Inspirational Quotes by Hubert Humphrey (American Head of State)

Liberalism, above all, means emancipation – emancipation from one’s fears, his inadequacies, from prejudice, from discrimination, from poverty.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Liberalism

Freedom is hammered out on the anvil of discussion, dissent, and debate.
—Hubert Humphrey

Propaganda, to be effective, must be believed. To be believed, it must be credible. To be credible, it must be true.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Propaganda

The difference between heresy and prophecy is often one of sequence. Heresy often turns out to have been prophecy—when properly aged.
—Hubert Humphrey

There is in every American, I think, something of the old Daniel Boone—who, when he could see the smoke from another chimney, felt himself too crowded and moved further out into the wilderness.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Wilderness

Unfortunately, our affluent society has also been an effluent society.
—Hubert Humphrey

Never answer a question from a farmer.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Politicians, Politics

There are not enough jails, not enough policemen, not enough law courts, to enforce a law not supported by the people.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Laws

Compassion is not weakness, and concern for the unfortunate is not socialism.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Weakness, Compassion

There are incalculable resources in the human spirit, once it has been set free.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Humanity

Freedom is the most contagious virus known to man.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Freedom

The pursuit of peace resembles the building of a great cathedral. It is the work of a generation. In concept it requires a master-architect; in execution, the labors of many.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Peace

The great challenge which faces us is to assure that, in our society of big-ness, we do not strangle the voice of creativity, that the rules of the game do not come to overshadow its purpose, that the grand orchestration of society leaves ample room for the man who marches to the music of another drummer.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Individuality

We believe that to err is human. To blame it on someone else is politics.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Blame

Profit and morality are a hard combination to beat.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Profit

Slumism is the pent-up anger of people living on the outside of affluence. Slumism is decay of structure and deterioration of the human spirit. Slumism is a virus which spreads through the body politic. As other isms, it breeds disorder and demagoguery and hate.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Poverty

To be realistic today is to be visionary. To be realistic is to be starry-eyed.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Reality

The good old days were never that good, believe me. The good new days are today, and better days are coming tomorrow. Our greatest songs are still unsung.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Reflection, Past

The President is the people’s lobbyist.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Presidency

History teaches us that the great revolutions aren’t started by people who are utterly down and out, without hope and vision. They take place when people begin to live a little better—and when they see how much yet remains to be achieved.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Revolutionaries, Revolutions, Revolution

National isolation breeds national neurosis.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Solitude, Isolation

I learned more about economics from one South Dakota dust storm than I did in all my years in college.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Economy, Economics, Experience

If there is dissatisfaction with the status quo, good. If there is ferment, so much the better. If there is restlessness, I am pleased. Then let there be ideas, and hard thought, and hard work. If man feels small, let man make himself bigger.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Satisfaction

The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Romance, Health

Oh, my friend, it’s not what they take away from you that counts—it’s what you do with what you have left.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Revolutions, Revolutionaries, Blessings, Doing Your Best, Gratitude, Attitude, Appreciation, Revolution

We should have learnt by now that laws and court decisions can only point the way. They can establish criteria of right and wrong. And they can provide a basis for rooting out the evils of bigotry and racism. But they cannot wipe away centuries of oppression and injustice—however much we might desire it.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Law

When people generally are aware of a problem, it can be said to have entered the public consciousness. When people get on their hind legs and holler, the problem has not only entered the public consciousness—it has also become a part of the public conscience. At that point, things in our democracy begin to hum.
—Hubert Humphrey

Fortunately, the time has long passed when people liked to regard the United States as some kind of melting pot, taking men and women from every part of the world and converting them into standardized, homogenized Americans. We are, I think, much more mature and wise today. Just as we welcome a world of diversity, so we glory in an America of diversity—an America all the richer for the many different and distinctive strands of which it is woven.
—Hubert Humphrey

I have seen in the Halls of Congress more idealism, more humanness, more compassion, more profiles of courage than in any other institution that I have ever known.
—Hubert Humphrey

American public opinion is like an ocean — it cannot be stirred by a teaspoon.
—Hubert Humphrey
Topics: Public opinion, Opinion

Wondering Whom to Read Next?

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• Richard Nixon American Head of State
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• John F. Kennedy American Head of State
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• Calvin Coolidge American Head of State
• John C. Calhoun American Head of State
• Jimmy Carter American Head of State
• Dan Quayle American Head of State
• Adlai Stevenson American Diplomat