100+ Eleanor Roosevelt Quotes on Small Minds & Big Thinking

"Do what you feel in your heart to be right—for you’ll be criticized anyway."

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face."

"It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan."

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

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

"I must have had a very strong sense of the absurd, because I never allowed small minds to discourage me."

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."

"To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart."

"Do nothing out of fear; do everything out of love."

"One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes."

"We cannot do great things on a small mind."

"Small minds are concerned with the extraordinary; great minds are concerned with the ordinary done extraordinarily well."

"Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence."

"A good leader inspires others with confidence in him; a great leader inspires them with confidence in themselves."

"The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well."

"People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously."

"In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman."

"Small minds want uniformity. Great minds delight in diversity."

"A leader must have a vision and the ability to communicate it so others will follow."

"The test of a civilization is how it treats its weakest members."

"It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it."

"You must do the thing you think you cannot do."

"Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another."

"Small minds try to impose control; great minds seek to empower."

"Prejudice has reached such proportions today that we are in danger of destroying our civilization."

"We need to understand that differences enrich us rather than threaten us."

"Where ignorance reigns, there is no peace."

"Hate and force cannot be in just a part of the world without having an effect on the rest of it."

"Tolerance, compassion, and understanding are the hallmarks of a truly educated person."

"Small minds are threatened by difference; great minds are curious about it."

"We cannot expect to create peace unless we learn to live together in mutual respect."

"Peace begins with a smile—and with listening."

"Differences of opinion should not lead to hatred, but to deeper understanding."

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it—and walk it with openness."

"Bigotry is the disease of small minds."

"Understanding begins when judgment is suspended."

"The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as long as we live."

"Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans."

"Each time you face a fear, you steal its power away."

"You must accept the challenges that come into your life if you are to grow."

"Growth begins when we recognize our limitations."

"Small minds dwell on flaws; great minds focus on potential."

"Self-knowledge is the foundation of all wisdom."

"It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness."

"Your value doesn’t decrease based on someone’s inability to see your worth."

"The more you know yourself, the more you can shape your destiny."

"Small minds compare; great minds inspire."

"We grow by doing, reflecting, and choosing again."

"A woman is like a tea bag—you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water."

"No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her body."

"Women must learn to do things alone and to stand alone."

"The battle for women's rights is far from over."

"A woman should soften but not weaken a man."

"Small minds fear female strength; great minds celebrate it."

"Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be a challenge to others."

"The woman in the home may run the world, but she needs recognition and support."

"To be liberated, a woman must feel free to be herself, not in opposition to a man but in relation to herself."

"There is no more liberating feeling than realizing you don't need permission to be great."

"Small minds confine women; great minds uplift them."

"Empowered women empower each other."

"You must face the fact that you are afraid and then go ahead anyway."

"Fear is a darkroom where negatives develop."

"I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear."

"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself."

"Resilience is born when courage outweighs comfort."

"Small minds are ruled by fear; great minds are guided by faith."

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself—and the small minds that feed it."

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it."

"When you lose hope, look within—you’ll find the strength to begin again."

"Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny."

"Small minds avoid challenges; great minds overcome them."

"Every time you act despite fear, you expand your soul."

"Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom."

"The purpose of education is to replace an empty mind with an open one."

"Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere."

"An intelligent mind is always curious, never complacent."

"Knowledge is power, but wisdom is choice."

"Small minds resist new ideas; great minds welcome them."

"The classroom is the foundation of democracy."

"We learn something from everyone we meet—if we listen."

"Education is not just about facts; it's about forming character."

"A closed mind is a dangerous thing."

"Small minds memorize; great minds question."

"Intellectual growth begins when curiosity is stronger than certainty."

"Compassion is the ultimate expression of your humanity."

"Where in the world do you find peace? In yourself."

"Human kindness has never weakened mankind."

"We are all different, but we share the same hopes and fears."

"The giving spirit is the essence of a noble life."

"Small minds judge; great minds empathize."

"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others."

"To forget how to be kind is to become inhuman."

"The little things matter most in the end."

"Everyone matters. Everyone counts. Everyone deserves dignity."

"Small minds divide; great minds unite."

"Compassion is not weakness—it is the strength to care in the face of suffering."

"Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both."

"Equality means more than sharing wealth. It means sharing power."

"We must insist on justice for all, not just for some."

"Racism is a disease of the mind and soul."

"Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes."

"Small minds cling to privilege; great minds fight for fairness."

"The Constitution is not a static document—it must grow with the people."

"Discrimination has no place in a civilized society."

"We must build a world where every individual has the chance to thrive."

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

"Small minds hoard opportunity; great minds create it."

"Equal rights are not special privileges—they are human rights."

"The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience."

"Do not stop thinking of life as an adventure."

"Life is meant to be lived, not controlled."

"The happiest people seem to be those who have no particular reason for being happy except that they are so."

"It is in the moments of decision that your destiny is shaped."

"Small minds worry about being remembered; great minds focus on making a difference."

"You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great."

"The years teach much which the days never know."

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."

"Make your life a dream, and your dream a reality."

"Small minds fear death; great minds honor life."

"Leave behind love, not just memories."