Quotes by Franklin D Roosevelt

The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts today.

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.

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

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon.

The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.

The only way to stop making mistakes is to stop having ideas.

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.

When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.

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

Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.

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

To reach a port, we must sail – sail, not tie at anchor – sail, not drift.

True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence.

Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth.

The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have little.

The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over the government.

We can gain no lasting peace if we approach it with suspicion and mistrust or with fear. We can gain it only if we proceed with the understanding, the confidence, and the courage which flow from conviction.

In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.

We need enthusiasm, imagination and the ability to face facts, even unpleasant ones, bravely. We need to correct, by drastic means if necessary, the faults in our economic system from which we now suffer.

It is not the employer who pays wages – he only handles the money. It is the product that pays wages.

We must be the great arsenal of democracy.

I ask you to judge me by the enemies I have made.

The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself.

We know that equality of individual ability has never existed and never will, but we do insist that equality of opportunity still must be sought.

The virtues are lost in self-interest as rivers are lost in the sea.

It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

The only path to peace is when people realize that war is futile.

Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights or keep them. Our strength is our unity of purpose.

The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself.

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 only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.

There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations, much is given. Of others, much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.

We are trying to construct a more inclusive society. We are going to make a country in which no one is left out.

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

We can’t expect to solve all the world’s problems with one conference or one agreement. But if we do nothing, we condemn millions of people to poverty and hardship.

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.

There is nothing to fear but fear itself.

I am neither bitter nor cynical but I do wish there was less immaturity in political thinking.

Self-interest is the enemy of all true affection.

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

You may not realize it, but by our votes we set a tremendous responsibility upon ourselves. The future of mankind is in our hands.

Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.

The overwhelming majority of Americans are possessed of two great qualities: a sense of humor and a sense of proportion.

The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself.

In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.