If we stand idly by, if we seek merely swollen, slothful ease and ignoble peace, if we shrink from the hard contests where men must win at hazard of their lives and at the risk of all they hold dear, then the bolder and stronger peoples will pass us by, and will win for themselves the domination of the world.
In "The Strenuous Life," Roosevelt warns that national complacency and a pursuit of easy peace will lead to being surpassed by more vigorous nations.
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Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.
The American people by a great plurality have conferred upon you the highest honor in their gift.
A broken promise is bad enough in private life. It is worse in the field of politics.
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