14 Theodore Roosevelt Quotes on Manhood, Nature and Youth

Theodore Roosevelt Laughing, 1910 / Library of Congress

Transforming himself as a young man with health issues into a warrior, intellectual and statesman, Theodore Roosevelt packed a lot into 60 years of life.

Roosevelt’s “bull-moose” approach led him from the halls of the New York state legislator to the battlefields of the Spanish-American War, and eventually, the White House. Theodore Roosevelt faced life head-on, enthusiastically and without reproach.

There is much to be gleaned from the life and words of Theodore Roosevelt, a man who answered his nations call “…not for the life of ease but for the life of strenuous endeavor.”

Here are a few of my favorite quotes on manhood, nature and youth:

Colonel Theodore Roosevelt in uniform, 1898 / Library of Congress

Manhood

“A man’s usefulness depends upon his living up to his ideals insofar as he can.”

“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.”

“All daring and courage, all iron endurance of misfortune-make for a finer, nobler type of manhood.”

“Only those are fit to live who do not fear to die and none are fit to die who have shrunk from the joy…