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Home  »  Theodore Roosevelt, the Citizen  »  Page 419

Jacob A. Riis (1849–1914). Theodore Roosevelt, the Citizen. 1904.

Page 419

for the timid, the irresolute and the idle; and it is no less true that there is scant room in the world at large for the nation with mighty thews that dares not to be great.”
  “It is not possible ever to insure prosperity merely by law.”
  “This government is not and never shall be a plutocracy. This government is not and never shall be ruled by a mob.”
  “Woe to us all if ever as a people we grow to condone evil because it is successful.”
  “The wilfully idle man, like the wilfully barren woman, has no place in a sane, healthy and vigorous community.”
  “Success comes only to those who lead the life of endeavor.”
  “Our interests are at bottom common; in the long run we go up or go down together.”
  “No prosperity and no glory can save a nation that is rotten at heart.”
  “Ultimately no nation can be great unless its greatness is laid on foundations of righteousness and decency. We cannot do great deeds as a nation unless we are willing to do the small things that make up the sum of greatness, unless we believe in energy and thrift, unless we