Quotations from Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1882-1945
- These unhappy times call for the building of plans...that build from the bottom up and not from the top down, that put their faith once more in the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid.
Radio address [April 7, 1932]- The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. 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.
Address at Oglethorpe University, Atlanta, Georgia [May 22, 1932]- I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people.
Speech accepting the Democratic nomination for the presidency, Chicago [July 2, 1932]- The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
First Inaugural Address [March 4, 1933]- The truth is found when men are free to pursue it.
Address at Temple University, Philadelphia [February 22, 1936]- This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.
Speech accepting renomination [June 27, 1936]- I have not sought, I do not seek, I repudiate the support of any advocate of Communism or of any other alien 妬sm・which would by fair means or foul change our American democracy.
Address at Syracuse [September 29, 1936]- I should like to have it said of my first Administration that in it the forces of selfishness and of lust for power met their match. I should like to have it said of my second Administration that in it these forces met their master.
Speech at Madison Square Garden [October 31, 1936]- I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.
Second Inaugural Address [January 20, 1937]
- 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.
Second Inaugural Address [January 20, 1937]- War is a contagion.
Speech at Chicago [October 5, 1937]- 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 its government.
Fireside Chat [April 14, 1938]- On this tenth day of June 1940 the hand that held the dagger has struck it into the back of its neighbor.
Address at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville [June 10, 1940]- Eternal truths will be neither true nor eternal unless they have fresh meaning for every new social situation.
Address at the University of Pennsylvania [September 20, 1940]- We must be the great arsenal of democracy.
Fireside Chat [December 29, 1940]- We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression -- everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way -- everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want...everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear...anywhere in the world.
Message to Congress [January 6, 1941]- We, too, born to freedom, and believing in freedom, are willing to fight to maintain freedom. We, and all others who believe as deeply as we do, would rather die on our feet than live on our knees.
On receiving the degree of Doctor of Civil Law from Oxford University [June 19, 1941]- Yesterday, December 7, 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.
War Message to Congress [December 8, 1941]- Never before have we had so little time in which to do so much.
Fireside Chat [February 23, 1942]- Books cannot be killed by fire. People die, but books never die. No man and no force can abolish memory...this war, we know, books are weapons.
Message to the American Booksellers Association [April 23, 1942]- It is not a tax bill but a tax relief bill providing relief not for the needy but for the greedy.
Tax bill veto message [February 22, 1944]- Perfectionism, no less than isolationism or imperialism or power politics, may obstruct the paths to international peace.
State of the Union Message [January 6, 1945]- We have learned that we cannot live alone, at peace; that our own well-being is dependent on the well-being of other nations, far away. We have learned that we must live as men, and not as ostriches, nor as dogs in the manger. We have learned to be citizens of the world, members of the human community.
Fourth Inaugural Address [January 20, 1945]- More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginnings of all wars.
Address written for Jefferson Day broadcast [April 13, 1945]
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