500 quotes from US presidents

John Adams (1797-1801)
1. Old minds are like old horses; you must exercise them if you wish to keep them in
working order.
2. Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people.
3. Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve
your freedom! I hope you will make a good use of it.
4. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly
inadequate to the government of any other.
5. Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of
the weak.
6. My country has contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention
of man contrived or his imagination conceived.
7. I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and
philosophy.
8. Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself.
There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.
9. The happiness of society is the end of government.
10. Property is surely a right of mankind as real as liberty.
11. Because power corrupts, society's demands for moral authority and character
increase as the importance of the position increases.
12. Abuse of words has been the great instrument of sophistry and chicanery, of party,
faction, and division of society.

Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885)
13. Men may die, but the fabrics of free institutions remains unshaken.
14. As is natural with contiguous states having like institutions and like aims of
advancement and development, the friendship of the United States and Mexico has
been constantly maintained.
15. The countries of the American continent and the adjacent islands are for the United
States the natural marts of supply and demand.
16. I may be president of the United States, but my private life is nobody's damned
business.
17. The extravagant expenditure of public money is an evil not to be measured by the
value of that money to the people who are taxed for it.
18. The health of the people is of supreme importance. All measures looking to their
protection against the spread of contagious diseases and to the increase of our
sanitary knowledge for such purposes deserve attention of Congress.
19. It is provided by the Constitution that the President shall from time to time give to
the Congress information of the state of the Union and recommend to their
consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.
James Buchanan (1857-1861)
20. The ballot box is the surest arbiter of disputes among free men.
21. The test of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the
greatness is already there.
22. What is right and what is practicable are two different things.
23. I like the noise of democracy.

24. If you are as happy in entering the White House as I shall feel on returning to
Wheatland, you are a happy man indeed.
25. To avoid entangling alliances has been a maxim of our policy ever since the days of
Washington, and its wisdom no one will attempt to dispute.
John Quincy Adams (1825-1829)
26. Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear
and obstacles vanish.
27. Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the
sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.
28. Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties
disappear and obstacles vanish into air.
29. Where annual elections end where slavery begins.
30. Nip the shoots of arbitrary power in the bud, is the only maxim which can ever
preserve the liberties of any people.
31. If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more,
you are a leader.
32. America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy.
33. All men profess honesty as long as they can. To believe all men honest would be folly.
To believe none so is something worse.
34. The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one
indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.

Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)
35. The government should not be guided by Temporary Excitement, but by Sober
Second Thought.
36. As to the presidency, the two happiest days of my life were those of my entrance
upon the office and my surrender of it.
37. Those who have wrought great changes in the world never succeeded by gaining over
chiefs; but always by exciting the multitude. The first is the resource of intrigue and
produces only secondary results, the second is the resort of genius and transforms
the universe.
38. On receiving from the people the sacred trust twice confided on my illustrious
predecessor, and which he has discharged so faithfully and so well, I know that I can
not expect to perform the arduous task with equal ability and success.
39. The less government interferes with private pursuits, the better for general
prosperity.
40. For myself, therefore, I desire to declare that the principle that will govern me in the
high duty to which my country calls me is a strict adherence to the letter and spirit of
the Constitution as it was designed by those who framed it.
41. Banks properly established and conducted are highly useful to the business of the
country, and will doubtless continue to exist in the States so long as they conform to
their laws and are found to be safe and beneficial.
42. It seems proper, at all events, that by an early enactment similar to that of other
countries the application of public money by an officer of Government to private uses
should be made a felony and visited with severe and ignominious punishment.
43. The national will is the supreme law of the Republic, and on all subjects within the
limits of his constitutional powers should be faithfully obeyed by the public servant.
44. We remain at peace with all nations, and no efforts on my part consistent with the
preservation of our rights and the honor of the country shall be spared to maintain a
position so consonant to our institutions.

45. It affords me sincere pleasure to be able to apprise you of the entire removal of the
Cherokee Nation of Indians to their new homes west of the Mississippi.
46. No evil can result from its inhibition more pernicious than its toleration.
47. The people under our system, like the king in a monarchy, never dies.
48. Between Russia and the United States sentiments of good will continue to be
mutually cherished.
49. Mutual forbearance and reciprocal concessions: thro' their agency the Union was
established - the patriotic spirit from which they emanated will forever sustain it.
George W. Bush (2001-2009)
50. America is the land of the second chance - and when the gates of the prison open,
the path ahead should lead to a better life.
51. Everywhere that freedom stirs, let tyrants fear.
52. To those of you who received honours, awards and distinctions, I say well done. And
to the C students, I say you, too, can be president of the United States.
53. America must not ignore the threat gathering against us. Facing clear evidence of
peril, we cannot wait for the final proof, the smoking gun that could come in the form
of a mushroom cloud.
54. I'm hopeful. I know there is a lot of ambition in Washington, obviously. But I hope the
ambitious realize that they are more likely to succeed with success as opposed to
failure.
55. Freedom itself was attacked this morning by a faceless coward, and freedom will be
defended.
56. When I take action, I'm not going to fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and
hit a camel in the butt. It's going to be decisive.
57. Some folks look at me and see a certain swagger, which in Texas is called 'walking.'

58. I sent American troops to Iraq to make its people free, not to make them American.
Iraqis will write their own history and find their own way.
59. There's no bigger task than protecting the homeland of our country.
60. It's going to be the year of the sharp elbow and the quick tongue.
61. We will not waver; we will not tire; we will not falter, and we will not fail. Peace and
Freedom will prevail.
62. Every nation in every region now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or
you are with the terrorists.
63. One of my proudest moments is I didn't sell my soul for the sake of popularity.
64. Leadership to me means duty, honor, country. It means character, and it means
listening from time to time.
65. The men and women of Afghanistan are building a nation that is free, and proud, and
fighting terror - and America is honored to be their friend.
66. Our nation must come together to unite.
67. I want to thank you for taking time out of your day to come and witness my hanging.
George H. W. Bush (1989-1993)
68. We are a nation of communities... a brilliant diversity spread like stars, like a
thousand points of light in a broad and peaceful sky.
69. I stand for anti-bigotry, anti-Semitism, and anti-racism.
70. Ageing's alright, better than the alternative, which is not being here.
71. We know what works. Freedom Works. We know what's right. Freedom is right.
72. One of the good things about the way the Gulf War ended in 1991 is, you'd see the
Vietnam veterans marching with the Gulf War veterans.
73. I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them.
74. I like a colorful sock. I'm a sock man.
75. You have to understand that people that are hurting are going to criticize.

76. I can't ever remember sitting around and saying, 'gosh let's hurry up and get these
debates going, that'll win it for me.' Nope.
77. I have a form of Parkinson's disease, which I don't like. My legs don't move when my
brain tells them to. It's very frustrating.
78. I'm going to be so much better a president for having been at the CIA that you're not
going to believe it.
79. It's much worse to read criticismabout your son than yourself.
80. Read my lips: no new taxes.
81. Old guys can still do fun things.
Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)
82. Human rights is the soul of our foreign policy, because human rights is the very soul
of our sense of nationhood.
83. Unless both sides win, no agreement can be permanent.
84. If you're totally illiterate and living on one dollar a day, the benefits of globalization
never come to you.
85. War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an
evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each
other's children.
86. I've looked on many women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many
times. God knows I will do this and forgives me.
87. You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you
think you can.
88. Republicans are men of narrow vision, who are afraid of the future.
89. We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles.
90. I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over.
91. Testing oneself is best when done alone.

92. Jesus never said a word about homosexuality. In all of his teachings about multiple
things - he never said that gay people should be condemned. I personally think it is
very fine for gay people to be married in civil ceremonies.
93. My favourite president, and the one I admired most, was Harry Truman.
94. There should be an honest attempt at the reconciliation of differences before
resorting to combat.
Grover Cleveland(1893-1897)
95. A truly American sentiment recognizes the dignity of labor and the fact that honor
lies in honest toil.
96. What is the use of being elected or re-elected, unless you stand for something?
97. It is better to be defeated standing for a high principle than to run by committing
subterfuge.
98. Though the people support the government, the government should not support the
people.
99. I have considered the pension list of the republic a roll of honor.
100. I have tried so hard to do right.
101. Your every voter, as surely as your chief magistrate, exercises a public trust.
102. No man has ever yet been hanged for breaking the spirit of a law.
103. Public officers are the servants and agents of the people, to execute the laws which
the people have made.
104. In the scheme of our national government, the presidency is preeminently the
people's office.
105. After an existence of nearly 20 years of almost innocuous desuetude, these laws are
brought forth.

106. A government for the people must depend for its success on the intelligence, the
morality, the justice, and the interest of the people themselves.
107. Honor lies in honest toil.
William J. Clinton (1993-2001)
108. Promising too much can be as cruel as caring too little
109. You can put wings on a pig, but you don't make it an eagle.
110. I came of age believing that, no matter what happened, I would always be able to
support myself.
111. The 22nd Amendment should probably be modified to say two consecutive terms
instead of two terms for a lifetime.
112. Character is a journey, not a destination.
113. I haven't eaten at a McDonald's since I became President.
114. You know, everybody makes mistakes when they are president.
115. Sometimes when people are under stress, they hate to think, and it's the time when
they most need to think.
116. Let me say this as clearly as I can: No matter how sharp a grievance or how deep a
hurt, there is no justification for killing innocents.
117. When we make college more affordable, we make the American dream more
achievable.
118. There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured with what is right in
America.

119. Being president is like running a cemetery: you've got a lot of people under you and
nobody's listening.
120. It's heartbreaking to see so many people trapped in a web of enforced idleness, deep
debt, and gnawing self-doubt.
Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)
121. I have never been hurt by what I have not said.
122. It takes a great man to be a good listener.
123. It is only when men begin to worship that they begin to grow.
124. Industry, thrift and self-control are not sought because they create wealth, but
because they create character.
125. Don't expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong.
126. Little progress can be made by merely attempting to repress what is evil. Our great
hope lies in developing what is good.
127. When more and more people are thrown out of work, unemployment results.
128. Those who trust to chance must abide by the results of chance.
129. The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten.
130. Heroism is not only in the man, but in the occasion.
131. Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery.
132. There is no force so democratic as the force of an ideal.

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)
133. Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they
want to do it.
134. A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.
135. I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality,
its futility, its stupidity.
136. Our real problem, then, is not our strength today; it is rather the vital necessity of
action today to ensure our strength tomorrow.
137. In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is
indispensable.
138. What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight
in the dog.
139. We are going to have peace even if we have to fight for it.
140. Plans are nothing; planning is everything.
141. Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because
he wants to do it.
142. You don't lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership.
143. 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.
144. Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you're a thousand miles
from the corn field.
145. Peace and justice are two sides of the same coin.

MillardFillmore (1850-1853)
146. It is not strange... to mistake change for progress.
147. God knows I detest slavery but it is an existing evil, and we must endure it and give it such
protection as is guaranteed by the Constitution.
148. May God save the country, for it is evident that the people will not.
149. Upon you, fellow-citizens, as the representatives of the States and the people, is wisely devolved
the legislative power.
150. Nations, like individuals in a state of nature, are equal and independent, possessing certain rights
and owing certain duties to each other.
Gerald R. Ford (1974-1977)
151. I know I am getting better at golf because I am hitting fewer spectators.
152. My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.
153. Our great Republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here, the people rule.
154. I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots, so I
ask you to confirm me with your prayers.
155. Things are more like today than they have ever been before.
156. Truth is the glue that holds government together.
157. I love sports. Whenever I can, I always watch the Detroit Tigers on the radio.
158. A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big
enough to take from you everything you have.
159. Tell the truth, work hard, and come to dinner on time.
160. I had a lot of experience with people smarter than I am.
161. I would hope that understanding and reconciliation are not limited to the 19th hole
alone.

162. Our constitution works. Our great republic is a government of laws, not of men.
163. If Lincoln were alive today, he'd be turning over in his grave.
James A. Garfield(1881-1881)
164. Man cannot live by bread alone; he must have peanut butter.
165. The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.
166. A brave man is a man who dares to look the Devil in the face and tell him he is a Devil.
167. Suicide is not a remedy.
168. Few men in our history have ever obtained the Presidency by planning to obtain it.
169. Things don't turn up in this world until somebody turns them up.
170. He who controls the money supply of a nation controls the nation.
171. Nobody but radicals have ever accomplished anything in a great crisis.
172. I am trying to do two things: dare to be a radical and not a fool, which is a matter of no
small difficulty.
173. Ideas are the great warriors of the world, and a war that has no idea behind it, is
simply a brutality.
174. If the power to do hard work is not a skill, it's the best possible substitute for it.
175. Justice and goodwill will outlast passion.
176. Ideas control the world.
177. I am a poor hater.

Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)
178. I have never advocated war except as a means of peace.
179. Nations, like individuals, are punished for their transgressions.
180. No other terms than unconditional and immediate surrender. I propose to move
immediately upon your works.
181. If you see the President, tell him from me that whatever happens there will be no
turning back.
182. There never was a time when, in my opinion, some way could not be found to prevent
the drawing of the sword.
183. I know only two tunes: one of them is 'Yankee Doodle', and the other isn't.
184. The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as
you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on.
185. Labor disgraces no man; unfortunately, you occasionally find men who disgrace labor.
186. I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer.
187. If men make war in slavish obedience to rules, they will fail.
188. My failures have been errors in judgment, not of intent.
Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)
189. I have no trouble with my enemies. I can take care of my enemies in a fight. But my
friends, my goddamned friends, they're the ones who keep me walking the floor at
nights!
190. I don't know much about Americanism, but it's a damn good word with which to carry
an election.
191. America's present need is not heroics but healing; not nostrums but normalcy; not
revolution but restoration.

192. Only solitary men know the full joys of friendship. Others have their family; but to a
solitary and an exile his friends are everything.
193. I don't know what to do or where to turn in this taxation matter. Somewhere there
must be a book that tells all about it, where I could go to straighten it out in my mind.
But I don't know where the book is, and maybe I couldn't read it if I found it.
Benjamin Harrison(1889-1893)
194. The bud of victory is always in the truth.
195. Great lives never go out; they go on.
196. This Government has found occasion to express, in a friendly spirit, but with much
earnestness, to the Government of the Czar, its serious concern because of the harsh
measures now being enforced against the Hebrews in Russia.
197. No other people have a government more worthy of their respect and love or a land
so magnificent in extent, so pleasant to look upon, and so full of generous suggestion
to enterprise and labor.
198. There never has been a time in our history when work was so abundant or when
wages were as high, whether measured by the currency in which they are paid or by
their power to supply the necessaries and comforts of life.
199. I pity the man who wants a coat so cheap that the man or woman who produces the
cloth will starve in the process.
200. I knew that my staying up would not change the election result if I were defeated,
while if elected I had a hard day ahead of me. So I thought a night's rest was best in
any event.
201. We Americans have no commission from God to police the world.
202. When and under what conditions is the black man to have a free ballot? When is he in
fact to have those full civil rights which have so long been his in law?

William Henry Harrison(1841-1841)
203. There is nothing more corrupting, nothing more destructive of the noblest and finest
feelings of our nature, than the exercise of unlimited power.
204. I contend that the strongest of all governments is that which is most free.
205. I believe and I say it is true Democratic feeling, that all the measures of the
Government are directed to the purpose of making the rich richer and the poor
poorer.
206. All the measures of the Government are directed to the purpose of making the rich
richer and the poor poorer.
207. The chains of military despotism, once fastened upon a nation, ages might pass away
before they could be shaken off.
208. The only legitimate right to govern is an express grant of power from the governed.
209. To Englishmen, life is a topic, not an activity.
210. Sir, I wish to understand the true principles of the Government. I wish them carried
out. I ask nothing more.
RutherfordB. Hayes (1877-1881)
211. Let every man, every corporation, and especially let every village, town, and city, every
county and State, get out of debt and keep out of debt. It is the debtor that is ruined
by hard times.
212. To vote is like the payment of a debt, a duty never to be neglected, if its performance
is possible.
213. He serves his party best who serves his country best.
214. Unjust attacks on public men do them more good than unmerited praise.
215. The President of the United States should strive to be always mindful of the fact that
he serves his party best who serves his country best.
216. As friends go it is less important to live.

217. No person connected with me by blood or marriage will be appointed to office.
218. It is the desire of the good people of the whole country that sectionalismas a factor in
our politics should disappear.
219. The bold enterprises are the successful ones. Take counsel of hopes rather than of
fears to win in this business.
220. The progress of society is mainly the improvement in the condition of the workingmen
of the world.
221. Virtue is defined to be mediocrity, of which either extreme is vice.
222. One of the tests of the civilization of people is the treatment of its criminals.
223. Universal suffrage is sound in principle. The radical element is right.
224. Conscience is the authentic voice of God to you.
225. Do not let your bachelor ways crystallize so that you can't soften them when you
come to have a wife and a family of your own.
226. Must swear off from swearing. Bad habit.
227. The filth and noise of the crowded streets soon destroy the elasticity of health which
belongs to the country boy.
HerbertHoover (1929-1933)
228. A good many things go around in the dark besides Santa Claus.
229. Fishing is much more than fish. It is the great occasion when we may return to the fine
simplicity of our forefathers.
230. Freedom is the open window through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit
and human dignity.
231. I'm the only person of distinction who has ever had a depression named for him.
232. All men are equal before fish.
233. Peace is not made at the council table or by treaties, but in the hearts of men.
234. Blessed are the young for they shall inherit the national debt.
235. Prosperity cannot be restored by raids upon the public Treasury.

236. When there is a lack of honor in government, the morals of the whole people are
poisoned.
237. Words without actions are the assassins of idealism.
238. Older men declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die.
239. About the time we can make the ends meet, somebody moves the ends
240. Competition is not only the basis of protection to the consumer, but is the incentive to
progress.
241. Children are our most valuable natural resource.
242. The pause between the errors and trials of the day and the hopes of the night.
243. The use of the atomic bomb, with its indiscriminate killing of women and children,
revolts my soul.
244. Honor is not the exclusive property of any political party.
Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)
245. There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is having lots to do and not doing
it.
246. Peace, above all things, is to be desired, but blood must sometimes be spilled to
obtain it on equable and lasting terms.
247. The people are the government, administering it by their agents; they are the
government, the sovereign power.
248. Disunion by force is treason.
249. No one need think that the world can be ruled without blood. The civil sword shall and
must be red and bloody.
250. Americans are not a perfect people, but we are called to a perfect mission.
251. It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government
to their own selfish purposes.
252. The wisdom of man never yet contrived a systemof taxation that would operate with
perfect equality.

253. I've got big shoes to fill. This is my chance to do something. I have to seize the
moment.
254. You must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing.
255. I have always been afraid of banks.
256. Heaven will be no heaven to me if I do not meet my wife there.
257. There are no necessary evils in government. Its evils exist only in its abuses.
258. The Bible is the rock on which this Republic rests.
259. Fear not, the people may be deluded for a moment, but cannot be corrupted.
260. Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.
261. War is a blessing compared with national degradation.
Thomas Jefferson(1801-1809)
262. Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.
263. The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and
tyrants.
264. Money, not morality, is the principle commerce of civilized nations.
265. For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed
militia is their best security.
266. Commerce with all nations, alliance with none, should be our motto.
267. I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another.
268. Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define
you.
269. In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
270. Never spend your money before you have earned it.
271. A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what
no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.
272. The glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than money.
273. I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.

274. The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people;
that... it is their right and duty to be at all times armed.
275. I cannot live without books.
George Washington (1789-1797)
276. If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like
sheep to the slaughter.
277. Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success
to the weak, and esteem to all.
278. It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company.
279. Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.
280. Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with
all.
281. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks
of adversity, before it is entitled to the appellation.
282. To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.
283. I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most
enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.
284. It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.
285. Over grown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to
liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.
286. Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.
287. Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you
give them your confidence.
288. Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, called conscience.
John Tyler (1841-1845)
289. Wealth can only be accumulated by the earnings of industry and the savings of
frugality.

290. I can never consent to being dictated to.
291. So far as it depends on the course of this government, our relations of good will and
friendship will be sedulously cultivated with all nations.
292. Popularity, I have always thought, may aptly be compared to a coquette - the more
you woo her, the more apt is she to elude your embrace.
Harry S. Truman (1945-1953)
293. If you can't convince them, confuse them.
294. I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want
and then advise them to do it.
295. America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an
unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.
296. Nixon is one of the few in the history of this country to run for high office talking out
of both sides of his mouth at the same time and lying out of both sides.
297. When you have an efficient government, you have a dictatorship.
298. It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose
yours.
299. It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.
300. You can never get all the facts from just one newspaper, and unless you have all the
facts, you cannot make proper judgements about what is going on.
301. I do not believe there is a problem in this country or the world today which could not
be settled if approached through the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount.
302. The best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then
advise them to do it.
303. All the president is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering,
kissing, and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway.
304. In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over
themselves... self-discipline with all of them came first.

305. When even one American - who has done nothing wrong - is forced by fear to shut his
mind and close his mouth - then all Americans are in peril.
306. A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one
who makes opportunities of his difficulties.
307. The atom bomb was no 'great decision.' It was merely another powerful weapon in
the arsenal of righteousness.
308. I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell.
309. The United Nations is designed to make possible lasting freedom and independence
for all its members.
Zachary Taylor (1849-1850)
310. I have always done my duty. I am ready to die. My only regret is for the friends I leave
behind me.
311. It would be judicious to act with magnanimity towards a prostrate foe.
William Howard Taft (1909-1913)
312. Enthusiasm for a cause sometimes warps judgment.
313. The world is not going to be saved by legislation.
314. Action for which I become responsible, or for which my administration becomes
responsible, shall be within the law.
315. I am in favor of helping the prosperity of all countries because, when we are all
prosperous, the trade with each becomes more valuable to the other.
316. Don't write so that you can be understood, write so that you can't be misunderstood.
317. We are all imperfect. We can not expect perfect government.
318. A government is for the benefit of all the people.
319. I am president now, and tired of being kicked around.
320. I'll be damned if I am not getting tired of this. It seems to be the profession of a
President simply to hear other people talk.

321. No tendency is quite so strong in human nature as the desire to lay down rules of
conduct for other people.
322. We live in a stage of politics, where legislators seemto regard the passage of laws as
much more important than the results of their enforcement.
323. Substantial progress toward better things can rarely be taken without developing new
evils requiring new remedies.
324. As the Republican platforms says, the welfare of the farmer is vital to that of the
whole country.
325. I love judges, and I love courts. They are my ideals, that typify on earth what we shall
meet hereafter in heaven under a just God.
326. Presidents come and go, but the Supreme Court goes on forever.
327. I have come to the conclusion that the major part of the work of a President is to
increase the gate receipts of expositions and fairs and bring tourists to town.
328. Failure to accord credit to anyone for what he may have done is a great weakness in
any man.
Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)
329. In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.
330. Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.
331. Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the
axe.
332. Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.
333. No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.
334. I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung
to me all my life.
335. All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.
336. The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of
government in the next.
337. No man is good enough to govern another man without the other's consent.

338. You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.
339. America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
340. Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him
power.
341. Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.
342. My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last
best hope of earth.
343. Don't worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.
344. Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.
345. Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of
it; the tree is the real thing.
Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)
346. If I am shot at, I want no man to be in the way of the bullet.
347. Slavery exists. It is black in the South, and white in the North.
348. I am sworn to uphold the Constitution as Andy Johnson understands it and interprets
it.
349. Legislation can neither be wise nor just which seeks the welfare of a single interest at
the expense and to the injury of many and varied interests.
350. Outside of the Constitution we have no legal authority more than private citizens, and
within it we have only so much as that instrument gives us. This broad principle limits
all our functions and applies to all subjects.
351. Who, then, will govern? The answer must be, Man - for we have no angels in the
shape of men, as yet, who are willing to take charge of our political affairs.
352. It's a damn poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word.
353. The goal to strive for is a poor government but a rich people.
354. There are no good laws but such as repeal other laws.

355. I feel incompetent to perform duties... which have been so unexpectedly thrown upon
me.
356. Honest conviction is my courage; the Constitution is my guide.
357. If the rabble were lopped off at one end and the aristocrats at the other, all would be
well with the country.
358. I hold it the duty of the executive to insist upon frugality in the expenditure, and a
sparing economy is itself a great national source.
Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969)
359. Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.
360. Every man has a right to a Saturday night bath.
361. We must open the doors of opportunity. But we must also equip our people to walk
through those doors.
362. A President's hardest task is not to do what is right, but to know what is right.
363. I believe the destiny of your generation - and your nation - is a rendezvous with
excellence.
364. Being president is like being a jackass in a hailstorm. There's nothing to do but to
stand there and take it.
365. I believe we can continue the Great Society while we fight in Vietnam.
366. Jerry Ford is so dumb he can't fart and chew gum at the same time.
367. The Russians feared Ike. They didn't fear me.
368. Peace is a journey of a thousand miles and it must be taken one step at a time.
369. The noblest search is the search for excellence.
370. You might say that Lyndon Johnson is a cross between a Baptist preacher and a
cowboy.
371. I will do my best. That is all I can do. I ask for your help - and God's.
372. Poverty must not be a bar to learning and learning must offer an escape from poverty.

John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)
373. Man is still the most extraordinary computer of all.
374. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to
miss the future.
375. Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.
376. Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.
377. Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.
378. Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.
379. The best road to progress is freedom's road.
380. If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for
diversity.
381. The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of
truth.
382. A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.
383. As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not
to utter words, but to live by them.
384. Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.
James Madison (1809-1817)
385. The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human
hands, will ever be liable to abuse.
386. In no instance have... the churches been guardians of the liberties of the people.
387. If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign
enemy.
388. Philosophy is common sense with big words.
389. Religion flourishes in greater purity, without than with the aid of Government.
390. The circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money.

391. As long as the reason of man continues fallible, and he is at liberty to exercise it,
different opinions will be formed.
392. Liberty may be endangered by the abuse of liberty, but also by the abuse of power.
393. In Republics, the great danger is, that the majority may not sufficiently respect the
rights of the minority.
394. A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained in arms, is the
best most natural defense of a free country.
395. As a man is said to have a right to his property, he may be equally said to have a
property in his rights.
396. The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.
William McKinley (1897-1901)
397. We need Hawaii just as much and a good deal more than we did California. It is
Manifest Destiny.
398. That's all a man can hope for during his lifetime - to set an example - and when he is
dead, to be an inspiration for history.
399. Cuba ought to be free and independent, and the government should be turned over to
the Cuban people.
400. Let us ever remember that our interest is in concord, not in conflict; and that our real
eminence rests in the victories of peace, not those of war.
401. I have never been in doubt since I was old enough to think intelligently that I would
someday be made president.
402. War should never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed.
403. In the time of darkest defeat, victory may be nearest.
404. The mission of the United States is one of benevolent assimilation.
405. Expositions are the timekeepers of progress.
406. The free man cannot be long an ignorant man.
407. Our differences are policies; our agreements, principles.

408. I am a tariff man, standing on a tariff platform.
James Monroe (1817-1825)
409. It is only when the people become ignorant and corrupt, when they degenerate into a
populace, that they are incapable of exercising their sovereignty.
410. National honor is the national property of the highest value.
411. The public lands are a public stock, which ought to be disposed of to the best
advantage for the nation.
412. If we look to the history of other nations, ancient or modern, we find no example of a
growth so rapid, so gigantic, of a people so prosperous and happy.
413. To impose taxes when the public exigencies require them is an obligation of the most
sacred character, especially with a free people.
414. I have great satisfaction in stating that our relations with France, Russia, and other
powers continue on the most friendly basis.
415. The best form of government is that which is most likely to prevent the greatest sum
of evil.
416. Our country may be likened to a new house. We lack many things, but we possess the
most precious of all - liberty!
Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974)
417. Always remember that others may hate you but those who hate you don't win unless
you hate them. And then you destroy yourself.
418. Defeat doesn't finish a man, quit does. A man is not finished when he's defeated. He's
finished when he quits.
419. If you take no risks, you will suffer no defeats. But if you take no risks, you win no
victories.

420. Let us build bridges, my friends, build bridges to human dignity across that gulf that
separates black America from white America.
421. Any change is resisted because bureaucrats have a vested interest in the chaos in
which they exist.
422. I can take it. The tougher it gets, the cooler I get.
423. If you want to make beautiful music, you must play the black and the white notes
together.
424. Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is
to be on the highest mountain.
425. The finest steel has to go through the hottest fire.
426. Don't get the impression that you arouse my anger. You see, one can only be angry
with those he respects.
427. People react to fear, not love; they don't teach that in Sunday School, but it's true.
Barack Obama (2009- )
428. That's the good thing about being president, I can do whatever I want.
429. In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism
or a politics of hope?
430. I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against
negative stereotypes of Islamwherever they appear.
431. People of Berlin - people of the world - this is our moment. This is our time.
432. I don't oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is
a rash war.
433. We want everybody to act like adults, quit playing games, realize that it's not just my
way or the highway.
434. With the changing economy, no one has lifetime employment. But community
colleges provide lifetime employability.

435. Issues are never simple. One thing I'm proud of is that very rarely will you hear me
simplify the issues.
436. The fact that my 15 minutes of fame has extended a little longer than 15 minutes is
somewhat surprising to me and completely baffling to my wife.
437. As a nuclear power - as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon - the
United States has a moral responsibility to act.
Franklin Pierce (1853-1857)
438. Frequently the more trifling the subject, the more animated and protracted the
discussion.
439. A Republic without parties is a complete anomaly. The histories of all popular
governments show absurd is the idea of their attempting to exist without parties.
440. With the Union my best and dearest earthly hopes are entwined.
441. The dangers of a concentration of all power in the general government of a
confederacy so vast as ours are too obvious to be disregarded.
James K. Polk (1845-1849)
442. Under the benignant providence of Almighty God the representatives of the States
and of the people are again brought together to deliberate for the public good.
443. Well may the boldest fear and the wisest tremble when incurring responsibilities on
which may depend our country's peace and prosperity, and in some degree the hopes
and happiness of the whole human family.
444. One great object of the Constitution was to restrain majorities from oppressing
minorities or encroaching upon their just rights.
445. The world has nothing to fear from military ambition in our Government.
446. Peace, plenty, and contentment reign throughout our borders, and our beloved
country presents a sublime moral spectacle to the world.

447. Although... the Chief Magistrate must almost of necessity be chosen by a party and
stand pledged to its principles and measures, yet in his official action he should not be
the President of a party only, but of the whole people of the United States.
448. Minorities have a right to appeal to the Constitution as a shield against such
oppression.
449. It becomes us in humility to make our devout acknowledgments to the Supreme Ruler
of the Universe for the inestimable civil and religious blessings with which we are
favored.
450. No president who performs his duties faithfully and conscientiously can have any
leisure.
451. With me it is exceptionally true that the Presidency is no bed of roses.
452. Foreign powers do not seemto appreciate the true character of our government.
453. There is more selfishness and less principle among members of Congress than I had
any conception of, before I became President of the U.S.
454. I am heartily rejoiced that my term is so near its close. I will soon cease to be a servant
and will become a sovereign.
Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
455. We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone.
456. Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.
457. There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence,
imagination, and wonder.
458. Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.
459. Trust, but verify.
460. When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat.
461. A people free to choose will always choose peace.
462. There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage
to do what we know is morally right.
463. Heroes may not be braver than anyone else. They're just braver five minutes longer.

464. We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so
we will always be free.
465. We are never defeated unless we give up on God.
466. The problem is not that people are taxed too little, the problem is that government
spends too much.
Franklin D. Roosevelt(1933-1945)
467. Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.
468. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
469. 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 little.
470. We are trying to construct a more inclusive society. We are going to make a country in
which no one is left out.
471. Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free
people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.
472. I ask you to judge me by the enemies I have made.
473. I'm not the smartest fellow in the world, but I can sure pick smart colleagues.
474. A reactionary is a somnambulist walking backwards.
475. There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still.
476. When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.
477. The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.
478. The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.
Theodore Roosevelt(1901-1909)
479. Believe you can and you're halfway there.
480. Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.
481. It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that
we move on to better things.

482. If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you
wouldn't sit for a month.
483. With self-discipline most anything is possible.
484. To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.
485. It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.
486. People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss
drives.
487. Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
488. Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all
mankind.
489. Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.
WoodrowWilson (1913-1921)
490. The man who is swimming against the stream knows the strength of it.
491. The only use of an obstacle is to be overcome. All that an obstacle does with brave
men is, not to frighten them, but to challenge them.
492. In the Lord's Prayer, the first petition is for daily bread. No one can worship God or
love his neighbor on an empty stomach.
493. I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow.
494. The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people.
495. A conservative is someone who makes no changes and consults his grandmother
when in doubt.
496. Tell me what is right and I will fight for it.
497. The seed of revolution is repression.
498. If you want to make enemies, try to change something.
499. Golf is a game in which one endeavors to control a ball with implements ill adapted for
the purpose.
500. The history of liberty is a history of resistance.

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