Theodore Roosevelt Quotes

Idealism without pragmatism is impotent. Pragmatism without idealism is meaningless. The key to effective leadership is pragmatic idealism.

If two men on a job agree all the time, then one is useless. If they disagree all the time, then both are useless.

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.

Intuitive versus analytical? That's a foolish choice. It's foolish, just like trying to choose between being realistic or idealistic. You need both in life.

I'm a dreamer and a realist.

You can be both progressive and want to get things done - they're not mutually exclusive and that's what I bring.

When you have a good vision and a very large capability of impact, that's very powerful.

Efficient management without effective leadership is, as one individual phrased, it, "like straightening deck chairs on the Titanic".

Competence is a narrow ideal. Competence makes the trains run on time but doesn't know where they're going.

If you have not even a little imagination, you are simply a brute. So you must not lower your ideal, neither are you to lose sight of practicality. We must avoid the two extremes.... You must try to combine in your life immense idealism with immense practicality.

Einstein was a giant. His head was in the clouds, but his feet were on the ground. But those of us who are not that tall have to choose!

It may be that without a vision men shall die. It is no less true that, without hard practical sense, they shall also die. Without Jefferson the new nation might have lost its soul. Without Hamilton it would assuredly have been killed in body.

We value the clock for its speed and efficiency. The clock has its place, efficiency has its place, after effectiveness. The symbol of effectiveness is the compass a sense of direction, purpose, vision, perspective, and balance. But the empowerment process itself is not efficient.

'Realistic dreamer' is not an oxymoron.

He, who has blended the useful with the sweet, has gained every point .

Pure pragmatism can't imagine a bold future. Pure idealism can't get anything done. It is the delicate blend of both that drives innovation.

With vision only, you get no follow-through. With enforcers only, the vision is realized but leaves a lot of wreckage.

Teams make you better than you are, multiply your value, enable you to do what you do best, allow you to help others do their best, give you more time, provide you with companionship, help you fulfill the desires of your heart and compound your vision and effort.

I'm not a debater. I get things done.

As we create synergy among the roles of our lives, there's more of us to put into the time we have.

Strategy equals execution. All the great ideas and visions in the world are worthless if they can't be implemented rapidly and efficiently. Good leaders delegate and empower others liberally, but they pay attention to details, every day.

The manager does things right; the leader does the right thing.

We want men who will fix their eyes on the stars, but who will not forget that their feet must walk on the ground.

You're building a tool, not a piece of art. Don't be blinded by the vision.

Leadership is people taking the initiative, carrying things through, having ideas and the imagination to get something started, and exhibiting particular skills in different areas.