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Harry S. Truman

40 quotes

Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) was the 33rd President of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. He made some of the most consequential decisions of the 20th century, including the use of atomic weapons against Japan, the Marshall Plan for European recovery, and the creation of NATO. Truman was known for his plain-spoken honesty and the famous sign on his desk: "The Buck Stops Here."

“There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know.”

— Harry S. Truman

History

All Quotes by Harry S. Truman

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

— Harry S. Truman

Learning

“All my life, whenever it comes time to make a decision, I make it and forget about it.”

— Harry S. Truman

Time

“Art is parasitic on life, just as criticism is parasitic on art.”

— Harry S. Truman

Art

“The Marine Corps is the Navy's police force and as long as I am President that is what it will remain. They have a propaganda machine that is almost equal to Stalin's.”

— Harry S. Truman

History

“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.”

— Harry S. Truman

Government

“A politician is a man who understands government. A statesman is a politician who's been dead for 15 years.”

— Harry S. Truman

Government

“There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know.”

— Harry S. Truman

History

“When you have an efficient government, you have a dictatorship.”

— Harry S. Truman

Government

“The United Nations is designed to make possible lasting freedom and independence for all its members.”

— Harry S. Truman

Freedom

“Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.”

— Harry S. Truman

Change

“You know that being an American is more than a matter of where your parents came from. It is a belief that all men are created free and equal and that everyone deserves an even break.”

— Harry S. Truman

Men

“A leader in the Democratic Party is a boss, in the Republican Party he is a leader.”

— Harry S. Truman

Politics

“Nixon is one of the few in the history of this country to run for high office talking out of both sides of his mouth at the same time and lying out of both sides.”

— Harry S. Truman

History

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

— Harry S. Truman

Government

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

— Harry S. Truman

Courage

“When even one American - who has done nothing wrong - is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth - then all Americans are in peril.”

— Harry S. Truman

Fear

“It's plain hokum. If you can't convince 'em, confuse 'em. It's an old political trick. But this time it won't work.”

— Harry S. Truman

Time

“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”

— Harry S. Truman

Amazing

“I had faith in Israel before it was established, I have in it now. I believe it has a glorious future before it - not just another sovereign nation, but as an embodiment of the great ideals of our civilization.”

— Harry S. Truman

Faith

“Study men, not historians.”

— Harry S. Truman

Men