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.
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 goverment.
The point in history at which we stand is full of promise and danger. The world will either move forward toward unity and widely shared prosperity - or it will move apart.
Rules are not necessarily sacred, principles are.
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.
The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.
There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.
Be sincere; be brief; be seated.
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.
To reach a port, we must sail - sail, not tie at anchor - sail, not drift.
The virtues are lost in self-interest as rivers are lost in the sea.
Yesterday, December seventh, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. We will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us God.
Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off.
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.
I'm not the smartest fellow in the world, but I can sure pick smart colleagues.
If you treat people right they will treat you right... ninety percent of the time.
When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck to crush him.
The truth is found when men are free to pursue it.
Self-interest is the enemy of all true affection.
One thing is sure. We have to do something. We have to do the best we know how at the moment... If it doesn't turn out right, we can modify it as we go along.
