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This line was made famous by President Theodore Roosevelt, but he was actually quoting a Virginian soldier and community leader named Squire Bill Widener. Published in Roosevelt’s 1913 autobiography, this succinct quote summarizes the former President’s philosophy on life: that devotion to the pursuit of mere pleasure and success is hollow in comparison to a life lived dutifully for the people right in front of you. “Why, the greatest happiness,” Roosevelt wrote, “is the happiness that comes as a by-product of striving to do what must be done.”
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