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About this quote

What does it mean?
One cannot simultaneously hold high office and manage a trivial task personally.
In plain terms
You can't do a big job and a small job at the same time.
What can you take from it?
Focus on your main responsibility.

Where it applies

  • executive decision making
  • time management
  • career choices

Putting it to work

  • delegating tasks
  • setting priorities
  • avoiding distractions

Questions to consider

  • What truly deserves your attention?
  • When is delegation necessary?

Another view

Sometimes small tasks matter more than they seem.

More from Theodore Roosevelt

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  2. Probably the greatest harm done by vast wealth is the harm that we of moderate means do ourselves when we let the vices of envy and hatred enter deep into our …

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  3. Death is always and under all circumstances a tragedy, for if it is not, then it means that life itself has become one.

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