Franklin Delano Roosevelt citáty

page 6

„Je rozumné zvoliť si nejakú metódu a vyskúšať ju. Ak zlyhá, otvorene to priznajte a vyskúšajte niečo iné. Ale hlavne niečo vyskúšajte.“

„Šťastie nespočíva iba vo vlastníctve peňazí; spočíva v radosti z úspechu, vo vzrušení z tvorivého úsilia.“

„Keď sa dostanete na koniec lana, spravte na ňom uzol a vydržte.“

„Existuje mnoho spôsobov, ako ísť vpred, ale len jeden spôsob, ako stáť na mieste.“

„Gram odvahy má väčšiu cenu ako tona opatrnosti.“

„Žiadny človek nemôže obsadiť úrad prezidenta bez toho, aby si uvedomil, že je prezidentom všetkých ľudí.“

„Ak sa správate k ľuďom dobre, aj oni sa k vám budú chovať dobre - aspoň deväťdesiat percent času.“

„Všetci slobodní ľudia sú hlboko ohromení odvahou a vytrvalosťou gréckeho národa.“

„Proroci pádu americkej demokracie videli, že ich strašné predpovede zmizli.“

„Poznáme to preto, lebo len demokracia, zo všetkých foriem vlády, angažuje plnú silu osvietenej vôle mužov.“

„Život národa je plnosťou miery jeho vôle žiť.“

„Úspech má dvojakú podobu. Veľmi zriedkavo sa stáva, že prichádza za človekom, ktorý dokáže niečo, čo nik iný nespraví. Táto osoba je génius. Avšak priemerný človek, ktorý sa dopracuje k tomu, čo nazývame úspechom, geniálny nie je. Ide o jedinca s priemernými schopnosťami, ktorými disponujú aj iní. On však tieto priemerné schopnosti nadpriemerne rozvinul.“

„Opakovanie nezmení lož na pravdu.“

„Nechcem vidieť jediného vojnového milionára v Spojených štátoch ako dôsledok tejto svetovej katastrofy.“

„V tento deň, desiateho júna 1940, ruka, ktorá držala dýku, ju vrazila do chrbta svojho suseda.“

„Národ, ktorý ničí svoju pôdu, ničí sám seba.“

„Muži nie sú väzňami osudu, ale väzňami vlastnej mysle.“

„Radikál je človek, ktorý stojí oboma nohami pevne v oblakoch.“

„Je čas hovoriť pravdu, celú pravdu, úprimne a odvážne.“

„Dnes medzi nami rastie koncentrácia súkromnej moci bez rovnocennosti v histórii.“

„Filozofia? Som kresťan a demokrat. To je všetko.“

„V politike sa nič nedeje náhodou. Ak sa to stane, môžete sa staviť, že to bolo naplánované tým spôsobom.“

„Obviňujem súčasnú administratívu, že je najväčšou správou výdavkov v období mieru v celej americkej histórii.“

„Americká vláda nemôže dovoliť, aby Američanom hladovali.“

„Myslíte si, že ja si čítam tieto vaše memorandá? Nemôžem ich ani zdvihnúť.“

„Na celom svete je zmena poriadkom dňa.“

„Bránime a budujeme si spôsob života, nielen pre Ameriku, ale pre celé ľudstvo.“

„Buďte úprimní, buďte struční a posaďte sa.“

„Nádeje republiky nemôžu navždy tolerovať nezaslúženú chudobu ani svojpomocný majetok.“

„Ako národ môžeme byť hrdí na to, že sme srdeční; ale nemôžeme si dovoliť byť pochabí.“

„Ústava Spojených štátov sa osvedčila ako najúžasnejšie zostavenie vládnych pravidiel, aké kedy bolo napísané.“

„Tá nadradenosť zmizla - navždy.“

„Sú vo svojej nenávisti voči mne jednohlasní - a ja ich nenávisť vítam.“

„Budeme sa usilovať o dokonalosť. Nedosiahneme ju hneď - ale budeme sa stále usilovať.“

„Demokratická túžba nie je čerstvou fázou v ľudskej histórii. Ona tvorí ľudskú históriu.“

„Myslím si, že častejšie myslíme na šťastie vtáka, ktorý sa skoro dostal k húsenici, ako na nešťastie mladej húsenice.“

“It is now beyond partisan controversy that it is a fundamental individual right of a worker to associate himself with other workers and to bargain collectively with his employer. New laws, in themselves, do not bring a millennium; new laws do not pretend to prevent labor disputes, nor do they cover all industry and all labor. But they do constitute an important step toward the achievement of just and peaceable labor relations in industry.”

“We defend and we build a way of life, not for America alone, but for all mankind.”

“These economic royalists complain that we seek to overthrow the institutions of America. What they really complain of is that we seek to take away their power. Our allegiance to American institutions requires the overthrow of this kind of power. In vain they seek to hide behind the flag and the Constitution. In their blindness they forget what the flag and the Constitution stand for. Now, as always, they stand for democracy, not tyranny; for freedom, not subjection; and against a dictatorship by mob rule and the over-privileged alike.”

“Let us not be afraid to help each other — let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and Senators and Congressmen and Government officials but the voters of this country.”

“We know it because democracy alone has constructed an unlimited civilization capable of infinite progress in the improvement of human life.”

“As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts. Give us strength, too - strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces. And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.”

“We know it because democracy alone, of all forms of government, enlists the full force of men's enlightened will.”

“Yes, we are on our way back — not just by pure chance, my friends, not just by a turn of the wheel, of the cycle. We are coming back more soundly than ever before because we are planning it that way. Don't let anybody tell you differently.”

“The forests are the "lungs" of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.”

“If you treat people right they will treat you right — ninety percent of the time.”

“The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the larger centers has owned the Government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson — and I am not wholly excepting the Administration of W. W. The country is going through a repetition of Jackson's fight with the Bank of the United States — only on a far bigger and broader basis.”

“I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people.”

“On this tenth day of June, 1940, the hand that held the dagger has struck it into the back of its neighbor.”

“I don't want to see a single war millionaire created in the United States as a result of this world disaster.”

“An American Government cannot permit Americans to starve.”

“The peace-loving nations must make a concerted effort in opposition to those violations of treaties and those ignorings of humane instincts which today are creating a state of international anarchy and instability from which there is no escape through mere isolation or neutrality.”

“Democracy is not dying. We know it because we have seen it revive — and grow. We know it cannot die — because it is built on the unhampered initiative of individual men and women joined together in a common enterprise — an enterprise undertaken and carried through by the free expression of a free majority.”

“And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose. With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.”

“When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.”

“In this world, is the destiny of mankind controlled by some transcendental entity or law? Is it like the hand of God hovering above? At least it is true that man has no control; even over his own will.”

“Enlightened business is learning that competition ought not to cause bad social consequences which inevitably react upon the profits of business itself. All but the hopelessly reactionary will agree that to conserve our primary resources of man power, government must have some control over maximum hours, minimum wages, the evil of child labor and the exploitation of unorganized labor.”

“The Nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.”

“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.”

“We must be the great arsenal of Democracy.”

“As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense, that always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people, in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory.”

“Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy.”

“As Nicaraguan might say, he's a sonofabitch but he's ours.”

“We guard against the forces of anti-Christian aggression, which may attack us from without, and the forces of ignorance and fear which may corrupt us from within.”

“If the spirit of God is not in us, and if we will not prepare to give all that we have and all that we are to preserve Christian civilization in our land, we shall go to destruction.”