F

Franklin D. Roosevelt

42 quotes

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) was the 32nd President of the United States, serving an unprecedented four terms from 1933 to 1945. He led the nation through the Great Depression with his New Deal programs and through most of World War II. His leadership during two of America's greatest crises made him one of the most consequential presidents in history.

“Favor comes because for a brief moment in the great space of human change and progress some general human purpose finds in him a satisfactory embodiment.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Change

All Quotes by Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Happiness

“We must lay hold of the fact that economic laws are not made by nature. They are made by human beings.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Nature

“The truth is found when men are free to pursue it.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Men

“Yesterday, December seventh, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

War

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Fear

“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.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Peace

“There is nothing I love as much as a good fight.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Good

“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.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Future

“More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginning of all wars - yes, an end to this brutal, inhuman and thoroughly impractical method of settling the differences between governments.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

War

“No group and no government can properly prescribe precisely what should constitute the body of knowledge with which true education is concerned.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Education

“Whoever seeks to set one religion against another seeks to destroy all religion.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Religion

“I think we consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Good

“Put two or three men in positions of conflicting authority. This will force them to work at loggerheads, allowing you to be the ultimate arbiter.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Men

“A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Good

“If you treat people right they will treat you right... ninety percent of the time.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Time

“It takes a long time to bring the past up to the present.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Time

“No government can help the destinies of people who insist in putting sectional and class consciousness ahead of general weal.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Government

“The United States Constitution has proved itself the most marvelously elastic compilation of rules of government ever written.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Government

“A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Strength

“I'm not the smartest fellow in the world, but I can sure pick smart colleagues.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Intelligence