Roosevelt argues that practical advantage does not make a morally wrong action acceptable. Expediency refers to choosing a course because it is useful, convenient or likely to achieve a desired result. The quotation rejects the idea that a beneficial outcome can, by itself, justify harmful or unethical means.

The statement therefore draws a boundary between effectiveness and moral justification. A person may face pressure to compromise principles in pursuit of reform, success or some wider objective, but Roosevelt maintains that the character of the action still matters. The quotation reflects a broader ethical question about whether desirable ends can excuse objectionable means.

In the context of reform, the point is especially relevant to people who believe strongly in a cause. Roosevelt cautions that conviction about an objective does not remove the obligation to consider how that objective is pursued.

Full quotation

“No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expediency. He is bound to do all the good possible. Yet he must consider the question of expediency, in order that he may do all the good possible, for otherwise he will do none. As soon as a politician gets to the point of thinking that in order to be "practical" he has got to be base, he has become a noxious member of the body politic. That species of practicability eats into the moral sense of the people like a cancer, and he who practices it can no more be excused than an editor who debauches public decency in order to sell his paper.”