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When I Was A Small Boy In Kansas, A Friend Of Mine And I Went Fishing. I Told Him I Wanted To Be A Real Major League Baseball Player, A Genuine Professional Like Honus Wagner. My Friend Said That He'd Like To Be President Of The United States. Neither Of Us Got Our Wish.

-Dwight D. Eisenhower

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When I Was A

Dwight D. Eisenhower

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When I Was A Small Boy In Kansas, A Friend Of Mine And I Went Fishing. I Told Him I Wanted To Be A Real Major League Baseball Player, A Genuine Professional Like Honus Wagner. My Friend Said That He'd Like To Be President Of The United States. Neither Of Us Got Our Wish.

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Kinship Among Nations Is Not Determined In Such Measurements As Proximity Of Size And Age.

Only Our Individual Faith In Freedom Can Keep Us Free.

The United States Pledges Before You-and Therefore Before The World-its Determination To Help Solve The Fearful Atomic Dilemma-to Devote Its Entire Heart And Mind To Find The Way By Which The Miraculous Inventiveness Of Man Shall Not Be Dedicated To His Death, But Consecrated To His Life.

Love Of Liberty Means The Guarding Of Every Resource That Makes Freedom Possible-from The Sanctity Of Our Families And The Wealth Of Our Soil To The Genius [of] Our Scientists.

Should Any Political Party Attempt To Abolish Social Security Unemployment Insurance And Eliminate Labor Laws And Farm Programs You Would Not Hear Of That Party Again In Our Political History. There Is A Tiny Splinter Group Of Course That Believes You Can Do These Things. Among Them Are A Few Other Texas Oil Millionaires And An Occasional Politician Or Business Man From Other Areas. Their Number Is Negligible And They Are Stupid.

But I Believe This: By And Large, The United States Ought To Be Able To Choose For Its President Anybody That It Wants, Regardless Of The Number Of Terms He Has Served. That Is What I Believe. Now, Some People Have Said, "you Let Him Get Enough Power And This Will Lead Toward A One-party Government." That, I Don't Believe. I Have Got The Utmost Faith In The Long-term Common Sense Of The American People. Therefore, I Don't Think There Should Be Any Inhibitions Other Than Those That Were In The 35-year Age Limit And So On. I Think That Was Enough, Myself.

We Are Going To Have Peace Even If We Have To Fight For It.

Now All Of Us Deplore This Vast Military Spending. Yet, In The Face Of The Soviet Attitude, We Realize Its Necessity. Whatever The Cost, America Will Keep Itself Secure. But In The Process We Must Not, By Our Own Hand, Destroy Or Distort The American System. This We Could Do By Useless Overspending. I Know One Sure Way To Overspend. That Is By Overindulging Sentimental Attachments To Outmoded Military Machines And Concepts.

In Preparing For Battle I Have Always Found That Plans Are Useless, But Planning Is Indispensable.

No Treaty Or International Agreement Can Contravene The Constitution.

America Is Best Described By One Word, Freedom.

Men And Women, Inspired By Faith In Man's Dignity, Goaded By Conviction In Man's Responsibility, Labored That This Land Might Be A Better Home For Those Who Followed Them. Because Every American Generation Attacked Its Problems With Fresh Vigor, We Have Peopled A Continent, Subdued Its Prairies And Wilderness, Tamed Its Rivers And Devoted Its Resources To The Betterment Of Those Who Dwell In It.

If A Political Party Does Not Have Its Foundation In The Determination To Advance A Cause That Is Right And That Is Moral, Then It Is Not A Political Party; It Is Merely A Conspiracy To Seize Power.

You Can Decide To Invade Russia At Dinner, Pick Waterloo For Battle On A Whim. It's The Details, The Small Stuff. Its Easy To Gamble A Million Lives. Whats Hard Is To See How That Can Hurt One Single Person. And If You Cant Keep That Straight, Hell, You'll Lose Your Humanity.

It Is Only Common Sense To Recognize That The Great Bulk Of Americans, Whether Republican Or Democrat, Face Many Common Problems And Agree On A Number Of Basic Objectives.

Innovations And Discoveries Have Created New Industries Giving More And More Americans Better Jobs And Adding Greatly To The Prosperity And Well Being Of All.

The Only Things Worth Counting On Are People You Can Count On.

I Would Rather Try To Persuade A Man To Go Along, Because Once I Have Persuaded Him, He Will Stick. If I Scare Him, He Will Stay Just As Long As He Is Scared, And Then He Is Gone.

The Eyes Of The World Are Upon You.

Neither A Wise Man Nor A Brave Man Lies Down On The Tracks Of History To Wait For The Train Of The Future To Run Over Him.

Plans Are Useless, But Planning Is Essential.

We Need An Adequate Defense, But Every Arms Dollar We Spend Above Adequacy Has A Long-term Weakening Effect Upon The Nation And Its Security.

There Can Be No True Disarmament Without Peace, And There Can Be No Real Peace Without Very Material Disarmament.

If Men Can Develop Weapons That Are So Terrifying As To Make The Thought Of Global War Include Almost A Sentence For Suicide, You Would Think That Man's Intelligence And His Comprehension... Would Include Also His Ability To Find A Peaceful Solution.

And The Next Thing Is That Every War Is Going To Astonish You In The Way It Occurred, And In The Way It Is Carried Out.

The Spirit Of Man Is More Important Than Mere Physical Strength, And The Spiritual Fiber Of A Nation Than Its Wealth. The Bible Is Endorsed By The Ages. Our Civilization Is Built Upon Its Words. In No Other Book Is There Such A Collection Of Inspired Wisdom, Reality, And Hope.

How Has Retirement Affected My Golf Game? A Lot More People Beat Me Now.

The Friendship Of A Dog Is Precious. It Becomes Even More So When One Is So Far Removed From Home.... I Have A Scottie. In Him I Find Consolation And Diversion... He Is The "one Person" To Whom I Can Talk Without The Conversation Coming Back To War.

This Is A Long Tough Road We Have To Travel. The Men That Can Do Things Are Going To Be Sought Out Just As Surely As The Sun Rises In The Morning. Fake Reputations, Habits Of Glib And Clever Speech, And Glittering Surface Performance Are Going To Be Discovered.

Don't Join The Book Burners... Don't Be Afraid To Go In Your Library And Read Every Book.

The Supreme Quality For Leadership Is Unquestionably Integrity. Without It, No Real Success Is Possible, No Matter Whether It Is On A Section Gang, A Football Field, In An Army, Or In An Office.

How Far Have We Come In Man's Long Pilgrimage From Darkness Toward Light? Are We Nearing The Light-a Day Of Freedom And Of Peace For All Mankind? Or Are The Shadows Of Another Night Closing In Upon Us?

Our Forms Of Government - Though Both Cast In The Democratic Pattern - Are Greatly Different. Indeed, Sometimes It Appears That Many Of Our Misunderstandings Spring From An Imperfect Knowledge On The Part Of Both Of Us Of The Dissimilarities In Our Forms Of Government.

We Have Won An Armistice On A Single Battlefield, Not Peace In Our World. We May Not Now Relax Our Guard Nor Cease Our Quest.

The Only Way To Win World War Iii Is To Prevent It.

The Seeker Is Never So Popular As The Sought. People Want What They Can't Get.

We Have Never Stopped Sin By Passing Laws; And In The Same Way, We Are Not Going To Take A Great Moral Ideal And Achieve It Merely By Law.

But All History Has Taught Us The Grim Lesson That No Nation Has Ever Been Successful In Avoiding The Terrors Of War By Refusing To Defend Its Rights - By Attempting To Placate Aggression.

I Don't Think The United States Needs Superpatriots. We Need Patriotism, Honestly Practiced By All Of Us, And We Don't Need These People That Are More Patriotic Than You Or Anyone Else.

We Succeed Only As We Identify In Life, Or In War, Or In Anything Else, A Single Overriding Objective, And Make All Other Considerations Bend To That One Objective.

Disarmament, With Mutual Honor And Confidence, Is A Continuing Imperative.

War Is Mankind's Most Tragic And Stupid Folly; To Seek Or Advise Its Deliberate Provocation Is A Black Crime Against All Men.

Never Let Yourself Be Persuaded That Any One Great Man, Any One Leader, Is Necessary To The Salvation Of America. When America Consists Of One Leader And 158 Million Followers, It Will No Longer Be America.

Some People Wanted Champagne And Caviar When They Should Have Had Beer And Hot Dogs.

These Are Not Bad People. All They Are Concerned About Is To See That Their Sweet Little Girls Are Not Required To Sit In School Alongside Some Big Overgrown Negroes.

'worry' Is A Word That I Don't Allow Myself To Use.

The National Government Was Itself The Creature Of The States...yet Today It Is Often Made To Appear That The Creature, Frankenstein-like, Is Determined To Destroy The Creators.

One Of The Things That I Noticed In War Was How Difficult It Was For Our Soldiers, At First, To Realize That There Are No Rules To War. Our Men Were Raised In Sports, Where A Referee Runs A Football Game, Or An Umpire A Baseball Game, And So Forth.

Never Send A Battalion To Take A Hill If A Regiment Is Available.

The Older I Get The More Wisdom I Find In The Ancient Rule Of Taking First Things First. A Process Which Often Reduces The Most Complex Human Problem To A Manageable Proportion.

Inspirational Life

This Desk Of Mine Is One At Which A Man May Die, But From Which He Cannot Resign.

Extremes To The Right And To The Left Of Any Political Dispute Are Always Wrong.

This World In Arms Is Not Spending Money Alone. It Is Spending The Sweat Of Its Laborers, The Genius Of Its Scientists, The Hopes Of Its Children.

I Am Inclined By Nature To Be Optimistic About The Capacity Of A Person To Rise Higher Than He Or She Has Thought Possible Once Interest And Ambition Are Aroused.

Kinship Among Nations Is Not Determined In Such Measurements As Proximity Of Size And Age. Rather We Should Turn To Those Inner Things - Call Them What You Will - I Mean Those Intangibles That Are The Real Treasures Free Men Possess.

... Four Other Pieces Of Equipment That Most Senior Officers Came To Regard As Among The Most Vital To Our Success In Africa And Europe Were The Bulldozer, The Jeep, The 2--ton Truck, And The C-47 Airplane. Curiously, None Of These Is Designed For Combat.

The One Weapon Every Man, Soldier, Sailor, Or Airman Should Be Able To Use Effectively Is The Rifle. It Is Always His Weapon Of Personal Safety In An Emergency, And For Many It Is The Primary Weapon Of Offence And Defense. Expertness In Its Use Cannot Be Over Emphasized.

The Free World Knows, Out Of The Bitter Wisdom Of Experience, That Vigilance And Sacrifice Are The Price Of Liberty.

We Will Bankrupt Ourselves In The Vain Search For Absolute Security.

I Thought It Completely Absurd To Mention My Name In The Same Breath As The Presidency.

I Firmly Believe That The Future Of Civilization Is Absolutely Dependent Upon Finding Some Way Of Resolving International Differences Without Resorting To War.

If You Want Total Security, Go To Prison. There You're Fed, Clothed, Given Medical Care And So On. The Only Thing Lacking... Is Freedom.

I Would Rather Have A Lucky General Than A Smart General.... They Win Battles, And They Make Me Lucky.

Leadership Is The Ability To Get A Person To Do What You Want Him To Do, When You Want It Done, In A Way You Want It Done, Because He Wants To Do It.

Things Have Never Been More Like The Way They Are Today In History.

I Shall Make That Trip. I Shall Go To Korea.

You Realise Group Captain That This Might Be The Most Important Weather Forecast In History?

Freedom Bestows On Us The Priceless Gift Of Opportunity - If We Neglect Our Opportunities We Shall Certainly Lose Our Freedom.

The World Is More Like It Is Now Then It Ever Has Before.

We Have The Disgrace Of Racial Discrimination, Or We Have Prejudice Against People Because Of Their Religion. We Have Not Had The Courage To Uproot These Things, Although We Know They Are Wrong.

Censorship, In My Opinion, Is A Stupid And Shallow Way Of Approaching The Solution To Any Problem.

In All Those Things Which Deal With People, Be Liberal, Be Human. In All Those Things Which Deal With The People's Money Or Their Economy Or Their Form Of Government, Be Conservative.

The Qualities Of A Great Man Are Vision, Integrity, Courage, Understanding, The Power Of Articulation, And Profundity Of Character.

War Is Mankind's Most Tragic And Stupid Folly; To Seek Or Advise Its Deliberate Provocation Is A Black Crime Against All Men. Though You Follow The Trade Of The Warrior, You Do So In The Spirit Of Washington - Not Of Genghis Khan. For Americans, Only Threat To Our Way Of Life Justifies Resort To Conflict.

And The Other Was This: The Doctor Did Want To Take Off My Leg Because He Thought It Was Necessary. But You Must Remember Boys In Those Days Were Raised For Two Things: Work, And Then They Made Their Play; And If You Couldn't Play Baseball And Box And Play Football, Why, Your Life Was Ended. That Was In Our Boyish Minds.

Today In America, Unions Have A Secure Place In Our Industrial Life. Only A Handful Of Reactionaries Harbor The Ugly Thought Of Breaking Unions And Depriving Working Men And Women Of The Right To Join The Union Of Their Choice. I Have No Use For Those - Regardless Of Their Political Party - Who Hold Some Vain And Foolish Dream Of Spinning The Clock Back To Days When Organized Labor Was Huddled, Almost As A Hapless Mass. Only A Fool Would Try To Deprive Working Men And Women Of The Right To Join The Union Of Their Choice.

The Stop-watch Of History Is Running. The Race Is On . . .

Forces Of Good And Evil Are Massed And Armed And Opposed As Rarely Before In History. Freedom Is Pitted Against Slavery; Lightness Against The Dark... In The Final Choice, A Soldier's Pack Is Not So Heavy A Burden As A Prisoner's Chains.

One Minute I'm Exactly What Churchill Described Me The Most Powerful Man In History. Now The Order's Given, Hell; I'm Just Audience Front Row Center To The Shoe. But A Corporal On Juno, A Private On Utah There The Ones Who Will Affect The Outcome Not Me. It's Up To Them Now.

The Peace We Seek And Need Means Much More Than Mere Absence Of War. It Means The Acceptance Of Law, And The Fostering Of Justice, In All The World.

I Get Weary Of The European Habit Of Taking Our Money, Resenting Any Slight Hint As To What They Should Do, And Then Assuming, In Addition, Full Right To Criticize Us As Bitterly As They May Desire.

The Supreme Belief Of Our Society Is The Dignity And Freedom Of The Individual. To The Respect Of That Dignity, To The Defense Of That Freedom, All Effort Is Pledged.

There Is No Person In This Room Whose Basic Rights Are Not Involved In Any Successful Defiance To The Carrying Out Of Court Orders.

We Do Not Keep Security Establishments Merely To Defend Property Or Territory Or Rights Abroad Or At Sea. We Keep The Security Forces To Defend A Way Of Life.

If I Didn't Have Air Supremacy, I Wouldn't Be Here.

If A Man's Associates Find Him Guilty Of Being Phony, If They Find That He Lacks Forthright Integrity, He Will Fail. His Teachings And Actions Must Square With Each Other. The First Great Need, Therefore, Is Integrity And High Purpose.

Help The Cubans To The Utmost Counseling His Successor While Handing Over The Reins. We Cannot Let Castro's Government Go On.

When I Was A Small Boy In Kansas, A Friend Of Mine And I Went Fishing. I Told Him I Wanted To Be A Real Major League Baseball Player, A Genuine Professional Like Honus Wagner. My Friend Said That He'd Like To Be President Of The United States. Neither Of Us Got Our Wish.

There Is -- In World Affairs -- A Steady Course To Be Followed Between An Assertion Of Strength That Is Truculent And A Confession Of Helplessness That Is Cowardly.

We Cannot Risk Living All Our Lives Under Emergency Measures.

Things Are More Like They Are Now Than They Ever Were Before.

The Problem Is Not Merely Man Against Man Or Nation Against Nation. It Is Man Against War.

Character In Many Ways Is Everything In Leadership. It Is Made Up Of Many Things, But I Would Say Character Is Really Integrity.

Without A Doubt, Psychological Warfare Has Proven Its Right To A Place Of Dignity In Our Military Arsenal.

First, Separate Ground, Sea And Air Warfare Is Gone Forever. If Ever Again We Should Be Involved In War, We Will Fight It In All Elements, With All Services, As One Single Concentrated Effort.

Disorganization Can Scarcely Fail To Result In Efficiency.

Disorganization

I Do Not Believe That Any Political Campaign Justifies The Declaration Of A Moratorium On Ordinary Common Sense.

The Free World Must Not Prove Itself Worthy Of Its Own Past.

Compromise Is Like The Middle Of The Road; Always Safer To Walk On Than The Edges.

When You Appeal To Force, There's One Thing You Must Never Do - Lose.

Politics Should Be The Part-time Profession Of Every Citizen.

We Are Tired Of Aristocratic Explanations In Harvard Words.

In The Final Choice A Soldier's Pack Is Not So Heavy As A Prisoner's Chains.

We Are Particularly Thankful To You For Your Part In The Movement To Have The Words Under God Added To Our Pledge Of Allegiance. These Words Will Remind Americans That Despite Our Great Physical Strength We Must Remain Humble. They Will Help Us Keep Constantly In Our Minds And Hearts The Spiritual And Moral Principles Which Alone Give Dignity To Man.

This Is What I Found Out About Religion: It Gives You Courage To Make The Decisions You Must Make In A Crisis, And Then The Confidence To Leave The Result To A Higher Power. Only By Trust In God Can A Man Carrying Responsibility Find Repose.

Firmness In Support Of Fundamentals, With Flexibility In Tactics And Methods, Is The Key To Any Hope Of Progress In Negotiation.

Morale - The Will To Win, The Fighting Heart - Are The Honored Hallmarks Of The Football Coach And Player. Likewise, They Are Characteristic Of The Enterprising Executive, The Successful Troop Leader, The Established Artist And The Dedicated Teacher And Scientist.

Now This Brings Me To My Main Topic - Our Military Strength - More Specifically, How To Stay Strong Against Threat From Outside, Without Undermining The Economic Health That Supports Our Security.

Any Man Who Wants To Be President Is Either An Egomaniac Or Crazy.

Accomplishment Will Prove To Be A Journey, Not A Destination.

As Nuclear And Other Technological Achievements Continue To Mount, The Normal Life Span Will Continue To Climb. The Hourly Productivity Of The Worker Will Increase.

Our American Heritage Is Threatened As Much By Our Own Indifference As It Is By The Most Unscrupulous Office Or By The Most Powerful Foreign Threat. The Future Of This Republic Is In The Hands Of The American Voter.

An Atheist Is A Man Who Watches A Notre Dame - Southern Methodist University Game And Doesn't Care Who Wins.

In Order To Be A Leader A Man Must Have Followers. And To Have Followers, A Man Must Have Their Confidence.

In Order To Be A Leader A Man Must Have Followers. And To Have Followers, A Man Must Have Their Confidence. Hence, The Supreme Quality For A Leader Is Unquestionably Integrity. Without It, No Real Success Is Possible, No Matter Whether It Is On A Section Gang, A Football Field, In An Army, Or In An Office. If A Man's Associates Find Him Guilty Of Being Phony, If They Find That He Lacks Forthright Integrity, He Will Fail. His Teachings And Actions Must Square With Each Other. The First Great Need, Therefore, Is Integrity And High Purpose.

May The Light Of Freedom, Coming To All Darkened Lands, Flame Brightly - Until At Last The Darkness Is No More.

Only A Fool Would Try To Deprive Working Men And Working Women Of Their Right To Join The Union Of Their Choice.

Under The Clouds Of War, It Is Humanity Hanging On A Cross Of Iron.

And I Should Like To Assure You, My Islamic Friends, That Under The American Constitution, Under American Tradition, And In American Hearts, This Center, This Place Of Worship, Is Just As Welcome As Could Be A Similar Edifice Of Any Other Religion. Indeed, America Would Fight With Her Whole Strength For Your Right To Have Here Your Own Church And Worship According To Your Own Conscience. This Concept Is Indeed A Part Of America, And Without That Concept We Would Be Something Else Than What We Are.

This World Of Ours... Must Avoid Becoming A Community Of Dreadful Fear And Hate, And Be, Instead, A Proud Confederation Of Mutual Trust And Respect.

My Constant Prayer, These Days, As I Start My Backswing Is, 'oh, Please Let Me Swing Slowly.' The Trouble Is That Sometimes I Wonder Whether I Swing At All; Whether I Am Not Strictly A Chopper.

I Have One Yardstick By Which I Test Every Major Problem - And That Yardstick Is: Is It Good For America?

Through Knowledge And Understanding We Will Drive From The Temple Of Freedom All Who Seek To Establish Over Us Thought Control - Whether They Be Agents Of A Foreign Power Or Demagogues Thirsty For Personal Power And Public Notice.

Let Us Solemnly Remember The Sacrifices Of All Those Who Fought So Valiantly, On The Seas, In The Air, And On Foreign Shores, To Preserve Our Heritage Of Freedom, And Let Us Reconsecrate Ourselves To The Task Of Promoting An Enduring Peace So That Their Efforts Shall Not Have Been In Vain.

The Day Will Come When The People Will Make So Insistent Their Demand That There Be Peace In The World That The Governments Will Get Out Of The Way And Let Them Have Peace.

There Is Nothing Wrong With America That Faith, Love Of Freedom, Intelligence, And Energy Of Her Citizens Cannot Cure.

In The Councils Of Government, We Must Guard Against The Acquisition Of Unwarranted Influence, Whether Sought Or Unsought, By The Military Industrial Complex. The Potential For The Disastrous Rise Of Misplaced Power Exists And Will Persist. We Must Never Let The Weight Of This Combination Endanger Our Liberties Or Democratic Processes. We Should Take Nothing For Granted. Only An Alert And Knowledgeable Citizenry Can Compel The Proper Meshing Of The Huge Industrial And Military Machinery Of Defense With Our Peaceful Methods And Goals, So That Security And Liberty May Prosper Together.

Our Real Problem, Then, Is Not Our Strength Today; It Is Rather The Vital Necessity Of Action Today To Ensure Our Strength Tomorrow.

Make It A Practice To Avoid Hating Anyone. If Someone's Been Guilty Of Despicable Actions, Especially Toward Me, I Try To Forget Him. I Used To Follow A Practice - Somewhat Contrived, I Admit - To Write The Man's Name On A Piece Of Scrap Paper, Drop It Into The Lowest Drawer Of My Desk, And Say To Myself: "that Finishes The Incident, And So Far As I'm Concerned, That Fellow." The Drawer Became Over The Years A Sort Of Private Wastebasket For Crumbled-up Spite And Discarded Personalities.

Unlike Presidential Administrations, Problems Rarely Have Terminal Dates.

But We Know That Freedom Cannot Be Served By The Devices Of The Tyrant. As It Is An Ancient Truth That Freedom Cannot Be Legislated Into Existence, So It Is No Less Obvious That Freedom Cannot Be Censored Into Existence. And Any Who Act As If Freedoms Defenses Are To Be Found In Suppression And Suspicion And Fear Confess A Doctrine That Is Alien To America.

Preventive War Was An Invention Of Hitler. I Would Not Even Listen To Anyone Seriously That Came And Talked About Such A Thing.

We Reject Any Idea That One Race Of People Is In Any Way Better Than Another.

... The Future Is Very Markedly In Your Hands, Its Value And Its Moral Standing In The World And Among Ourselves. If You Will Take The Power You Have And Use It, I Have No Fear Of The Outcome Of The Future.

Ideas More Than Once Have Prevailed Against Naked Power. Guns And Aircraft Alone Do Not Make A State Powerful. Unless Force Is Backed Up By The Will Of The Great Body Of People It Loses Its Meaning.

You Don't Lead By Hitting People Over The Head - That's Assault, Not Leadership.

No Battle Was Ever Won According To Plan, But No Battle Was Ever Won Without One.

According To Plan

To Have A Free, Peaceful And Prosperous World We Must Be Ever Stronger Particularly In The Spiritual Things....it Is American Belief In Decency And Justice And Progress And The Value Of Individual Liberty Because Of The Rights Conferred On Each Of Us By Our Creator That Willcarry Us Through.... There Must Be Something In The Heart As Well As The Head.

Beware The Military-industrial Complex.

Military Industrial Complex

We ... Must Avoid The Impulse To Live Only For Today, Plundering For Our Own Ease And Convenience The Precious Resources Of Tomorrow.

Pull The String, And It Will Follow Wherever You Wish. Push It, And It Will Go Nowhere At All.

The Quest For Peace Is The Statesman's Most Exacting Duty... Practical Progress To Lasting Peace Is His Fondest Hope.

Leadership Is The Art Of Getting Someone Else To Do Something You Want Done Because He Wants To Do It.

I Have Found Out In Later Years That We Were Very Poor, But The Glory Of America Is That We Didn't Know It Then.

Your Task Will Not Be An Easy One. Your Enemy Is Well-trained, Well-equipped And Battle-hardened. He Will Fight Savagely

As Our Heart Summons Our Strength, Our Wisdom Must Direct It.

The Essence Of War Is Fire, Famine, And Pestilence. They Contribute To Its Outbreak; They Are Among Its Weapons; They Become Its Consequences.

Every Gun That Is Made, Every Warship Launched, Every Rocket Fired, Signifies In The Final Sense A Theft From Those Who Hunger And Are Not Fed, Those Who Are Cold And Are Not Clothed.

Our Arms Must Be Mighty ... Ready For Instant Action, So That No Potential Aggressor May Be Tempted To Risk His Own Destruction

I Know Only One Method Of Operation: To Be As Honest With Others As I Am With Myself.

For Every Obstacle There Is A Solution. Persistence Is The Key. The Greatest Mistake Is Giving Up!

It Is Not A Struggle Merely Of Economic Theories, Or Forms Of Government Or Of Military Power. At Issue Is The True Nature Of Man. Either Man Is The Creature Whom The Psalmist Described As A Little Lower Than The Angels ... Or Man Is A Soulless, Animated Machine To Be Enslaved, Used And Consumed By The State For Its Own Glorification. It Is, Therefore, A Struggle Which Goes To The Roots Of The Human Spirit, And Its Shadow Falls Across The Long Sweep Of Man's Destiny.

The People Of Israel, Like Those Of The United States, Are Imbued With A Religious Faith And A Sense Of Moral Values

There's No Tragedy In Life Like The Death Of A Child. Things Never Get Back To The Way They Were.

The Sergeant Is The Army.

Statesmanship Is Developed In The Hard Knocks Of General Experience, Private And Public.

The Building Of Such A Peace Is A Bold And Solemn Purpose. To Proclaim It Is Easy. To Serve It Will Be Hard. And To Attain It, We Must Be Aware Of Its Full Meaning - And Ready To Pay Its Full Price.

There Is Very Little That Our Government Or Any Government Can Do To Plant The Seeds Of International Understanding In The Hearts And Minds Of People Around The World. If People By The Millions Can Reach Out Their Hands In Friendship And Communicate Directly Warmth, Personal Interest And Respect, It Will Be A Real Beginning In The Struggle For A Peaceful World.

Without God, There Would Be No American Form Of Government, Nor An American Way Of Life.

Yet, In Holding Scientific Research And Discovery In Respect, As We Should, We Must Also Be Alert To The Equal And Opposite Danger That Public Policy Could Itself Become The Captive Of A Scientific-technological Elite.

Every Leader Should Have Enough Humility To Accept, Publicly, The Responsibility For The Mistakes Of The Subordinates He Has Himself Selected And, Likewise, To Give Them Credit, Publicly, For Their Triumphs.

You Will Not Find It Difficult To Prove That Battles, Campaigns, And Even Wars Have Been Won Or Lost Primarily Because Of Logistics.

I Could Have Spoken From Rhode Island Where I Have Been Staying ... But I Felt That, In Speaking From The House Of Lincoln, Of Jackson, And Of Wilson, My Words Would Better Convey Both The Sadness I Feel In The Action I Was Compelled Today To Make And The Firmness With Which I Intend To Pursue This Course Until The Orders Of The Federal Court At Little Rock Can Be Executed Without Unlawful Interference." (on Sending Troops To Enforce Integration In Little Rock Ar High School)

No One Should Ever Sit In This Office Over 70 Years Old, And That I Know.

Humility Must Always Be The Portion Of Any Man Who Receives Acclaim Earned In The Blood Of His Followers And The Sacrifices Of His Friends.

Organizations Cannot Make A Genius Out Of An Incompetent. On The Other Hand, Disorganization Can Scarcely Fail To Result In Efficiency.

Because, Therefore, We Are Defending A Way Of Life, We Must Be Respectful Of That Way Of Life As We Proceed To The Solution Of Our Problem. We Must Not Violate Its Principles And Its Precepts, And We Must Not Destroy From Within What We Are Trying To Defend From Without.

Always Try To Associate Yourself Closely With And Learn As Much As You Can From Those Who Know More Than You, Who Do Better Than You, Who See More Clearly Than You. Apart From The Rewards Of Friendship, The Association Might Pay Off At Some Unforeseen Time - That Is Only An Accidental Byproduct. The Important Thing Is That The Learning Will Make You A Better Person.

The Final Battle Against Intolerance Is To Be Fought - Not In The Chambers Of Any Legislature - But In The Hearts Of Men.

Morale Is The Greatest Single Factor In Successful Wars.

If The United Nations Once Admits That International Disputes Can Be Settled By Using Force, Then We Will Have Destroyed The Foundation Of The Organization And Our Best Hope Of Establishing A World Order.

Every Gun That Is Made, Every Warship Launched, Every Rocket Fired Signifies In The Final Sense, A Theft From Those Who Hunger And Are Not Fed, Those Who Are Cold And Are Not Clothed. This World In Arms Is Not Spending Money Alone. It Is Spending The Sweat Of Its Laborers, The Genius Of Its Scientists, The Hopes Of Its Children. This Is Not A Way Of Life At All In Any True Sense. Under The Clouds Of War, It Is Humanity Hanging On A Cross Of Iron.

For All That We Cherish And Justly Desire - For Ourselves Or For Our Children - The Securing Of Peace Is The First Requisite.

Knowledge-full, Unfettered Knowledge Of Its Own Heritage, Of Freedom's Enemies, Of The Whole World Of Men And Ideas-this Knowledge Is A Free People's Surest Strength.

Probably No One Here Knows I Coached A Football Team - A Service Team - Playing Against Georgetown. I Think It Was In The Fall Of 1924 Lou Little Was Your Coach, And He Beat Us. But It Was A Very Happy Circumstance, Because It Brought Me The Friendship Of Another Man, Lou Little, Who To This Day Remains My Very Warm Associate And Friend.

I'm Saving That Rocker For The Day When I Feel As Old As I Really Am.

The True Purpose Of Education Is To Prepare Young Men And Women For Effective Citizenship In A Free Form Of Government.

The Past Sharpens Perspective, Warns Against Pitfalls, And Helps To Point The Way.

You Have A Row Of Dominoes Set Up; You Knock Over The First One, And What Will Happen To The Last One Is That It Will Go Over Very Quickly.

Don't Join The Book Burners. Do Not Think You Are Going To Conceal Thoughts By Concealing Evidence That They Ever Existed.

The Winning Of War - The Effectiveness In Such Things - Is In The Heart, In The Determination, In The Faith. It Is In Our Beliefs In Our Country, In Our God, Everything That Goes To Make Up America.

If Progress Is To Be Steady We Must Have Long Term Guides Extending Far Ahead.

Leadership Consists Of Nothing But Taking Responsibility For Everything That Goes Wrong And Giving Your Subordinates Credit For Everything That Goes Well.

Kinship Among Nations Is Not Determined In Such Measurements As Proximity Of Size And Age. Rather We Should Turn To Those Inner Things - Call Them What You Will - I Mean Those Intangibles That Are The Real Treasures Free Men Possess. To Preserve His Freedom Of Worship, His Equality Before Law, His Liberty To Speak And Act As He Sees Fit, Subject Only To Provisions That He Trespass Not Upon Similar Rights Of Others - A Londoner Will Fight. So Will A Citizen Of Abilene. When We Consider These Things, Then The Valley Of The Thames Draws Closer To The Farms Of Kansas And The Plains Of Texas.

I Also Ache At That Thought Your Majesty... But If They Do Not Offer The Sacrifice In Blood Now, We Will All Pay Dearly With Added Gallons Later. So If Some Most Die It Is In A Worthy Cause.

...the Right Of The Individual To Elect Freely The Manner Of His Care In Illness Must Be Preserved.

Whatever America Hopes To Bring To Pass In The World Must First Come To Pass In The Heart Of America.

I Had Been Conscious A Feeling Of Depression And So I Voiced To [secretary Of War Stimson] My Grave Misgivings, First On The Basis Of My Belief That Japan Was Already Defeated And That Dropping The Bomb Was Completely Unnecessary, And Secondly Because I Thought That Our Country Should Avoid Shocking World Opinion By The Use Of A Weapon Whose Employment Was, I Thought, No Longer Mandatory As A Measure To Save American Lives. It Was My Belief That Japan Was, At This Very Moment, Seeking A Way To Surrender With A Minimum Loss Of 'face.'

Only An Alert And Knowledgeable Citizenry Can Complel The Proper Meshing Of The Huge Industrial And Military Machinery Of Defense With Our Peaceful Methods And Goals, So That Security And Liberty May Prosper Together.

I Feel Like The Fellow In Jail Who Is Watching His Scaffold Being Built." (on Construction Of Reviewing Stands For Inauguration Of His Successor John F Kennedy)

The Righteousness Of Men Should Be Treated With The Same Respect That One Would Accord To A Rattlesnake. Things Are More Like They Are Now Than They Ever Were Before.

Well, It's Hard For A Mere Man To Believe That Woman Doesn't Have Equal Rights.

But I Think A Life Of Raising Prize Cattle, Going Shooting Two Or Three Times A Year, Fishing In The Summer, And Interspersing The Whole Thing With Some Golf And Bridge - And Whenever I Felt Like Talking Or Writing, Doing It With Abandon And With No Sense Of Responsibility Whatsoever - Maybe Such A Life Wouldn't Be So Bad.

If Any Blame Or Fault Attaches To The Attempt, It Is Mine Alone.

We Believe That Our Truly Urgent Need Is To Make Our Nation Secure, Our Economy Strong And Our Dollar Sound. For Every American This Matter Of The Sound Dollar Is Crucial. Without A Sound Dollar, Every American Family Would Face A Renewal Of Inflation, An Ever-increasing Cost Of Living, The Withering Away Of Savings And Life Insurance Policies.

There Is No Victory At Bargain Basement Prices.

Beware The Influence Of The Military-industrial Complex.

Farming Looks Mighty Easy When Your Plow Is A Pencil And You're A Thousand Miles From The Corn Field.

The True Slogan Of A True Democracy Is Not `let The Government Do It' But Rather, 'let's Do It Ourselves'.... This Is The Spirit Of A People Dedicated To Helping Themselves And One Another.

Un-american Activity Cannot Be Prevented Or Routed Out By Employing Un-american Methods; To Preserve Freedom We Must Use The Tools That Freedom Provides.

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