"If a man does not have an ideal and try to live up to it, then he becomes a mean, base, and sordid creature, no matter how successful."
— Theodore Roosevelt

January 1, 1970

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Added on April 10, 2026
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Activists from the United StatesMilitary leaders from the United StatesSocial activistsMedal of Honor recipientsNobel laureates from the United States
Original Language: English

Sources

Letter to his son, Kermit, quoted in Theodore Roosevelt by Joseph Bucklin Bishop (1915)