Harry S. Truman Quotes

224 Sourced Quotes

Democracy alone can supply the vitalizing force to stir the peoples of the world into triumphant action, not only against their human oppressors, but also against their ancient enemies-hunger, misery, and despair.

Harry S. Truman
I have little patience with people who take the Bill of Rights for granted. The Bill of Rights, contained in the first ten amendments to the Constitution, is every American's guarantee of freedom.

Harry S. Truman
Peace is precious to us. It is the way of life we strive for with all the strength and wisdom we possess. But more precious than peace are freedom and justice. We will fight, if fight we must, to keep our freedom and to prevent justice from being destroyed.

Harry S. Truman
Here we now have the freedom of all religions, and I hope that never again will we have a repetition of religious bigotry, as we have had in certain periods of our own history. There is no room for that kind of foolishness here.

Harry S. Truman
The Republican Party either corrupts its liberals or it expels them.

Harry S. Truman
The friendless, the weak, the victims of prejudice and public excitement are entitled to the same quality of justice and fair play that the rich, the powerful, the well-connected, and the fellow with pull thinks he can get.

Harry S. Truman
Prosperous farmers make for a prosperous nation, and when farmers are in trouble, the nation is in trouble.

Harry S. Truman
There is a lure in power. It can get into a man's blood just as gambling and lust for money have been known to do

Harry S. Truman
In the long view, no nation is any healthier than its children.

Harry S. Truman
I wonder how many times you have to be hit on the head before you find out who's hitting you? It's about time that the people of America realized what the Republicans have been doing to them.

Harry S. Truman
Despite his unimpressive appearance and manner, he was a brilliant fellow with a crystal-clear mind.... It was just that, when it came time for him to act like an executive, he was like a great many other people; when the time comes to make decisions, they have difficulty doing it.

Harry S. Truman
There is some risk involved in action, there always is. But there is far more risk in failure to act.

Harry S. Truman
I fear we are too much concerned with material things to remember that our real strength lies in spiritual values.

Harry S. Truman
About the meanest thing you can say about a man is that he means well.

Harry S. Truman
There is enough in the world for everyone to have plenty, to live happily, and to be at peace with his neighbors.

Harry S. Truman
All will concede that in order to have good neighbors, we must also be good neighbors. That applies in every field of human endeavor.

Harry S. Truman
At the present moment in world history nearly every nation must choose between alternative ways of life. The choice is too often not a free one.

Harry S. Truman
He wanted to know what assurance we could give the American people that we aren't getting the tar licked out of us by the North Korean army. It has never happened to us. It won't happen this time.

Harry S. Truman
The United States is not so strong, the final triumph of the democratic ideal is not so inevitable that we can ignore what the world thinks of us or our record.

Harry S. Truman
If you tell Congress everything about the world situation, they get hysterical. If you tell them nothing, they go fishing.

Harry S. Truman
I believe in the brotherhood of man, not merely the brotherhood of white men but the brotherhood of all men before law.

Harry S. Truman
Justice remains the greatest power on earth. To that tremendous power alone will we submit.

Harry S. Truman
Our religious faith gives us the answer to the false beliefs of Communism... I have the feeling that God has created us and brought us to our present position of power and strength for some great purpose.

Harry S. Truman
I suppose that history will remember my term in office as the years when the Cold War began to overshadow our lives. I have hardly a day in office that has not been dominated by this all-embracing struggle. And always in the background there has been the atomic bomb. But when history says that my term of office saw the begining of the Cold War, it will also say that in those eight years we have set the course that can win it.

Harry S. Truman
I received a card the other day from Steve Early which said, "Don't Worry Me--I am an 8 Ulcer Man on 4 Ulcer Pay.

Harry S. Truman
I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures. I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way. I believe that our help should be primarily through economic and financial aid which is essential to economic stability and orderly political processes.

Harry S. Truman
You know of our sympathetic interest in this country in Iran's desire to control its natural resources. From this point of view we were happy to see that the British Government has on its part accepted the principle of nationalization.

Harry S. Truman
It isn't polls or public opinion at the moment that counts. It is right and wrong and leadership--men with fortitude, honesty, and a belief in the right that makes epochs in the history of the world.

Harry S. Truman
Nothing is more important in our national life than the welfare of our children.

Harry S. Truman
The only thing you have to worry about is bad luck. I never had bad luck.

Harry S. Truman