“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are”
Entry in progress—B.P.
Wikiquote: Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. (1858-10-27 – 1919-01-06), also known as T.R. or Teddy, was the 26th President of the United States (1901–1909).
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Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
. As quoted in The Military Quotation Book, Revised and Expanded: More than 1,200 of the Best Quotations About War, Leadership, Courage, Victory, and Defeat (2002) by James Charlton
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October 1894, Items of Interest (New York: Consolidated Dental Manufacturing Co.), pg. 630:
Right where you are, and as you are, do what you can with what you have, and what surrounds you; this will make you what you would be. You cannot become what you may be by mere impulse, nor by some great leap, and you have no wings. Men grow; they do not fly till they are transformed into angels. They come to their best attainments here step by step—carefully observing, thoroughly digesting, wisely concentrating on the most important, and then deliberately acting with enthusiasm and intelligence. Thus we gather the crudities about us, and convert them into priceless values, and by using them wisely we may attain something approaching our ideal life.
14 July 1895, Charlotte (NC) Observer, “Cheerful Religion,” pg. 3:
Your aim should be to do what you can with what you have.
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November-December 1898, Auburn Seminary Review (Auburn Theological Seminary, Auburn, NY), pg. 308:
Failure is not to be true to the best you know, and the best you know is to stay where you are and do what you can as well as you can.
9 June 1904, Wilkes-Barre (PA) Times, “Kingston High School Graduates,” pg. 8:
She was followed by Miss Olive Boyer with an essay on “Opportunities,” and this number was conceded to be one of the best rendered on the entire program. She said that every one must choose some particular work in life. Do what you can where you are. Do not let opportunities for doing good go by.
Google Books
Theodore Roosevelt, an autobiography
By Theodore Roosevelt
New York, NY: Charles Scribner
1913
Pg. 330:
There is a bit of homely philosophy, quoted by Squire Bill Widener, of Widener’s Valley, Virginia, which sums up one’s duty in life: “Do what you can, with what you’ve got, where you are.”