Americanism is a question of principle, of idealism, of character. It is not a matter of birthplace, or creed, or line of descent.
Theodore RooseveltRead
Only those are fit to live who do not fear to die and none are fit to die who have shrunk from the joy of life and the duty of life.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes that a full appreciation of life prepares one for death, while avoiding life's joys diminishes one's readiness to embrace mortality.
Theodore Roosevelt's quote reflects on the connection between life's experiences and our attitude towards death. It suggests that only those individuals who embrace life, with all its joys and responsibilities, are truly prepared to face death. In essence, it argues that fear of death should not deter someone from living fully, as a life well-lived equips us with the acceptance and courage needed to confront mortality. Conversely, to shy away from life's joys is to diminish one's dignity and readiness to face life's ultimate conclusion.
Themes
LifeDeathJoyFearDuty
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be shared during a motivational speech to encourage people to embrace life.
More from Theodore Roosevelt
All quotes →It tires me to talk to rich men. You expect a man of millions, the head of a great industry, to be a man worthhearing; but as a rule they don't know anything outside their own business.
Theodore RooseveltRead
No man should receive a dollar unless that dollar has been fairly earned.
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Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.
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Conservation means development as much as it does protection._x000D_ _x000D_ A man's usefulness depends upon his living up to his ideals insofar as he can.
Theodore RooseveltRead
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; . . . who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.
Theodore RooseveltRead
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Mari remembered what she had read in the young girl's eyes the moment she had come into the refectory: fear. Fear. Veronika might feel insecurity, shyness, shame, constraint, but why fear? That was only justifiable when confronted by a real threat: ferocious animals, armed attackers, earthquakes, but not a group of people gathered together in a refectory. But human beings are like that,' she thought. 'We've replaced nearly all our emotions with fear.
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While you are alive, your worldly self is like a collector of benefits from Allah's bounties, which come to you from myriads of hands.
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A society is defined as much by how it comes to terms with its past as by its attitude toward the future: its memories are no less revealing than its aims.
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"I beseech ye in the bowels of Christ, think that ye may be mistaken." I should like to have that written over the portals of every church, every school, and every courthouse, and, may I say, of every legislative body in the United States. I should like to have every court begin, "I beseech ye in the bowels of Christ, think that we may be mistaken."
Learned HandRead