F. D. Roosevelt Quotes

The motto of war is: "Let the strong survive; let the weak die." The motto of peace is: "Let the strong help the weak to survive."

It is not the critic who counts...The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.

Honesty first; then courage; then brains - and all are indispensable.

Courage is more exhilarating than fear, and in the long run, it is easier.

Never trust a man who combs his hair straight from his left armpit.

It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

With a great moral issue involved, neutrality does not serve righteousness; for to be neutral between right and wrong is to serve wrong.

Poor minds talk about people average minds talk about events great minds talk about ideas

I'm the only topless octogenarian in Washington.

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.

It tires me to talk to rich men. You expect a man of millions, the head of a great industry, to be a man worthhearing; but as a rule they don't know anything outside their own business.

It is better to swallow words than to have to eat them later.

Only a man's character is the real criterion of worth.

Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.

It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it.

You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give.

You can't make a souffle rise twice.

To some generations much is given. Of other generations, much is expected.

Life must be lived and curiosity kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.

So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.

My father always wanted to be the corpse at every funeral, the bride at every wedding and the baby at every christening.

I am an American; free born and free bred, where I acknowledge no man as my superior, except for his own worth, or as my inferior, except for his own demerit.

Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds.

I valued my independence from an early age and was always something of a individualist … Well, a show-off anyway.

If you can't say anything good about someone, sit right here by me.

Lest I keep my complacent way I must remember somewhere out there a person died for me today. As long as there must be war, I ask and I must answer was I worth dying for?

Self-interest is the enemy of all true affection.

Above all, try something

When you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, 'Certainly I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it.

Your attitude about who you are and what you have is a very little thing that makes a very big difference.

Life is like a parachute jump, you've got to get it right the first time.

We are given in our newspapers and on TV and radio exactly what we, the public, insist on having, and this very frequently is mediocre information and mediocre entertainment.

Remember always that you have not only the right to be an individual; you have an obligation to be one.

I can't tell you how to succeed, but I can tell you how to fail: Try to please everybody.

When you play, play hard; when you work, don't play at all.

The most practical kind of politics is the politics of decency.

You can't make souffle rise twice.

Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.

Among American citizens, there should be no forgotten men and no forgotten races.

The fate of America cannot depend on any one man. The greatness of America is grounded in principles and not on any single personality.

I believe in corporations. They are indispensable instruments of our modern civilization. But I believe they should be so regulated that they shall act for the interests of the community as a whole.

Nothing worth having was ever achieved without effort.

When you adopt the standards and the values of someone else … you surrender your own integrity. You become, to the extent of your surrender, less of a human being.

Make preparations in advance ... you never have trouble if you are prepared for it.

Get action. Do things; be sane; don't fritter away your time; create, act, take a place wherever you are and be somebody; get action.

Enjoy every minute you have with those you love, my dear, for no one can take joy that is past away from you. It will be there in your heart to live on when the dark days come.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

We defend and we build a way of life, not for America alone, but for all mankind.

Of all forms of tyranny the least attractive and the most vulgar is the tyranny of mere wealth.

With self-discipline most anything is possible.