We are face to face with our destiny and we must meet it with a high and resolute courage. For us is the life of action, of strenuous performance of duty; let us live in the harness, striving mightily; let us rather run the risk of wearing out than rusting out.
¶ Gubernatorial campaign address, New York City (5 Oct 1898)
"The Duties of a Great Nation," Campaigns and Controversies (vol. 14 of The Works of Theodore Roosevelt), ch. 14 (1926)
