The Memorial

Theodore Roosevelt Island is managed as a natural area in living tribute to the energetic President who frequently sought recreation in the solitude of the forest. Visitors today may retreat here, from the pressures of urban life, to gain renewal of spirit and deeper appreciation of man's relationship to the environment.

Appropriately, the formal memorial, designed by Eric Gugler, is located in the northern center of the island, lending itself to the natural surroundings. A 17-foot bronze statue of the Nation's 26th President, executed by Paul Manship, stands in front of a 30-foot high shaft of granite, overlooking an oval terrace. A step-down surrounding terrace is composed of a perimeter promenade encircled by a water-filled moat. From this terrace arise four 21-foot granite tablets, inscribed with the tenets of Roosevelt's philosophy of citizenship.

The Citations

With the exception of one quotation on "Youth" and one on "The State," all quotations are the same as the inscriptions dedicated in 1936 in the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall, American Museum of National History, New York City.)

NATURE

THERE IS DELIGHT IN THE HARDY LIFE OF THE OPEN. (from Foreword to African Game Trails, Vol. IV, National Edition of the Works of Theodore Roosevelt (New York, 1926, 20 vols.) (cited as NWTR.)

THERE ARE NO WORDS THAT CAN TELL THE HIDDEN SPIRIT OF THE WILDERNESS, THAT CAN REVEAL ITS MYSTERY, ITS MELANCHOLY, AND ITS CHARM. (from Foreword to African Game Trails (1910), NWTR, IV, p. xxiv.)

THE NATION BEHAVES WELL IF IT TREATS THE NATURAL RESOURCES AS ASSETS WHICH IT MUST TURN OVER TO THE NEXT GENERATION INCREASED AND NOT IMPAIRED IN VALUE. (from "The New Nationalism" (1910), NWTR, XVII, p. 52.)

CONSERVATION MEANS DEVELOPMENT AS MUCH AS IT DOES PROTECTION. (from "The New Nationalism," speech at Osawatomie, Kansas, on August 31, 1910, in NWTR, XVII, p. 15.)

MANHOOD

A MAN’S USEFULNESS DEPENDS UPON HIS LIVING UP TO HIS IDEALS IN SO FAR AS HE CAN. (from letter T. R. to Dr. Sturgis Bigelow, March 29, 1898, in The Letters of TR (8 vols.: Cambridge, 1951-54), vol. II, pp. 801-803.)

IT IS HARD TO FAIL, BUT IT IS WORSE NEVER TO HAVE TRIED TO SUCCEED. (from "The Strenuous Life" speech at Hamilton Club, Chicago, Illinois, April 10, 1899, NWTR, XIII, p. 320.)

ALL DARING AND COURAGE, ALL IRON ENDURANCE OF MISFORTUNE MAKE FOR A FINER AND NOBLER TYPE OF MANHOOD. (from American Ideals, NWTR, XIII, pp. 197-198.)

ONLY THOSE ARE FIT TO LIVE WHO DO NOT FEAR TO DIE; AND NONE ARE FIT TO DIE WHO HAVE SHRUNK FROM THE JOY OF LIFE AND THE DUTY OF LIFE. (from The Great Adventure (1918), in NWTR, XIX, p. Z43. This particular passage was T. R.'s eulogy for his son Quentin Roosevelt, killed in World War I.)

YOUTH

I WANT TO SEE YOU GAME, BOYS, I WANT TO SEE YOU BRAVE AND MANLY, AND I ALSO WANT TO SEE YOU GENTLE AND TENDER. (from Address at graduating exercises, Friends' School, Washington, D. C., on May 24, 1907, from Presidential Addresses and State Papers, "Homeward Bound Edition", vol. VI, p. }242.)

BE PRACTICAL AS WELL AS GENEROUS IN YOUR IDEALS. KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE STARS, BUT REMEMBER TO KEEP YOUR FEET ON THE GROUND. (from Address at Prize Day Exercises at the Groton School, Groton, Massachusetts, on May 24, 1904, in NWTR, XIII, p. 557.)

COURAGE, HARD WORK, SELF-MASTERY, AND INTELLIGENT EFFORT ARE ALL ESSENTIAL TO SUCCESSFUL LIFE. (from America and the World War (1915), NWTR, XVIII, p. 174.)

ALIKE FOR THE NATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL, THE ONE INDISPENSABLE REQUISITE IS CHARACTER. (from "Character and Success," The Outlook (magazine), March 31, 1900, in NCR, XIII, p. 386.)

THE STATE

OURS IS A GOVERNMENT OF LIBERTY BY, THROUGH, AND UNDER THE LAW. (from "National Unity Versus Class Cleavage," speech at State Fair, Syracuse, New York, September 7, 1903, in NWTR, XVI, p. 54.)

A GREAT DEMOCRACY HAS GOT TO BE PROGRESSIVE OR IT WILL SOON CEASE TO BE GREAT OR A DEMOCRACY. (from The New Nationalism (1910), p. 43.)

ORDER WITHOUT LIBERTY AND LIBERTY WITHOUT ORDER ARE EQUALLY DESTRUCTIVE. (from The Great Adventure (1918), in NWTR, XIX, p. 342.)

IN POPULAR GOVERNMENT RESULTS WORTH HAVING CAN BE ACHIEVED ONLY BY MEN WHO COMBINE WORTHY IDEALS WITH PRACTICAL GOOD SENSE. (from address at the Harvard Union, Cambridge, Massachusetts, February 23, 1907, Presidential Addresses and State Papers, "Homeward Bound Edition," vol. VI, p. 1175; also in NWTR, XIII, p. 565.)

IF I MUST CHOOSE BETWEEN RIGHTEOUSNESS AND PEACE I CHOOSE RIGHTEOUSNESS. (from America and the World War (1915) in NWTR, XVIII, p. 36.)