Quotes from Franklin D. Roosevelt

We and all others who believe in freedom as deeply as we do, would rather die on our feet than live on our knees.

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.

I love it--I just love it.

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.

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.

Never underestimate a man who overestimates himself.

Physical strength can never permanently withstand the impact of spiritual force.

The essence of our struggle is that men shall be free.

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

If the fires of freedom and civil liberties burn low in other lands they must be made brighter in our own. If in other lands the press and books and literature of all kinds are censored we must redouble our efforts here to keep them free. If in other lands the eternal truths of the past are threatened by intolerance we must provide a safe place for their perpetuation.

Do something. If it works, do more of it. If it doesn't, do something else.

We have faith that future generations will know that here, in the middle of the twentieth century, there came a time when men of good will found a way to unite, and produce, and fight to destroy the forces of ignorance, and intolerance, and slavery, and war.

We must especially beware of that small group of selfish men who would clip the wings of the American Eagle in order to feather their own nests.

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.

It is fun to be in the same decade with you. -Roosevelt to Churchill

Confidence... thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live.

It's a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead -- and to find no one there.

As a nation we may take pride in the fact that we are softhearted; but we cannot afford to be soft-headed

We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace - business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering. They had begun to consider the government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs and we know now that a government by organized money is just as bad as a government by organized mob.

There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected.

We know that equality of individual ability has never existed and never will, but we do insist that equality of opportunity still must be sought.

Cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off.

We all know that books burn, yet we have the greater knowledge that books cannot be killed by fire. People die, but books never die. No man and no force can put thought in a concentration camp forever. No man and no force can take from the world the books that embody man's eternal fight against tyranny of every kind.

The lessons of history, confirmed by the evidence immediately before me, show conclusively that continued dependence upon relief induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fiber. To dole out relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit. It is inimical to the dictates of sound policy. It is in violation of the traditions of America.