Eleanor Roosevelt Quotes

214 Sourced Quotes

Because they have so little, children must rely on imagination rather than experience.

Eleanor Roosevelt
Practically nothing we do ever stands by itself. If it is good, it will serve some good purpose in the future. If it is evil, it may haunt us and handicap our efforts in unimagined ways.

Eleanor Roosevelt
The separation of church and state is extremely important to any of us who holds to the original traditions of our nation.... To change these traditions... would be harmful to our whole attitude of tolerance in the religious area. If we look at situations which have arisen in the past in Europe and other world areas, I think we will see the reason why it is wise to hold to our early traditions.

Eleanor Roosevelt
We will have to want peace, want it enough to pay for it, before it becomes an accepted rule.

Eleanor Roosevelt
Always be on time. Never try to make any personal engagements. Do as little talking as humanly possible. Never be disturbed by anything. Always do what you're told to do as quickly as possible. Remember to lean back in a parade, so that people can see your husband. Don't get too fat to ride three on a seat. Get out of the way as quickly as you're not needed.

Eleanor Roosevelt
It has been a long fight to put the control of our economic system in the hands of the government.

Eleanor Roosevelt
I never met Mahatma Gandhi, but, I think everyone felt they knew him even if they hadn't met him.

Eleanor Roosevelt
Curiously enough, it is often the people who refuse to assume any responsibility who are apt to be the sharpest critics of those who do.

Eleanor Roosevelt
Strength that goes wrong is even more dangerous than weakness that goes wrong.

Eleanor Roosevelt
For all of us, as we grow older, perhaps the most important thing is to keep alive our love of others and to believe that our love and interest are as vitally necessary to them as to us. This is what makes us keep on growing and refills the fountains of energy.

Eleanor Roosevelt
Somehow we must be able to show people that democracy is not about words, but action.

Eleanor Roosevelt
A number of people still think of the United States as being overwhelmingly English, Protestant, and white. This erroneous idea influences their whole outlook.

Eleanor Roosevelt
I found that almost everyone had something interesting to contribute to my education.

Eleanor Roosevelt
A successful life for a man or for a woman seems to me to lie in the knowledge that one has developed to the limit the capacities with which one was endowed; that one has contributed something constructive to family and friends and to a home community; that one has brought happiness wherever it was possible; that one has earned one's way in the world, has kept some friends, and need not be ashamed to face oneself honestly.

Eleanor Roosevelt
A respect for the rights of other peoples to determine their forms of government and their economy will not weaken our democracy. It will inevitably strengthen it.

Eleanor Roosevelt
Any citizen should be willing to give all that he has to give his country in work or sacrifice in times of crisis.

Eleanor Roosevelt
If you take stands in any way and people feel that you have any success in - a following, why those who disagree with you are going to feel very strongly about it.

Eleanor Roosevelt
The kind of propaganda that some of the religious groups, aided and abetted by the opposition, put forth in that campaign utterly disgusted me. If I needed anything to show me what prejudice can do to the intelligence of human beings that campaign was the best lesson I could have had.

Eleanor Roosevelt
About the only value the story of my life may have is to show that one can, even without any particular gifts, overcome obstacles that seem insurmountable if one is willing to face the fact that they must be overcome.

Eleanor Roosevelt
Someone once asked me what I regarded as the three most important requirements for happiness. My answer was: A feeling that you have been honest with yourself and those around you; a feeling that you have done the best you could both in your personal life and in your work; and the ability to love others.

Eleanor Roosevelt
There is a desire for progress in the hearts of all men, and it is the sense of frustration and inability to move forward that brings violent revolution.

Eleanor Roosevelt
Most women, I think, though they may complain a little about this, would agree that meeting the needs of others is not a real burden; it is what makes life worth living. It is probably the deepest satisfaction a woman has.

Eleanor Roosevelt
Feelings, too, are facts. Emotion is a fact. Human experience is a fact. It is often possible to gain more real insight into human beings and their motivation by reading great fiction than by personal acquaintance.

Eleanor Roosevelt
No, I have never wanted to be a man. I have often wanted to be more effective as a woman, but I have never felt that trousers would do the trick!

Eleanor Roosevelt
I think the thing we must look for actually is a growth in our people and in whoever comes in a quality of courage to tell our people just what world conditions are.

Eleanor Roosevelt