“To blend, without coercion, the individual good and the common good is the essence of citizenship in a free country.”

— Dwight D. Eisenhower, Columbia University Inaugural Address, 1948

About Dwight D. Eisenhower

1890 – 1969

Thirty-fourth President of the United States and Supreme Allied Commander in Europe in World War II.

“Change based on principle is progress. Constant change without principle becomes chaos.”

“Kinship among nations is not determined in such measurements as proximity of size and age.”

“The freedom of the individual and his willingness to follow real leadership are at the core of America's strength.”

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

“It is unlikely that the good of a snail should reside in its shell: so is it likely that the good of a man should?”

“In theory there is nothing to hinder our following what we are taught; but in life there are many things to draw us aside.”

“If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men's cottages princes' palaces.”

“That which makes the man no worse than he was makes his life no worse: it has no power to harm, without or within.”

“Always take the short cut; and that is the rational one. Therefore say and do everything according to soundest reason.”