Your TR Source
The following is a list of quotations attributed to Theodore Roosevelt. Where a source can be verified, it is noted below along with a brief explanation of the setting or the context for that quote. This list includes a number of quotations for which a source has not been verified in Theodore Roosevelt's writings. The context for many of the quotes included here reflects research that has been conducted throughout the years by curators of the Theodore Roosevelt Collection at Harvard University, which is presented here through a cooperation between Harvard College Library and the Theodore Roosevelt Center. Quotations will be added to this list as staff at both institutions continue their research.
When the wrong book was returned to the Cleveland family, Theodore Roosevelt naturally made the search for the right book a presidential priority.
Roosevelt describes the type of men who should work in the Forest Reserve in a January 1902 letter to Ethan Allen Hitchcock. Roosevelt wants supervisors in the Forest Reserve to have the authority to select their own employees and would like this system tested by Captain Bullock of the Black Hills reserve in South Dakota and Wyoming.
Theodore Roosevelt informs Professor J. W. Jenke of Cornell University that he cannot give the expression of opinion regarding the Chinese Republic that Jenke requests nor does he have influence with the current Administration. Roosevelt feels that “a policy of words unbacked by deeds is considerably worse than useless.”
In a letter to author Ethan Allen White, Theodore Roosevelt expresses his appreciation for the criticism of his recent writing and discusses his own struggles to express himself in words.
Theodore Roosevelt believed in the importance of the American spirit and often spoke about what it means to be an American as portrayed in this open letter to Judge Olson that was written in 1916.
President Roosevelt updates his son Theodore Roosevelt on the family. Roosevelt is disgusted by the poor performance of the Harvard football team. The trouble with Panama and Colombia has given President Roosevelt “an idea of the fearful times Lincoln must have had in dealing with the great crises he had to face.”
Remarks of President Roosevelt at Pocatello, Idaho, May 28, 1903.
All in a week’s work, President Roosevelt toured the Midwest, gave speeches, took part in hunting adventures, and met the Rough Riders for their 1905 reunion.
Theodore Roosevelt praises the work of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, as well as the pioneers who came to “possess the land.” Roosevelt connects those accomplishments to what Navy battleships have done.
Theodore Roosevelt delivered the speech entitled “Citizenship in a Republic” at the Sorbonne in Paris on April 23, 1910. The speech is popularly known as “The Man in the Arena.” His statements at the Sorbonne were part of a larger trip to Europe that also included visits to Vienna, Budapest, and Oslo.
Address of President Roosevelt at Boise, Idaho, May 28, 1903.
Theodore Roosevelt wrote this in reference to advancement in the army in a letter to his son, Archie. Showing courage and valor in war was very important to Roosevelt, and Archie had just exhibited such qualities as to make his father very proud.
Roosevelt spent the spring months of 1886 at the Elkhorn ranch. At such a remote location, he told his sister not to worry if letters were few and far between.
Diary entry from February 13, 1880, about his future wife, Alice Hathaway Lee.
One month after an accident, President Roosevelt remains optimistic as he updates Senator Platt on his leg injury and recovery.
Theodore Roosevelt relates the chase and capture of three thieves that had stolen his boat. The thieves were captured along the river and then Roosevelt took them overland to the sheriff in Dickinson, Dakota Territory.
Theodore Roosevelt demonstrates his character as he campaigns for William McKinley, September, 1900.
In August of 1897, Theodore Roosevelt wrote a letter to his sister about work as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in the absence of Secretary Long.