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
We have become great because of the lavish use of our resources ... But the time has come to inquire seriously what will happen when our forests are gone, when the coal, the iron, the oil and the gas are exhausted.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote warns about the consequences of overusing natural resources and the importance of sustainability.
Theodore Roosevelt's quote reflects a deep concern for the environmental impact of excessive exploitation of natural resources. It calls for serious introspection on the sustainability of such practices, highlighting the inevitability of resource depletion and urging society to consider the long-term implications of its actions on forests and fossil fuels. Roosevelt emphasizes that the prosperity gained through lavish resource use must be balanced with a commitment to conservation and preservation for future generations.
Themes
ResourcesSustainabilityEnvironmentConservationNature
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about environmental policy, one might reference this quote to emphasize the need for responsible resource management.
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.
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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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We Americans, in most states at least, have not yet experienced a bear-less, eagle-less, cat- less, wolf-less woods. Germany strove for maximum yields of both timber and game and got neither.
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All things are connected, like the blood that runs in your family "The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father." 1854 The rivers are our brothers. They quench our thirst. They carry our canoes and feed our children. You must give to the rivers the kindness you would give to any brother.
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The water rose further and dressed Simon's coarse hair with brightness. The line of his cheek silvered and the turn of his shoulder became sculptured marble.
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The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; The winds that will be howling at all hours, And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers; For this, for everything, we are out of tune.
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