--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [We] all need more than anything else to…" description: "\"“[We] all need more than anything else to know human nature, to know the needs of the human soul; and they will find this nature and these needs set fo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a8/theodore-roosevelt-218_books_we-all-need-more-than-anything-else-to-k_257617.jpg" --- # \[We\] all need more than anything else to know human… ![“[We] all need more than anything else to know human nature, to know the needs of the human soul; and they will find this nature and these needs set forth as nowhere else by the great imaginative writers, whether of prose or of poetry.” quote by Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a8/theodore-roosevelt-218_books_we-all-need-more-than-anything-else-to-k_257617.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a8/theodore-roosevelt-218_books_we-all-need-more-than-anything-else-to-k_257617.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a8/theodore-roosevelt-218_books_we-all-need-more-than-anything-else-to-k_257617.jpg) > ““\[We\] all need more than anything else to know human nature, to know the needs of the human soul; and they will find this nature and these needs set forth as nowhere else by the great imaginative writers, whether of prose or of poetry.”” [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He argues that great writers reveal human nature and soul needs better than any other source. **In simple terms:** Writers illuminate human nature and needs. Key Takeaway Read imaginative literature to understand humanity. Themes literature human nature imagination Mood inspirational thoughtful Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - education - personal growth - cultural analysis Key Concepts psychology philosophy creative writing Questions to Reflect On - Which authors most accurately capture human needs? - How does imagination shape moral understanding? A Different Perspective Literature may reflect bias of its era. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Human nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) [Human soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-soul/) [Imaginative Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imaginative-writers-2547102/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Nature Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-needs-1322093/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) [Writers Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers-prose-1614352/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [We all often feel like we are pulling teeth, even those writers whose prose ends up being the most natural and fluid. The right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/we-all-often-feel-like-we-are-pulling-teeth-even-those-writers-whose/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“Possibly there are few imaginative writers who have not a leaning, secret or avowed, to the occult. The creative gift is in very close…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-atherton/possibly-there-are-few-imaginative-writers-who-have-not-a-leaning/) [Gertrude Atherton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-atherton/) > [Imaginative writers often project their own monsters and meanings on basic facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/imaginative-writers-often-project-their-own-monsters-and-meanings-on/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) > [For many imaginative writers, working for the press is a fact of their life. But it's best not to like it too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/for-many-imaginative-writers-working-for-the-press-is-a-fact-of-their/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [A healthy nature needs no God or immortality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-healthy-nature-needs-no-god-or-immortality/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [No other life forms know they are alive, and neither do they know they will die. This is our curse alone. Without this hex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/no-other-life-forms-know-they-are-alive-and-neither-do-they-know-they/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [The thing that nature needs the most from us humans is space. We need to distance ourselves for a while so that we can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pranitha-subhash/the-thing-that-nature-needs-the-most-from-us-humans-is-space-we-need/) [Pranitha Subhash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pranitha-subhash/) > [Although Nature needs thousands or millions of years to create a new species, man needs only a few dozen years to destroy one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-blanchard-scheffer/although-nature-needs-thousands-or-millions-of-years-to-create-a-new/) [Victor Blanchard Scheffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-blanchard-scheffer/) > [Nature needs no help, just no interference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-j-palmer/nature-needs-no-help-just-no-interference/) [B. J. Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-j-palmer/) > [“We have long since been denizens of the natural world. Everywhere around us are natural habitats, but within us is the shiver of startling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/we-have-long-since-been-denizens-of-the-natural-world-everywhere/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [Allow not nature more than nature needs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/allow-not-nature-more-than-nature-needs/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“Nature needs nothing from us except the humility to live in harmony with its rhythms, understanding that our existence is woven into the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bhuwan-thapaliya/nature-needs-nothing-from-us-except-the-humility-to-live-in-harmony/) [Bhuwan Thapaliya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bhuwan-thapaliya/) > [“Whether people need nature or not, it was clear that nature needed people. But perhaps nature needs us like a hostage needs her captors:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-leach/whether-people-need-nature-or-not-it-was-clear-that-nature-needed/) [Amy Leach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-leach/) > [It is as though nature must needs make men narrow in order to give them force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois/it-is-as-though-nature-must-needs-make-men-narrow-in-order-to-give/) [W. E. B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois/) > [“O, reason not the need! Our basest beggars Are in the poorest thing superfluous. Allow not nature more than nature needs, Man's life is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/o-reason-not-the-need-our-basest-beggars-are-in-the-poorest-thing/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) ## More by Theodore Roosevelt > [No people is wholly civilized where a distinction is drawn between stealing an office and stealing a purse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/no-people-is-wholly-civilized-where-a-distinction-is-drawn-between/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [There can be no effective control of corporations while their political activity remains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/there-can-be-no-effective-control-of-corporations-while-their/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/get-action-seize-the-moment-man-was-never-intended-to-become-an-oyster/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Argument weak; speak loudly!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/argument-weak-speak-loudly/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Let the watchwords of all our people be the old familiar watchwords of honesty, decency, fair-dealing, and commonsense."... "We must treat each man on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/let-the-watchwords-of-all-our-people-be-the-old-familiar-watchwords/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [The forces that tend for evil are great and terrible, but the forces of truth and love and courage and honesty and generosity and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/the-forces-that-tend-for-evil-are-great-and-terrible-but-the-forces/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Every reform movement has a lunatic fringe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/every-reform-movement-has-a-lunatic-fringe/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Conservation and rural-life policies are really two sides of the same policy; and down at the bottom this policy rests upon the fundamental law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/conservation-and-rural-life-policies-are-really-two-sides-of-the-same/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [It is a great mistake to think that the extremist is a better man than the moderate. Usually the difference is not that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/it-is-a-great-mistake-to-think-that-the-extremist-is-a-better-man/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [I am a strong individualist by personal habit, inheritance, and conviction; but it is a mere matter of common sense to recognize that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/i-am-a-strong-individualist-by-personal-habit-inheritance-and/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Alone of human beings the good and wise mother stands on a plane of equal honor with the bravest soldier; for she has gladly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/alone-of-human-beings-the-good-and-wise-mother-stands-on-a-plane-of/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [The greatest privilege and greatest duty for any man is to be happily married, and no other form of success or service, for either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/the-greatest-privilege-and-greatest-duty-for-any-man-is-to-be-happily/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [For unflagging interest and enjoyment, a household of children, if things go reasonably well, certainly all other forms of success and achievement lose their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/for-unflagging-interest-and-enjoyment-a-household-of-children-if/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [There can be no effective control of corporations while their political activity remains. To put an end to it will be neither a short…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/there-can-be-no-effective-control-of-corporations-while-their-2/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [If elected, I shall see to it that every man has a square deal, no less and no more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/if-elected-i-shall-see-to-it-that-every-man-has-a-square-deal-no-less/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) [Explore all 876 Theodore Roosevelt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. Krebs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-k-krebs/) > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“[We] all need more than anything else to know human nature, to know the needs of the human soul; and they will find this nature and these needs set forth as nowhere else by the great imaginative writers, whether of prose or of poetry.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Theodore Roosevelt" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/we-all-need-more-than-anything-else-to-know-human-nature-to-know-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/we-all-need-more-than-anything-else-to-know-human-nature-to-know-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a8/theodore-roosevelt-218_books_we-all-need-more-than-anything-else-to-k_257617.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a8/theodore-roosevelt-218_books_we-all-need-more-than-anything-else-to-k_257617.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a8/theodore-roosevelt-218_books_we-all-need-more-than-anything-else-to-k_257617.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“[We] all need more than anything else to know human nature, to know the needs of the human soul; and they…” — Theodore Roosevelt", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Theodore Roosevelt", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“[We] all need more than anything...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/we-all-need-more-than-anything-else-to-know-human-nature-to-know-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/we-all-need-more-than-anything-else-to-know-human-nature-to-know-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```