Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by Franklin D. Roosevelt (American Head of State)

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) was the 32nd president of the United States. Widely known by his initials, FDR, Roosevelt is one of the most admired leaders of the United States.

FDR led the United States during some of its most challenging times, both domestically and internationally. He is most renowned for his socio-economic policies to resolve the Great Depression, his decision to enter the war after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, and the eventual victory of the Allied forces in World War II.

FDR is the longest-serving president of the United States. He died three months into his fourth term in office—just weeks before the surrender of Germany in World War II. Time Magazine named Franklin Roosevelt as a runner-up (along with Mahātma Gāndhī) to the Person of the Century recognition.

FDR was well-known for his warm-heartedness and humility. He triumphed over a physical disability—at age 39, he suffered a polio attack that practically paralyzed his legs and confined him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

FDR is also legendary for his collections of stamps, coins, medals, paintings, models of various artifacts, walking sticks, paintings and photographs of naval vessels, stuffed animals, etc. He was the first president to set up a Presidential Library.

FDR was married to Eleanor Roosevelt and was a distant cousin of Theodore Roosevelt, the 29th president of the United States.

More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Franklin D. Roosevelt

Above all, try something.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Topics: Procrastination, Getting Going, Inaction

An election cannot give a country a firm sense of direction if it has two or more national parties which merely have different names but are as alike in their principles and aims as two peas in the same pod
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Topics: Voting, Elections

Industrial combination is not wrong in itself. The danger lies in taking government into partnership.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Topics: Government

But while they prate of economic laws, men and women are starving. We must lay hold of the fact that economic laws are not made by nature. They are made by human beings.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Topics: Economics, Economy

If I went to work in a factory the first thing I’d do is join a union.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Topics: Work

Be sincere. Be brief. Be Seated.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt

There is among you the man who is not bound by party lines. You vote according to your common sense and your calm judgment after hearing each party set forth its program. To you I say that the strength of this independent thought is the great contribution of the American political system.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Topics: Politics

In time of this grave national danger, when all excess income should go to win the war, no American citizen ought to have a net income, after he has paid his taxes, of more than $25,000 a year.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt

Remember you are just an extra in everyone else’s play.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt

The school is the last expenditure upon which America should be willing to economize.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Topics: School, Education

We think of our land and water and human resources not as static and sterile possessions but as life giving assets to be directed by wise provisions for future days.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Topics: Water

Forests are the “lungs” of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Topics: Wilderness

We can’t always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Topics: Future, Youth

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Topics: Feelings, Belief, Courage, Fear

Self-interest is the enemy of all true affection.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Topics: Affection

The first theory is that if we make the rich richer, somehow they will let a part of their prosperity trickle down to the rest of us. The second theory was the theory that if we make the average of mankind comfortable and secure, their prosperity will rise upward through the ranks.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt

We have here a human as well as an economic problem. When humane considerations are concerned, Americans give them precedence. The lessons of history, confirmed by the evidence immediately before me, show conclusively that continued dependence upon relief induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fibre. To dole out relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt

The truth is found when men are free to pursue it.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Topics: Truth

If the Nation is living within its income, its credit is good. If, in some crises, it lives beyond its income for a year or two, it can usually borrow temporarily at reasonable rates. But if, like a spendthrift, it throws discretion to the winds, and is willing to make no sacrifice at all in spending; if it extends its taxing to the limit of the peoples power to pay and continues to pile up deficits, then it is on the road to bankruptcy.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt

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.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Topics: Giving, Abundance, Charity, Progress

I do not believe in communism any more than you do but there is nothing wrong with the Communists in this country; several of the best friends I have got are Communists.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt

The world order which we seek is the co-operation of free countries, working together in a friendly, civilized society.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt

Taxes, after all, are dues that we pay for the privileges of membership in an organized society.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Topics: Taxes, Taxation

I sometimes think that the saving grace of America lies in the fact that the overwhelming majority of Americans are possessed of two great qualities- a sense of humor and a sense of proportion.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Topics: America

There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Topics: America

In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Topics: Freedom, Independence

The value of love will always be stronger than the value of hate.. Any nation or group of nations which employs hatred eventually is torn to pieces by hatred…
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Topics: Love

Perfectionism, no less than isolationism or imperialism or power politics, may obstruct the paths to international peace. Let us not forget that the retreat to isolationism a quarter of a century ago was started not by a direct attack against international cooperation but against the alleged imperfections of the peace.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt

The ablest man I ever met is the man you think you are.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Topics: Self-Esteem, Self Respect

Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel in order to be tough.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt

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