"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes,
our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."
John Adams, 1770.
"In matters of style, swim with the current; in
matters of principle, stand like a rock." Attributed to Thomas Jefferson,
but it can't be proved that he ever said or wrote it.
"There are no necessary evils in government. Its
evils exist only in its abuses." Andrew Jackson, 1832.
"A house divided against itself cannot stand ...
this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free."
Abraham Lincoln, 1858.
"Speak softly, and carry a big stick."
Theodore
Roosevelt, 1901.
"Nothing in the world can take the place of
persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful
men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence
and determination alone are omnipotent." Calvin Coolidge, 1929.
"Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing
we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning unjustified terror
which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."
Franklin
D. Roosevelt, 1933.
"Do you know what makes a leader? It's the man or
woman who can persuade people to do what they ought to do - and which
they sometimes don't do - without being persuaded. They must also have
the ability to persuade people to do what they do not want to do and like
it." Harry Truman, 1952.
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched,
every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who
hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."
Dwight
D. Eisenhower, 1953.
"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your
country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. My fellow
citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what
together we can do for the freedom of man." John F. Kennedy, 1961.
"Our nation can be strong abroad only if it is
strong at home. And we know that the best way to enhance freedom in other
lands is to demonstrate here that our democratic system is worthy of
emulation." Jimmy Carter, 1977.
"I've always felt the nine most terrifying words
in the English language are: I'm from the government, and I'm here to
help." Ronald Reagan, 1986.
"When our memories outweigh our dreams, it is then
that we become old." Bill Clinton, 1999.
"Change will not come if we wait for some other
person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been
waiting for. We are the change that we seek." Barack Obama, 2008.
