Franklin D. Roosevelt Quotes

“No country, however rich, can afford the waste of its human resources. Demoralization caused by vast unemployment is our greatest extravagance. Morally, it is the greatest menace to our social order.”

“Freedom of the press is essential to the preservation of a democracy; but there is a difference between freedom and license. Editorialists who tell downright lies in order to advance their own agendas do more to discredit the press than all the censors in the world.”

“We can afford all that we need; but we can not afford all [that] we want.”

“I regard reduction in Federal spending as one of the most important issues in this campaign. In my opinion it is the most direct and effective contribution that Government can make to business.”

“The American People in their Righteous Might will win through to Absolute Victory.”

“The function of Government must be to favor no small group at the expense of its duty to protect the rights of personal freedom and of private property of all its citizens.”

“I've never been unemployed. I've never been very fully employed either.”

“It isn't sufficient just to want - you've got to ask yourself what you are going to do to get the things you want.”

“A world turned into a stereotype, a society converted into a regiment, a life translated into a routine, make it difficult for either art or artists to survive. Crush individuality in society and you crush art as well. Nourish the conditions of a free life and you nourish the arts, too.”

“First of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

“We think of our land and water and human resources not as static and sterile possessions but as life giving assets to be directed by wise provisions for future days.”

“There's nothing to fear but a wide receiver who can run a 100-yard dash in under 10 seconds.”

“There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still.”

“Your profits are going to be cut down to a reasonably low level by taxation. Your income will be subject to higher taxes. Indeed in these days, when every available dollar should go to the war effort, I do not think that any American citizen should have a net income in excess of $25,000 per year after payment of taxes.”

“The structure of world peace cannot be the work of one man or one party or one nation. It must be a peace which rests on the cooperative effort of the whole world.”

“It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.”

“We defend and we build a way of life, not for America alone, but for all mankind.”

“Great power involves great responsibility”

“I am neither bitter nor cynical but I do wish there was less immaturity in political thinking.”

“It is a good thing to demand liberty for ourselves and for those who agree with us, but it is a better thing and a rarer thing to give liberty to others who do not agree with us.”

“The future lies with those wise political leaders who realize that the great public is interested more in government than in politics.”

“When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck to crush him.”

“A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.”

“The creed of our democracy is that liberty is acquired and kept by men and women who are strong and self-reliant, and possessed of such wisdom as God gives mankind - men and women who are just, and understanding, and generous to others - men and women who are capable of disciplining themselves. For they are the rulers and they must rule themselves.”

“Our Constitution is so simple and practical that it is possible always to meet extraordinary needs by changes in emphasis and arrangement without loss of essential form.”