Dare mighty things. Don't live in the gray twilight.
Theodore Roosevelt, The Strenuous Life, Hamilton Club, Chicago, 10 April 1899
Dare mighty things. Don't live in the gray twilight.
Theodore Roosevelt, The Strenuous Life, Hamilton Club, Chicago, 10 April 1899
What it means
Roosevelt contrasts a bold life, with wins and failures, to a gray life that risks nothing. The safe middle feels comfortable but leaves you without triumph. Choose the mighty thing.
The source
"Dare mighty things. Don't live in the gray twilight." Theodore Roosevelt said it in The Strenuous Life, Hamilton Club, Chicago, 10 April 1899. Written in English: The Strenuous Life, 1900.
"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."Original English (The Strenuous Life, 1900), The Strenuous Life, Hamilton Club, Chicago, 10 April 1899. Text read at gutenberg.org.
Who said it
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919). Twenty-sixth president of the United States. His speeches The Strenuous Life (1899) and Citizenship in a Republic (1910), the man in the arena, praised effort over comfort.
Questions
- What does "Dare mighty things. Don't live in the gray twilight." mean?
- Roosevelt contrasts a bold life, with wins and failures, to a gray life that risks nothing. The safe middle feels comfortable but leaves you without triumph. Choose the mighty thing.
- Who said "Dare mighty things. Don't live in the gray twilight."?
- Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919). Source: The Strenuous Life, Hamilton Club, Chicago, 10 April 1899.
- What is the original wording?
- Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat (Original English (The Strenuous Life, 1900)). Written in English: The Strenuous Life, 1900.
- Is "Dare mighty things. Don't live in the gray twilight." on a shirt?
- Yes. We print it to order on our tees in 7 illustrated looks, from $44, with free US shipping.
Cite this line
"Dare mighty things. Don't live in the gray twilight." (Theodore Roosevelt, The Strenuous Life, Hamilton Club, Chicago, 10 April 1899, trans. Original English (The Strenuous Life, 1900)). https://spartansurfers.com/quotes/dare-mighty-things-dont-live-in-the-gray
Filed under Quotes about discipline and grit.
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More from Theodore Roosevelt
- It is not the critic who counts.Citizenship in a Republic, Sorbonne, Paris, 23 April 1910
- The credit belongs to the man in the arena.Citizenship in a Republic, Sorbonne, Paris, 23 April 1910
- There is no effort without error and shortcoming.Citizenship in a Republic, Sorbonne, Paris, 23 April 1910
- If you fail, fail while daring greatly.Citizenship in a Republic, Sorbonne, Paris, 23 April 1910
- It is hard to fail. It is worse never to have tried.The Strenuous Life, Hamilton Club, Chicago, 10 April 1899
- In this life we get nothing save by effort.The Strenuous Life, Hamilton Club, Chicago, 10 April 1899