“When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike you, do not wait until he has struck before you crush him.”
“It is a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead -- and find no one there.”
“Eternal truths will be neither true nor eternal unless they have fresh meaning for every new social situation.”
“We, and all others who believe in freedom as deeply as we do, would rather die on our feet than live on our knees.”
“Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrations and revolutionists.”
“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.”
“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith.”
“We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon.”
“The United States Constitution has proved itself the most marvelously elastic compilation of rules of government ever written.”
“No democracy can long survive which does not accept as fundamental to its very existence the recognition of the rights of minorities.”
“The barrier between success is not something which exists in the real world: it is composed purely and simply of doubts about ability.”
“Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel in order to be tough.”
“If we can ''boondoggle'' ourselves out of this depression, that word is going to be enshrined in the hearts of the American people for years to come.”
“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.”
“The value of love will always be stronger than the value of hate.. Any nation or group of nations which employs hatred eventually is torn to pieces by hatred...”
“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.”
“But while they prate of economic laws, men and women are starving. We must lay hold of the fact that economic laws are not made by nature. They are made by human beings.”
“Not only our future economic soundness but the very soundness of our democratic institutions depends on the determination of our government to give employment to idle men.”
“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.”
“These unhappy times call for the building of plans that build from the bottom up and not from the top down, that put their faith once more in the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid.”
“An election cannot give a country a firm sense of direction if it has two or more national parties which merely have different names, but are as alike in their principals and aims as two peas in the same pod.”
“Today we are faced with the preeminent fact that, if civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human relationships... the ability of all peoples, of all kinds, to live together, in the same world, at peace.”
“We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way. The third is freedom from want,. The fourth is freedom from fear.”
“The moment a mere numerical superiority by either states or voters in this country proceeds to ignore the needs and desires of the minority, and for their own selfish purpose or advancement, hamper or oppress that minority, or debar them in any way from equal privileges and equal rights -- that moment will mark the failure of our constitutional system.”
“In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression--everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way--everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want--which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants--everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear--which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression gainst any neighbor--anywhere in the world.”