Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) är en av de populäraste presidenterna i USA:s historia. Han är också USA:s yngsta president någonsin. Han var endast 43 år gammal när han år 1901 tillträdde som president.
Utan att desto mer gå in på hans meriter har jag nedan samlat ihop några av hans mest kända citat. Det finns en hel del citat att välja bland av Roosevelt, något som inte är speciellt förvånande med tanke på att han under sin livstid skrev 35 böcker och sades läsa flera böcker per dag på flera olika språk.
Ifall man följer de livsråd som finns samlade bland citaten nedan har man kommit långt i sin strävan att bli en gentleman.
1. Life brings sorrows and joys alike. It is what a man does with them-not what they do to him-that is the true test of his mettle.
2. The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.
3. The worst fear is the fear of living.
5. Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars, but remember to keep your feet on the ground.
6. Actions speak louder than words.
7. Courtesy is as much a mark of a gentleman as courage.
8. It is always better to be an original than an imitation.
9. Success, the real success, does not depend upon the position you hold but upon how you carry yourself in that position.
10. We cannot do great deeds unless we are willing to do the small things that make up the sum of greatness.
11. Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
12. The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.
13. You never have trouble if you are prepared for it.
14. The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.
15. To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.
16. Be honest, and remember that honesty counts for nothing unless back of it lie courage and efficiency.
17. Measure iniquity by the heart, whether a man’s purse be full or empty, partly full or partly empty. If the man is a decent man, whether well off or not well off, stand by him; if he is not a decent man, stand against him, whether he be rich or poor.
18. There is only one quality worse than hardness of heart and that is softness of head.
19. We have got but one life here. It pays, not matter what comes after it, to try and do things, to accomplish things in this life and not merely to have a soft and pleasant time.
20. No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expediency.
21. People ask the difference in a leader and a boss. The leader leads and the boss drives.
Bilder: The Library of Congress