100+ Franklin D. Roosevelt Famous Quotes That Inspire Courage and Leadership

"Leadership is not identified with a place upon a platform, but with a willingness to serve."

"The country needs bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it: If it fails, admit it frankly and try another."

"I am a firm believer in the people—their honesty, their tenacity, their grit."

"A leader must have the courage to act when it is necessary, even if the decision is unpopular."

"We do not distrust the future because we have learned how to turn our fears into constructive action."

"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."

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

"The democratic principle demands leadership by individuals who are willing to lead."

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

"Men are not prisoners of fate, but only of their own minds."

"We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future."

"The essence of government is action on behalf of the people."

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."

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

"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."

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

"Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us."

"Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort."

"We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope."

"There is nothing to fear but fear itself—and yet so many of us go through life terrified of shadows."

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

"The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."

"Action indeed, is the sole medium of expression for ethics."

"We cannot tell what may happen in the years ahead, but we can be sure that we shall meet it together."

"Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely."

"The liberties of a nation cannot be secure when the liberties of its people are restricted."

"In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way."

"A free society is one where people are free to disagree without fear."

"The Constitution is not a mere lawyers' document, it is a warrant for the enjoyment of life."

"We have faith that future generations will know that here, in the middle of a great war for civilization, we kept inviolate the principles for which we contend."

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master."

"We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear."

"Liberty requires responsibility, and this responsibility is the price every man must pay for freedom."

"True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence."

"People who cooperate with each other in communities are the foundation of democracy."

"Do not let any generation forget that our democratic institutions are not inevitable—they require constant vigilance."

"Better the occasional faults of a government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference."

"The country knows that these years will be difficult. But we also know that they will end and that life will go on."

"There is nothing dark about America’s future; it is bright with hope."

"Let us move forward with strong and active faith."

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

"Faith—perfect, simple faith—has brought us safely through the deepest depression in our history."

"Optimism is the opiate of mankind."

"I have seen the future, and it works."

"Believe in yourself, believe in your capacity to do, and then do it."

"The arc of the moral universe bends toward justice—if we help it along."

"We still have a long way to go, but we have come far."

"The greatest danger to our society is apathy."

"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles… The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena."

"We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope."

"Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently."

"Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."

"I don’t mind your thinking slowly, but I do object when you publish faster than you think."

"Progress occurs step by step. No single effort, no matter how heroic, can achieve everything at once."

"We have faced worse before and we will face worse again—but we will not yield."

"Hardships make us stronger if we refuse to be broken."

"Energy and persistence conquer all things."

"There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still."

"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow is our doubts of today."

"The supreme task is to organize and enlist the whole nation in a common cause."

"We are called upon to be pioneers of a new day."

"To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected."

"No gains without pains."

"We must learn to live as brothers or perish together as fools."

"The first objective of every American should be the service of the public good."

"I have always been more interested in what the government can do for the people than in what it can do to them."

"The welfare of each of us is dependent fundamentally upon the welfare of all of us."

"We must extend our responsibilities to include the care of those less fortunate."

"A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be great or a democracy."

"Public office is a public trust."

"Each generation goes its grand tour, carrying the torch of reform."

"Necessitous men are not free men."

"True liberty requires economic security."

"Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere."

"Our strength grows out of our weaknesses."

"We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics."

"The preservation of civil liberties is the hallmark of a free society."

"Security is not just protection from foreign threats, but from hunger, unemployment, and despair."

"We are determined that before the sun sets on this terrible struggle, our flag will fly over a free world."

"Economic justice is the foundation of political freedom."

"A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself."

"The right to a job, to decent wages, to education—these are part of freedom."

"Without economic security, there can be no real personal freedom."

"The United States is going to win this war, and we're going to win it with American sweat and muscle."

"Delay invites danger."

"Do not fear to experiment. The best results often come from improvisation."

"In the midst of crisis, opportunity is born."

"The only way to deal with a crisis is to face it directly and with determination."

"Government has a positive duty to act when private enterprise falters."

"We must be prepared to move forward in new directions if the old ones fail."

"The art of government is not to avoid storms, but to sail through them."

"When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?"

"Panic is the enemy of recovery."

"The government must act boldly when the people are suffering."

"There is no magic cure, but there is intelligent action."

"Here is my secret. I just keep going and going and going."

"The country needs realism, yes, but also hope."

"Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise."

"I am convinced that today is no more uncertain than yesterday."

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

"Dark clouds do not mean eternal night."

"There is no failure except in no longer trying."

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

"We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts."

"Let us remember that in the past, crises have brought out the best in us."

"America has not failed. We have merely begun to fight back."

"Every day brings new opportunities hidden within challenges."

"Men are not remembered by the titles they held, but by what they did with them."

"My friends, I close this address with the same deep faith in you and in our country."

"History will judge us not by our words, but by our deeds."

"I hope that I shall always possess common sense and courage in equal measure."

"We are the masters of our destiny."

"Greatness in art, in literature, in science, and in public service—all come from the same source: love of humanity."

"The test of success is not what you do for yourself, but what you do for others."

"I ask only that I may stand with the people."

"If I have made mistakes, they have been honest mistakes."

"Let it be said of us that we laid the foundations for a better life for all."

"The final judgment of our generation will rest on how we treated the least among us."

"I believe in a better world, and I believe we can build it together."