether it will or will not play a great part in the world. It must play a great part.”

The Outlook,
April 1, 1911

“The poorest of all emotions for any American citizen to feel is the emotion of hatred toward his fellows.”

Speech in Oyster Bay, NY
July 4, 1906

“I thoroughly believe that success – the real success – does not depend upon the position you hold, but upon how you carry yourself in that position.”

University of Cambridge, England,
May 26, 1910

“[Peace] is not a means—it is an end. You do not get peace by peace; you get peace as the result of effort.”

Speech in New York City,
February 19, 1899

“My fellow-citizens, no people on earth have more cause to be thankful than ours.”

Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1905

“The prime national need is for honesty, honesty in public life and in private life, honesty in business and in politics, honesty in the broadest and deepest significance of the word.”

Speech in New York City,
October 30, 1912

“Americans do make splendid soldiers.”

Speech at the Lotos Club in New York City, March 11, 1899

“Character is far more important than intellect in making a man a good citizen or successful at his calling.”

North American Review, August 1890

“Example is the most potent of all things.”

Speech in Oyster Bay, NY, August 16, 1903

“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