Better a thousand times err on the side of over-readiness to fight, than to err on the side of tame submission to injury, or cold-blooded indifference to the misery of the oppressed.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Roosevelt argues it is better to be overprepared for conflict than to submit to injury or ignore suffering.
- In plain terms
- Better to be ready to fight than to be weak against injury.
- What can you take from it?
- Over-preparation for conflict is better than submission.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When is readiness excessive?
- Is peace better than readiness?
Another view
Over-readiness can lead to unnecessary aggression.
More from Theodore Roosevelt
Appraisals are where you get together with your team leader and agree what an outstanding member of the team you are, how much your contribution has been value…
Permalink to quote #66 Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones.
Permalink to quote #68 Absence and death are the same - only that in death there is no suffering.
Permalink to quote #65
Related quotes
Above all, we must realize that no arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It i…
Ronald ReaganRonald Reagan quote #62 If Paulus's army had capitulated before the end, the Russians would have had the advantage of withdrawing forces against Paulus and against the southern front,…
Erich von MansteinErich von Manstein quote #1 One cannot think that blind bravery gives victory over the enemy.
Alexander SuvorovAlexander Suvorov quote #1