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About this quote

What does it mean?
People who oppose change often support progress only when it no longer poses a threat.
In plain terms
Opponents only agree with progress once it is safe.
What can you take from it?
Watch for support that only comes after victory.

Where it applies

  • political debates
  • business strategy
  • activism

Putting it to work

  • evaluate timing of support
  • check for hidden agendas

Questions to consider

  • When does support become genuine?
  • How do you spot opportunists?

Another view

Not all late support is insincere.

More from Theodore Roosevelt

  1. The pacifist is as surely a traitor to his country and to humanity as is the most brutal wrongdoer.

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  2. The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-…

    Permalink to quote #126
  3. The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty. The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their f…

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