About his time
in the New York assembly
We did not agree in
all things, but we did in some, and those we pulled at together.
That was my first lesson in real politics. It is just this: if
you are cast on a desert island with only a screwdriver, a
hatchet, and a chisel to make a boat with, why, go make the best
one you can. It would be better if you had a saw, but you
haven't. So with men.
A Book-Lover's
Holidays in the Open, 1916
Defenders of the
short-sighted men who in their greed and selfishness will, if
permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless
extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things sometimes
seek to champion them by saying the 'the game belongs to the
people.' So it does; and not merely to the people now alive, but
to the unborn people. The 'greatest good for the greatest
number' applies to the number within the womb of time, compared
to which those now alive form but an insignificant fraction. Our
duty to the whole, including the unborn generations, bids us
restrain an unprincipled present-day minority from wasting the
heritage of these unborn generations. The movement for the
conservation of wild life and the larger movement for the
conservation of all our natural resources are essentially
democratic in spirit, purpose, and method.
An
Autobiography, 1913
No man can lead a public career really worth leading, no man can
act with rugged independence in serious crises, nor strike at
great abuses, nor afford to make powerful and unscrupulous foes,
if he is himself vulnerable in his private character.
An Autobiography,
1913
There were all
kinds of things I was afraid of at first, ranging from grizzly
bears to 'mean' horses and gun-fighters; but by acting as if I
was not afraid I gradually ceased to be afraid.
Talk to
schoolchildren in Oyster Bay, Christmastime 1898
There are two
things that I want you to make up your minds to: first, that you
are going to have a good time as long as you live - I have no
use for the sour-faced man - and next, that you are going to do
something worthwhile, that you are going to work hard and do the
things you set out to do.
Address at Clark
University, Worcester, MA, June 21, 1901
The first duty of each one of you here is to carry your own
weight - to carry yourselves. You are not going to be able to do
anything for any one else until you can support yourselves and
those dependent upon you. I do not want to see you develop that
kind of idealism which makes you filled with vague thoughts of
beneficence for mankind and an awful draw-back to your immediate
families.
Address at
Grant's Tomb, New York City, May 30, 1899
There is a time to be just and there is a time to be merciful,
there is a time for unyielding resolution and a time for the
hand of fellowship and brotherly love. The great man is the man
who knows the time for one and the time for the other.
About the joys
of private life
For unflagging
interest and enjoyment, a household of children, if things go
reasonably well, certainly all other forms of success and
achievement lose their importance by comparison.
