I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Life should be hard and active rather than easy and comfortable. Success requires effort.
- In plain terms
- Choose a hard life over an easy one.
- What can you take from it?
- Embrace hard work instead of seeking comfort.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is comfort always bad?
- What makes a life meaningful?
Another view
Constant struggle without rest can lead to burnout.
More from Theodore Roosevelt
Gentlemen: you have now reached the last point. If anyone of you doesn't mean business let him say so now. An hour from now will be too late to back out. Once …
Permalink to quote #3 Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much…
Permalink to quote #5 There is a curse on this house.
Permalink to quote #2
Related quotes
Keep the faculty of effort alive in you by a little gratuitous exercise every day. That is, be systematically ascetic or heroic in little unnecessary points, d…
William JamesWilliam James quote #16 Great work requires great and persistent effort for a long time. : Character has to be established through a thousand stumbles.
Swami VivekanandaSwami Vivekananda quote #89 People who refuse to rest honorably on their laurels when they reach 'retirement' age seem very admirable to me.
Helen HayesHelen Hayes quote #4