Harry S. Truman Quotes

An honest public servant can't become rich in politics. He can only attain greatness and satisfaction by service.

I sincerely regret the unfortunate choice of language which I used in my letter of August 29 to Congressman McDonough concerning the Marine Corps.

Work Hard. Do your best. Keep your word. Never get too big for your britches. Trust in God. Have no fear; and Never forget a friend.

My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician. To tell the truth, there's hardly a difference.

America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.

Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. America will never forget their sacrifices.

A President needs political understanding to run the government, but he may be elected without it.

Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it.

Everybody has the right to express what he thinks. That, of course, lets the crackpots in. But if you cannot tell a crackpot when you see one, then you ought to be taken in.

Term limits would cure both senility and seniority- both terrible legislative diseases.

When the Liberals said they were going to create a million new jobs, I didn't think they were all going to be tax collectors. If you can't convince them, confuse them.

Given the choice between a Republican and someone who acts like a Republican, people will vote for the real Republican all the time

Three things ruin a man: power, money, and women. I never wanted power. I never had any money, and the only woman in my life is up at the house right now.

There's nothing better than cake but more cake.

Without a strong educational system — free of government control — democracy is crippled. Knowledge is not only the key to power. It is the citadel of human freedom.

A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.

I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell.

The only things worth learning are the things you learn after you know it all.

I never would have agreed to the formulation of the Central Intelligence Agency back in forty-seven, if I had known it would become the American Gestapo.

There are always a lot of people so afraid of rocking the boat that they stop rowing. We can never get ahead that way.

It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose yours.

Religious and racial persecution is moronic at all times, perhaps the most idiotic of human stupidities.

Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day.

There is some risk involved in action, there always is. But there is far more risk in failure to act.

Of course, there are dangers in religious freedom and freedom of opinion. But to deny these rights is worse than dangerous, it is absolutely fatal to liberty.

In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still.

My favorite animal is the mule. He has more horse sense than a horse. He knows when to stop eating - and he knows when to stop working.

Experience has shown how deeply the seeds of war are planted by economic rivalry and social injustice.

The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know.

Intense feeling too often obscures the truth.

When the decision is up before you-and on my desk I have a motto which says "The buck stops here"-the decision has to be made.

A bureaucrat is a Democrat who holds some office that a Republican wants.

The Marshall Plan will go down in history as one of America's greatest contributions to the peace of the world.

If you want a friend in Washington, buy a dog.

Imperfect action is better than perfect inaction.

It doesn't matter how big a ranch you own or how many cows you brand, the size of your funeral is still gonna depend on the weather.

The best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it.

Ignorance and its hand-maidens, prejudice, intolerance, suspicion of our fellowman, breed dictators and breed wars.

The difficulty with businessmen entering politics, after they've had a successful business career, is that they want to start at the top.

It's not the hand that signs the laws that holds the destiny of America. It's the hand that casts the ballot.

I do not believe there is a problem in this country or the world today which could not be settled if approached through the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount.

Those who want the Government to regulate matters of the mind and spirit are like men who are so afraid of being murdered that they commit suicide to avoid assassination.

Why, this fellow doesn't know any more about politics than a pig knows about Sunday.

Human life is something that comes to us from beyond this world, and the purpose of our society is to cherish it and to enable the individual to attain the highest achievement of which he is capable

All the president is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing, and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway.

If you can't convince them, confuse them.

To be able to lead others, a man must be willing to go forward alone.

If we do not abolish war on this earth, then surely one day war will abolish us from the earth.

Every segment of our population, and every individual, has a right to expect from his government a fair deal.

I had faith in Israel before it was established, I have faith in it now.