It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.

The line distills Theodore Roosevelt’s characteristic “strenuous life” ethic: progress—personal, civic, or national—comes not from ease or luck but from disciplined work, endurance, and moral bravery. By pairing “labor” with “painful effort,” Roosevelt emphasizes that worthwhile improvement carries real cost, while “grim energy” and “resolute courage” suggest a steady, almost stoic persistence rather than momentary enthusiasm. The movement “on to better things” frames hardship as instrumental: struggle is not celebrated for its own sake, but as the necessary means by which individuals and societies achieve growth, reform, and higher standards of character.