Franklin D. Roosevelt Quotes

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt, commonly known as FDR, was an American statesman and politician who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. (Franklin D. Roosevelt Quotes)

“A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people. ”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Books cannot be killed by fire. People die, but books never die. No man and no force can abolish memory… In this war, we know, books are weapons. And it is a part of your dedication always to make them weapons for man’s freedom.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Good government should maintain the balance where every individual may have a place if he will take it, where every individual may find safety if he wishes it, where every individual may attain such power as his ability permits, consistent with his assuming the accompanying responsibility.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Looking Forward

“Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“I ask you to judge me by the enemies I have made.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“I sometimes think that the saving grace of America lies in the fact that the overwhelming majority of Americans are possessed of two great qualities- a sense of humor and a sense of proportion.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“I venture the challenging statement that if American democracy ceases to move forward as a living force, seeking day and night by peaceful means to better the lot of our citizens, fascism will grow in strength in our land.” (Franklin D. Roosevelt Quotes)
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“I’m not the smartest fellow in the world, but I can sure pick smart colleagues.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Looking Forward

“It is the purpose of government to see that not only the legitimate interests of the few are protected but that the welfare and rights of the many are conserved.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Looking Forward

“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.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Let us be clear at the outset that the liberty of individuals to carry on their business should not be abrogated unless the larger interests of the many are concerned. It is the purpose of government to see that not only the legitimate interests of the few are protected but that the welfare and rights of the many are conserved. These are the principals which must be remembered in any consideration of this question. This, I take it, is sound government-not politics.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Looking Forward

“Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“More striking still, it appeared that, if the process of concentration goes on at the same rate, at the end of another century we shall have all American industry controlled by a dozen corporations and run by perhaps a hundred men. Put plainly, we are steering a steady course toward economic oligarchy, if we are not there already.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Looking Forward

“Never underestimate a man who overestimates himself.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Presidents are selected, not elected.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Some people can never understand that you have to wait, even for the best of things, until the right time comes.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“The country needs and unless I mistake its temper the country demands bold persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it If it fails admit it frankly and try another. But above all try something.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“The history of the last half century is accordingly in large measure a history of financial titans, whose methods were not scrutinized with too much care and who were honored in proportion as they produced the results, irrespective of the means they used.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Looking Forward

“The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerated the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself. That in its essence is fascism: ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over the government.” (Franklin D. Roosevelt Quotes)
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“The Truth is found when men (and Women) are free to pursue it.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

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

“There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“There is nothing so American as our national parks. The scenery and the wildlife are native. The fundamental idea behind the parks is native. It is, in brief, that the country belongs to the people, that it is in process of making for the enrichment of the lives of all of us. The parks stand as the outward symbal of the great human principle.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“There should be no bitterness or hate where the sole thought is the welfare of the United States of America. No man can occupy the office of President without realizing that he is President of all the people.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Today we are faced with the pre-eminent fact that if civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human relationships, the ability of all peoples of all kins to live together and to work together in the same world at peace.” “It is the purpose of government to see that not only the legitimate interests of the few are protected but that the welfare and rights of the many are conserved.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“True regulation is for the equal benefit of the consumer and the investor, and the only man who will suffer from true regulation is the speculator or the unscrupulous promoter who levies tribute equally from the man who buys the service and from the man who invests his savings in this great industry.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Looking Forward

“We and all others who believe in freedom as deeply as we do, would rather die on our feet than live on our knees.” (Franklin D. Roosevelt Quotes)
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“We cannot always build a future for our youth, but we can always build our youth for the future.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“We have always known that heedless self interest was bad morals, we now know that it is bad economics.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“We have learned that we cannot live alone, at peace; that our own well-being is dependent on the well-being of nations far away. We have learned that we must live as men, and not as ostriches nor as dogs in the manger. We have learned to be citizens of the world, members of the human community.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt