“Nothing is more true than that excess of every kind is followed by reaction; a fact which should be pondered by reformer and reactionary alike.”

— Theodore Roosevelt

1910s, The New Nationalism (1910)
Context: Nothing is more true than that excess of every kind is followed by reaction; a fact which should be pondered by reformer and reactionary alike. We are face to face with new conceptions of the relations of property to human welfare, chiefly because certain advocates of the rights of property as against the rights of men have been pushing their claims too far. The man who wrongly holds that every human right is secondary to his profit must now give way to the advocate of human welfare, who rightly maintains that every man holds his property subject to the general right of the community to regulate its use to whatever degree the public welfare may require it.

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Theodore Roosevelt 445

American politician, 26th president of the United States 1858–1919

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“Nothing is more true than that excess of every kind is followed by reaction; a fact which should be pondered by reformer and reactionary alike.”

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Theodore Roosevelt 445

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