Quotes by
Harry Truman |
1884-1972 , American President [1945-1953]
The 33rd president of the United States (1945–53), who led his country through the final stages of World War II and through the early years of the Cold War, vigorously opposing Soviet expansionism in Europe and sending U.S. forces to turn back a communist invasion of South Korea. more info:
| 57 quotes | 13,197 visits |
Quotations
| • | You can't get rich in politics unless you're a crook. 57 |
| • | A society will be judged by how it treats its weakest members. 24 |
| • | My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the truth, there’s hardly any difference. 24 |
| • | Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day. 19 |
| • | If we do not abolish war on this earth, then surely one day war will abolish us from the earth. 18 |
| • | A person who is fundamentally honest doesn't need a code of ethics. The Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount are all the ethical code anybody needs. 16 |
| • | The 'C' students run the world. 14 |
| • | I sit here all day trying to persuade people to do the things they ought to have the sense to do without my persuading them. That's all the powers of the President amount to. 13 |
| • | It's not the hand that signs the laws that holds the destiny of America. It's the hand that casts the ballot. 13 |
| • | Work Hard. Do your best. Keep your word. Never get too big for your britches. Trust in God. Have no fear; and Never forget a friend. 13 |
| • | I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was hell. 13 |
| • | It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. 13 |
| • | A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties. 12 |
| • | If you don't have your own goals, you'll be doomed to work toward someone else's. 11 |
| • | The only thing new in the world is the history you do not know. 11 |
| • | Imperfect action is better than perfect inaction. 10 |
| • | It’s a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose your own. 10 |
| • | He’ll sit there are he’ll say “Do this! Do that!” and nothing will happen. Poor Ike - it won’t be a bit like the army. (“Ike” being his successor, president Eisenhower) 9 |
| • | When the decision is up before you-and on my desk I have a motto which says “The buck stops here” -the decision has to be made. 9 |
| • | How many times do you have to get hit over the head until you figure out who’s hitting you. 9 |
| • | I do not believe in shooting anything that cannot shoot back. 8 |
| • | How far would Moses have gone if he had taken a poll in Egypt? 8 |
| • | It doesn't matter how big a ranch you own or how many cows you brand, the size of your funeral is still gonna depend on the weather. 8 |
| • | I never would have agreed to the formulation of the Central Intelligence Agency back in forty-seven, if I had known it would become the American Gestapo. 8 |
| • | I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it. 8 |
| • | If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. (perhaps the phrase was coined by one of Truman's advisors) 8 |
| • | A politician is a man who understands government. A statesman is a politician who's been dead for 15 years. 7 |
| • | Always be sincere, even if you don't mean it. 7 |
| • | I shall continue to do what I think is right, whether anybody likes it or not. 7 |
| • | America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination, and unbeatable determination to do the job at hand. 7 |
| • | The absence of war is not peace. 6 |
| • | The successful man has enthusiasm. Good work is never done in cold blood; heat is needed for forge anything. Every great achievement is the story of a flaming heart. 6 |
| • | The President hears a hundred voices telling him that he is the greatest man in the world. He must listen carefully indeed to hear the one voice that tells him his is not. 6 |
| • | The difficulty with businessmen entering politics, after they've had a successful business career, is that they want to start at the top. 6 |
| • | The only things worth learning are the things you learn after you know it all. 6 |
| • | Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes. 6 |
| • | Men make history, not the other way around. 5 |
| • | The atom bomb was no 'great decision.' It was merely another powerful weapon in the arsenal of righteousness. 5 |
| • | You can always amend a big plan, but you can never expand a little one. I don't believe in little plans. I believe in plans big enough to meet a situation which we can't possibly foresee now. 5 |
| • | Being a president is like riding a tiger. A man has to keep on riding or he is swallowed. 5 |
| • | All my life, whenever it comes time to make a decision, I make it and forget about it. 5 |
| • | Nothing is more important in our national life than the welfare of our children. 5 |
| • | A bureaucrat is a Democrat who holds some office that a Republican wants. 5 |
| • | You want a friend in Washington? Get a dog. 5 |
| • | The White House is the finest prison in the world. 4 |
| • | The Marshall Plan will go down in history as one of America's greatest contributions to the peace of the world. 4 |
| • | We believe that all men are created equal because they are created in the image of God 4 |
| • | No nation on this globe should be more internationally minded than America because it was built by all nations. 4 |
| • | To be able to lead others, a man must be willing to go forward alone. 4 |
| • | I fired MacArthur because he wouldn’t respect the authority of the president. I didn’t fire him because he was a dumb son of a bitch, although he was. 4 |
| • | Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers. 4 |
| • | Prosperous farmers make for a prosperous nation, and when farmers are in trouble, the nation is in trouble. 3 |
| • | I said that an expert was a fella who was afraid to learn anything new because then he wouldn't be an expert anymore. 3 |
| • | A president either is constantly on top of events or, if he hesitates, events will soon be on top of him. I never felt that I could let up for a moment. 3 |
| • | Carry the battle to them. Don't let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive. And don't ever apologize for anything. 3 |
Personal Stories
| • | Three things ruin a man: power, money, and women. I never wanted power. I never had any money, and the only woman in my life is up at the house right now. 7 |
Funny Quotes
| • | I want a one-armed economist, that way he cannot say, “on the other hand”. 7 |
