Nothing in this world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty. No kind of life is worth leading if it is always an easy life. I know that your life is hard; I know that your work is hard; and hardest of all for those of you who have the highest trained consciences, and who therefore feel always how much you ought to do. I know your work is hard, and that is why I congratulate you with all my heart. I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life; I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well. Theodore Roosevelt
About This Quote

Theodore Roosevelt was speaking to members of the United States Naval Academy at their graduation in Annapolis, Maryland on May 21, 1903. He was setting them up for success. He was saying that they were going into a life that would be hard and that they needed to prepare themselves for struggle and struggle and struggle. They needed to be prepared for war and must also be prepared for peace and for victory and defeat and loss.

Source: American Ideals: And Other Essays, Social And Political

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