Americanism is a question of principle, of idealism, of character. It is not a matter of birthplace, or creed, or line of descent.
I am a strong individualist by personal habit, inheritance, and conviction; but it is a mere matter of common sense to recognize that the State, the community, the citizens acting together, can do a number of things better than if they were left to individual action.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the balance between individualism and collective action, asserting that communities can achieve greater results together than individuals alone.
Theodore Roosevelt highlights the importance of recognizing the power of collective action in society. While he identifies as a strong individualist, he acknowledges that certain tasks and responsibilities are better served when citizens collaborate and work together through governmental and community efforts. This viewpoint suggests a pragmatic approach to social organization where individual strengths are complemented by the combined effectiveness of the group.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of community service.
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.
No man should receive a dollar unless that dollar has been fairly earned.
Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.
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.
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.
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When everything that matters can be bought and sold, when commitments can be broken because they are no longer to our advantage, when shopping becomes salvation and advertising slogans become our litany, when our worth is measured by how much we earn and spend, then the market is destroying the very virtues on which in the long run it depends.
Commerce is a noble profession, and Jews should get over any self-hatred they might harbor from contemplating the capitalist spirit of diaspora Judaism.
One murder makes a villain; millions, a hero.
Poverty is not just a sad accident, but it's also a result of the fact that some people make a lot of money off low-income families and directly contribute to their poverty.
Chaos of thought and passion, all confused; Still by himself abused or disabused; Created half to rise, and half to fall; Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all; Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled,- The glory, jest, and riddle of the world.
The really wonderful thing that happened to me when I was in space was this feeling of belonging to the entire universe.