Famous Quotes by Franklin D. Roosevelt
- I ask especially that no state shall, by law or otherwise, authorize the return of the saloon,... More
- But while they prate of economic laws, men and women are starving. We must lay hold of the fact... More
- The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself. More
- The moment a mere numerical superiority by either states or voters in this country proceeds to... More
- A reactionary is a somnambulist walking backwards. More
- The United States Constitution has proved itself the most marvelously elastic compilation of... More
- No democracy can long survive which does not accept as fundamental to its very existence the... More
- If we can “boondoggle” ourselves out of this depression, that word is going to be enshrined... More
- It is the duty of the President to propose and it is the privilege of the Congress to dispose. More
- There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other... More
- We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of... More
- In the field of world policy I would dedicate this Nation to the policy of the Good... More
- Tax avoidance means that you hire a $250,000-fee lawyer, and he changes the word ‘evasion’... More
- I make this direct statement to the American people that there is far less chance of the United... More
- When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck to crush him. More
- [N]o combination of dictator countries of Europe and Asia will halt us in the path we see ahead... More
- Our national determination to keep free of foreign wars and foreign entanglements cannot prevent... More
- A point has been reached where the peoples of the Americas must take cognizance of growing... More
- While ... we cannot and must not hide our concern for grave world dangers, and while, at the same... More
- [W]e must remember that so long as war exists on earth there will be some danger that even the... More
- Today we seek a moral basis for peace.... It cannot be a lasting peace if the fruit of it is... More
- Never before since Jamestown and Plymouth Rock has our American civilization been in such danger... More
- You are, I am sure, aware that genuine popular support in the United States is required to carry... More
- Frankly, I do not know how to effect a permanency in American foreign policy. More
- The chief problem is, of course, whether the marching of the general spirit of things is heading... More
- To win this war, we have been forced into a strategic compromise which will most certainly offend... More
- Liberty is the air that we Americans breathe. Our Government is based on the belief that a people... More
- Those words freedom and opportunity do not mean a license to climb upwards by pushing other... More
- These Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or my wife, or on my sons. No,... More
- Prosperous farmers mean more employment, more prosperity for the workers and the business men of... More
- In our personal ambitions we are individualists. But in our seeking for economic and political... More
- More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginnings of all wars. Yes, an end to this... More
- Freedom of speech is of no use to a man who has nothing to say and freedom of worship is of no... More
- Always the heart and the soul of our country will be the heart and the soul of the common man;... More
- On this tenth day of June, nineteen hundred and forty, the hand that held the dagger has struck... More
- This nation will remain a neutral nation, but I cannot ask that every American remain neutral in... More
- Books may be burned and cities sacked, but truth like the yearning for freedom, lives in the... More
- This nation asks for action, and action now. More
- If the average citizen is guaranteed equal opportunity in the polling place, he must have equal... More
- Yesterday, December 7, 1941Ma date that will live in infamy—the United States of America was... More
- No group and no government can properly prescribe precisely what should constitute the body of... More
- In this nation I see tens of millions of its citizens, a substantial part of its whole... More
- [M]y conception of liberty does not permit an individual citizen or a group of citizens to commit... More
- Once I prophesied that this generation of Americans had a rendezvous with destiny. That prophecy... More
- I have come to the conclusion that the closer people are to what may be called the front lines of... More
- We shall make mistakes, but they must never be mistakes which result from faintness of heart or... More
- The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward... More
- Our policy is to give all possible material aid to the nations that still resist aggression... More
- Rules are not necessarily sacred, principles are. More
- Freedom to learn is the first necessity of guaranteeing that man himself shall be self-reliant... More
- Peace can endure only so long as humanity really insists upon it, and is willing to work for it... More
- Our Constitution ... was not a perfect instrument, it is not perfect yet; but it provided a firm... More
- There comes a time in the affairs of men when they must prepare to defend not their homes alone... More
- I see an America whose rivers and valleys and lakes, hills and streams and plains; the mountains... More
- It is time to provide a smashing answer for those cynical men who say that a democracy cannot be... More
- Of course we will continue to work for cheaper electricity in the homes and on the farms of... More
- If civilization is to survive, the principles of the Prince of Peace must be restored. Shattered... More
- We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized... More
- We have learned the simple truth, as Emerson said, that the only way to have a friend is to be... More
- We have our difficulties, true; but we are a wiser and a tougher nation than we were in 1932.... More
- Responsibility for political conditions thousands of miles away can no longer be avoided, I... More
- The peace loving nations must make a concerted effort in opposition to those violations of... More
- The more I have studied American history and the more clearly I have seen what the problems are.... More
- We have the men—the skill—the wealth—and above all, the will.... We must be the great... More
- Not only our future economic soundness but the very soundness of our democratic institutions... More
- We are trying to construct a more inclusive society.... We are going to make a country in which... More
- I am a Christian and a Democrat—that’s all. More
- I ... believe that in every country the people themselves are more peaceably and liberally... More
- While things on the surface seem more quiet than at any time since last summer, I do not like the... More
- I have read with interest and a good deal of dismay the decisions of the British Government... More
- I fear ... that both dictators [Hitler and Mussolini] think their present methods are succeeding... More
- Friendship among nations, as among individuals, calls for constructive efforts to muster the... More
- The man is a menace. More
- Freedom of the press is essential to the preservation of a democracy; but there is a difference... More
- Our security depends on the Allied Powers winning against aggressors. The Axis Powers intend to... More
- The loneliest feeling in the world is when you think you are leading the parade and turn to find... More
- I pledge you—I pledge myself to a new deal for the American people. More
- How many people in the United States do you think will be willing to go to war to free Estonia,... More
- [P]ermanent defenses are a non-recurring charge against governmental budgets while large armies... More
- The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent... More
- Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation,... More
- One reason—perhaps the chief—of the virility of the Roosevelts is [their] very democratic... More
- The duty of the State toward the citizen is the duty of the servant to its master.... One of the... More
- I want to preach a new doctrine. A complete separation of business and government. More
- We must open our eyes and see that modern civilization has become so complex and the lives of... More
- I am ... willing to make it clear that American foreign policy must uphold the sanctity of... More
- Don’t forget what I discovered—that over ninety percent of all national deficits from 1921 to... More
- And while I am talking to you mothers and fathers, I give you one more assurance. I have said... More
- The forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid. More
- A radical is a man with both feet firmly planted in the air. A conservative is a man with two... More
- I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished. More
- It is fun to be in the same decade with you. More
- War is a contagion. More
- Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. More
- In looking back over the college careers of those who for various reasons have been prominent in... More
- I believe that the fundamental proposition is that we must recognize that the hostilities in... More
- General de Gaulle was a thoroughly bad boy. The day he arrived, he thought he was Joan of Arc and... More
- Those newspapers of the nation which most loudly cried dictatorship against me would have been... More
- I am particularly interested in the indications that the people seem to understand and approve... More
- Sometimes the best way to keep peace in the family is to keep the members of the family apart for... More
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