Hubert H. Humphrey Quotes

The greatest gift of life is friendship, and I have received it.

Today we know that World War II began not in 1939 or 1941 but in the 1920's and 1930's when those who should have known better persuaded themselves that they were not their brother's keeper.

The difference between hearsay and prophecy is often one of sequence. Hearsay often turns out to have been prophecy.

A politician never forgets the precarious nature of elective life. We have never established a practice of tenure in public office.

The time has arrived in America for the Democratic Party to get out of the shadows of states rights and walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights

The moral test of a society is how that society treats those who are in the dawn of life: the children; ... the elderly.

I learned more about the economy from one South Dakota dust storm that I did in all my years of college.

My favorite sandwich is peanut butter, baloney, cheddar cheese, lettuce, and mayonnaise on toasted bread with catsup on the side.

Compassion is not weakness, and concern for the unfortunate is not socialism.

Freedom is hammered out on the anvil of discussion, dissent, and debate.

It is not what they take away from you that counts. It's what you do with what you have left.

There is no such thing as an acceptable level of unemployment, because hunger is not acceptable, poverty is not acceptable, poor health is not acceptable, and a ruined life is not acceptable.

The way we treat our children in the dawn of their lives and the way we treat our elderly in the twilight of their lives is a measure of the quality of a nation.

Behind every successful man is a proud wife and a surprised mother-in-law.

Never give in and never give up.

When we say, 'One nation under God, with liberty and justice for all', we are talking about all people. We either ought to believe it or quit saying it .

To err is human. To blame someone else is politics.

The good old days were never that good, believe me. The good new days are today, and better days are coming tomorrow. Our greatest songs are still unsung.

When the dignity of one person is denied, all of us are denied.

Liberalism, above all, means emancipation - emancipation from one's fears, his inadequacies, from prejudice, from discrimination, from poverty.

I believe that each of us can make a difference. That what is wrong can be made right. That people possess the basic wisdom and goodness to govern themselves without conflict.

There are those who say to you - we are rushing this issue of civil rights. I say we are 172 years late.

We are in danger of making our cities places where business goes on but where life, in its real sense, is lost.

This, then, is the test we must set for ourselves; not to march alone but to march in such a way that others will wish to join us.

The impersonal hand of government can never replace the helping hand of a neighbor.

The ugliness of bigotry stands in direct contradiction to the very meaning of America.

Equality means equality for all - no exceptions, no 'yes, buts', no asterisked footnotes imposing limits.

Peace of mind is another way of saying that you've learned how to love, that you have come to appreciate the importance of giving love in order to be worthy of receiving it.

The essence of statesmanship is not a rigid adherence to the past, but a prudent and probing concern for the future.

Never give up on anybody.

The measure of a civilization is how it treats those at the dawn of life, the margins of life and the twilight of life.

The Senate is a place filled with goodwill and good intentions, and if the road to hell is paved with them, then it's a pretty good detour.

Never answer a question from a farmer.

The President is the peoples lobbyist.

There is a lot of difference between failure and defeat. Failure is when you are defeated and neither learn nor contribute anything.

Unfortunately, our affluent society has also been an effluent society.

In real life, unlike in Shakespeare, the sweetness of the rose depends upon the name it bears. Things are not only what they are. They are, in very important respects, what they seem to be.

National isolation breeds national neurosis.

Peace is not passive, it is active. Peace is not appeasement, it is strength. Peace does not 'happen,' it requires work.

Life's unfairness is not irrevocable; we can help balance the scales for others, if not always for ourselves.

What we need are critical lovers of America - patriots who express their faith in their country by working to improve it.

Each child is an adventure into a better life - an opportunity to change the old pattern and make it new.

My philosophy has always been that benefits should percolate up rather than trickle down.

Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of citizens to keep and bear arms.

You can always debate about what you should have done. The question is what are you going to do?

If I believe in something, I will fight for it, with all I have. But I do not demand all or nothing. I would rather get something than nothing.

Foreign policy is really domestic policy with its hat on.

The gap between the rich and the poor is the most dangerous threat to world peace we have.

More progress results from the violent execution of an imperfect plan than the perfection of a plan to violently execute.

Just be what you are and speak from your guts and heart - it's all a person has.