Quotessence
Home / Authors / Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt Quotes

32nd U.S. President

Filter quotes by topic

AllMenGovernmentPeopleWarNationsWorldIfsDemocracyPoliticsCountryPoliticalStatesEconomicLibertyHumansAmericaHas BeensKnowsUnited StatesForce

Famous Franklin D. Roosevelt Quotes

“The most difficult place in the world to get a clear and open perspective of the country as a whole is Washington.”

WorldCountryWholeDifficultClearPerspectivePlaces In The World
Book:Fireside chats of Franklin Delano Roosevelt: radio addresses to the American people about the Depression, the New Deal, and the Second World War, 1933-1944
Create image

“While things on the surface seem more quiet than at any time since last summer, I do not like the maintenance of what amounts to almost full mobilization in aggressor countries. Surely they cannot afford it and if they had any definite policy of trying to work out economic salvation (except by arms) they would be showing some signs of cutting military expenditures.”

IfsTryingWarCountrySeemsWould BeLastsCuttingEconomicMilitaryPolicyArmsAmountQuietSummerSalvationWork OutSurfaceAggressionDefiniteMaintenanceExpendituresAggressorsLast SummerMobilization
Author:Franklin D. Roosevelt
Create image

“The handling of our forests as a continuous, renewable resource means permanent employment and stability to our country life. The forests are also needed for mitigating extreme climatic fluctuations, holding the soil on the slopes, retaining the moisture in the ground, and controlling the equable flow of water in our streams.”

MeanCountryWaterNeededResourcesFlowExtremesForestsOur CountryEmploymentPermanentStreamsSoilStabilitySlopesCountry LifeFluctuationRetainingMoistureRenewable Resources
Book:Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: F.D. Roosevelt, 1935, Volume 4
Create image

“Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and Senators and Congressmen and Government officials but the voters of this country.”

CountryGovernmentPoliticalPoliticsPresidentForgetDemocracyPoliticianUltimateWittyAliensOfficialsPatrioticNever ForgetVotersRulersSenatorsDemocracies HaveCongressmanVoting And DemocracyGovernment OfficialsEnglish Government
Author:Franklin D. Roosevelt
Create image

“There is nothing so American as our national parks. The scenery and the wildlife are native. The fundamental idea behind the parks is native. It is, in brief, that the country belongs to the people, that it is in process of making for the enrichment of the lives of all of us. The parks stand as the outward symbal of the great human principle.”

PeopleHumansIdeasCountryProcessBehindsPrinciplesFundamentalsParksNativeWildlifeSceneryNational ParksEnrichment
Book:Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: F.D. Roosevelt, 1934, Volume 3
Create image

“No country, however rich, can afford the waste of its human resources. Demoralization caused by vast unemployment is our greatest extravagance. Morally, it is the greatest menace to our social order.”

HumansCountryOrderSocialRichWasteResourcesInvestingUnemploymentHuman ResourcesMenaceExtravaganceSocial OrderDemoralization
Book:Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: F.D. Roosevelt, 1934, Volume 3
Create image

“The peoples of many countries are being taxed to the point of poverty and starvation in order to enable Governments to engage in a mad race in armament which, if permitted to continue, may well result in war. This grave menace to the peace of the world is due in no small measure to the uncontrolled activities of the manufacturers and merchants of engines of destruction, and it it must be met by the concerted actions of the peoples of all Nations.”

WorldCountryGovernmentActionNationsRacePovertyMetsActivityDestructionMadDuesGravesEnginesStarvationMerchantsMenaceArmament
Author:Franklin D. Roosevelt
Create image

“I read in a newspaper that I was to be received with all the honors customarily rendered to a foreign ruler. I am grateful for the honors; but something within me rebelled at that word 'foreign'. I say this because when I have been in Canada, I have never heard a Canadian refer to an American as a 'foreigner'. He is just an 'American'. And, in the same way, in the United States, Canadians are not 'foreigners', they are 'Canadians'. That simple little distinction illustrates to me better than anything else the relationship between our two countries.”

WayLittlesHas BeensTwoCountryStatesSimpleUnitedUnited StatesHeardHonorGratefulNewspapersPresidentialDistinctionCanadaRulersForeignersI Am GratefulTwo Countries
Author:Franklin D. Roosevelt
Create image

“The trade agreement which I had the privilege of signing with your Prime Minister last autumn is tangible evidence of the desire of the people of both countries to practice what they preach when they speak of the good neighbor. In the solution of the grave problems that face the world today, frank dealing, cooperation and a spirit of give and take between nations is more important than ever before.”

PeopleWorldGivingImportantCountryProblemTodayLastsFacesSpiritDesireSpeakNationsPracticeSolutionsEvidenceTradePrivilegeNeighborGravesMinistersPresidentialAgreementAutumnPrimeCooperationFrankPrime MinisterTangibleWorld TodaySigningGive And TakeTrade AgreementsGood Neighbor
Author:Franklin D. Roosevelt
Create image

“The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the larger centers has owned the Government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson - and I am not wholly excepting the Administration of W. W. The country is going through a repetition of Jackson's fight with the Bank of the United States - only on a far bigger and broader basis.”

KnowsRealCountryMatterGovernmentFightingPresidentUnitedElementsBasesBiggerFinancialAdministrationRepetitionAndrewReal Truth
Author:Franklin D. Roosevelt
Create image

“In my Inaugural I laid down the simple proposition that nobody is going to starve in this country. It seems to me to be equally plain that no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By "business" I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers I mean all workers, the white collar class as well as the men in overalls; and by living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level - I mean the wages of decent living.”

MenWellsMeanCountryWholeSeemsSimpleWhiteLevelsExistenceClassHe ManDependsIndustryWorkersDecentCommerceWagesPropositionsCollarsMinimum WageInauguralSubsistenceLiving WageWhite CollarOveralls
Author:Franklin D. Roosevelt
Create image

“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.”

WayNeedsCountryStatesMomentsDesirePurposePoliticsRightsEqualMarkMajorityMerePrivilegeSelfishMinoritiesThat MomentVotersSuperiorityAdvancementEqual RightsHamper
Author:Franklin D. Roosevelt
Create image

“Those of you who have been there [Haiti] know it is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. It has everything. It has everything above the ground, and everything under the ground.... It is an amazing place. I strongly recommend that whenever you get a chance, if you haven't been there, that you go to Haiti. I think it was a certain Queen of England who said that after her death "Calais" would be found written on her heart. When I die, I think that "Haiti" is going to be written on my heart.”

IfsThinkingKnowsWorldHeartHas BeensSaidCountryWould BeBeautifulCertainDiesFoundChanceWrittenMy HeartEnglandQueensHaitiQueen Of EnglandBeautiful CountryAmazing Places
Author:Franklin D. Roosevelt
Create image

“The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. 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 millions who are in want will not stand by silently forever while the things to satisfy their needs are within easy reach.”

IfsWantNeedsTryingCountryWisdomPoliticsEasyCommonMistakeMillionsEconomyForeverFailingDemandMethodCommon SenseLiberalismTemperPersistentExperimentation
Author:Franklin D. Roosevelt
Create image

“Is the United States going to decide, are the people of this country going to decide that their Federal Government shall in the future have no right under any implied power or any court-approved power to enter into a solution of a national economic problem, but that that national economic problem must be decided only by the States?... We thought we were solving it, and now it has been thrown right straight in our faces. We have been relegated to the horse-and-buggy definition of interstate commerce.”

PeopleHas BeensCountryStatesProblemGovernmentFacesUnitedUnited StatesEconomicSolutionsDecidedHorseCourtDefinitionsThrownCommerceFederal GovernmentApprovedImpliedE CommerceEconomic ProblemsInterstate
Author:Franklin D. Roosevelt
Create image