“We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt, Second Inaugural Address (20 January 1937)

About Franklin D. Roosevelt

1882 – 1945

Thirty-second President of the United States, who led the country through the Great Depression and most of World War II.

“There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected.”

“Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth.”

“This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly.”

“A little flesh, a little breath, and a Reason to rule all—that is myself.”

“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.”

“One must learn to know oneself before knowing anything else.”

“Wouldst thou other men know, look thou within thine own heart.”

“I could give you no advice but this: to go into yourself and to explore the depths where your life wells forth.”

“The basic stimulus to the intelligence is doubt, a feeling that the meaning of an experience is not self-evident.”