“When we come to dealing with our social and industrial needs, remedies, rights and wrongs, a ton of oratory is not worth
an ounce of hard-headed, kindly common sense.”

– Chicago, Illinois, September 3, 1900

“A man must have in him a strong and earnest sense of duty and the desire to accomplish good for the commonwealth, without regard to the effect upon himself, to be useful in Congress.”

– Harvard Graduates’ Magazine, October 1892

“I am not trying to be subtle or original. I am trying to make the plain everyday citizen here in America stand for the things which
I regard as essential to good government.”

– Ladies’ Home Journal, October 1916

“The only proper rule is never fight at all if you can honorably avoid it, but never under any circumstances to fight in a half-hearted way.”

– Foes of Our Own Household, 1917

“The steady aim of this nation, as of all enlightened nations, should be to strive to bring nearer the day when there shall prevail
throughout the world the peace of justice.”

– Annual Address to Congress, December 6, 1904

“Conservation means development as much as it does protection. I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and
use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize
the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use,
the generations that come after us.”

– Osawatomie, Kansas, August 31, 1910

“Let the watchwords of all our people be the old familiar watchwords of honesty, decency, fair-dealing, and common sense.”

– Syracuse, New York, September 7, 1903

“Power undirected by high purpose spells calamity, and high purpose by itself is utterly useless if the power to put it into effect is lacking.”

– The Outlook, September 9, 1911

“The Americans who stand highest on the list of the world’s worthies are Washington, who fought to found the country which he
afterward governed, and Lincoln, who saved it through
the blood of the best and bravest of the land.”

– Address at the Naval War College, June 1897

“Example is the most potent of all things.”

– Oyster Bay, New York, August 16, 1903

“If an individual starts to play football, and expects not
to get bumped, he will be sadly disappointed.”

– Address at Occidental College, March 22, 1911

“We believe in all our hearts in democracy; in the capacity of the people to govern themselves; and we are bound to succeed, for
our success means not only our own triumph, but the triumph
of the cause of the rights of the people throughout the
world, and the uplifting of the banner of hope
for all the nations of mankind.”

– Saratoga, New York, September 27, 1910