WIST Quotations

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- “If You Ask Me,” Ladies Home Journal (Oct 1941)

Dave — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 12:56:43 +0000

Religion to me is simply the conviction that all human beings must hold some belief in a power greater than themselves, and that whatever their religious belief may be, it must move them to live better in this world and to approach whatever the future holds with serenity.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
“If You Ask Me,” Ladies Home Journal (Oct 1941)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- “Prayer for All Those Who Work or Fight in the War”

Dave — Mon, 22 Feb 2021 16:58:24 +0000

Lord have pity upon all men.
To those who are in darkness
Be their light.
To those who are in despair
Be their Hope.
To those who are suffering
Be their Healing.
To those who are fearful
Be their Courage.
To those who are defeated
Be their Victory.
To those who are dying
Be their Life.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
“Prayer for All Those Who Work or Fight in the War”
(Source)

One of several prayers found in Roosevelt's wallet after her death. Author unknown. Another prayer found there:

Dear Lord, lest I continue in my complacent ways, help me to remember that somewhere someone died for me today. And if there be war, help me to remember to ask, "Am I worth dying for?"

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- “What Has Happened to the American Dream?” Atlantic Monthly (Apr 1961)

Dave — Wed, 04 Feb 2015 14:35:45 +0000

The future will be determined by the young, and there is no more essential task today, it seems to me, than to bring before them once more, in all its brightness, in all its splendor and beauty, the American dream, lest we let it fade, too concerned with the ways of earning a living or impressing our neighbors or getting ahead or finding bigger and more potent ways of destroying the world and all that is in it.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
“What Has Happened to the American Dream?” Atlantic Monthly (Apr 1961)
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- (Attributed, 1945)

Dave — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 13:08:24 +0000

The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marine Corps!

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
(Attributed, 1945)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
(Attributed)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

What one has to do usually can be done.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
(Attributed)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you also have an obligation to be one.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
(Attributed)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
(Attributed)

Sometimes cited to her autobiography This is My Story (1937), but not found in that book. It seems to have been inspired by a comment she made in 1935: "A snub is the effort of a person who feels superior to make someone else feel inferior. To do so, he has to find someone who can be made to feel inferior." The quotation was in its present form (and attributed to her) by 1940. More information here.

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:49:06 +0000

To have a friend who knows you by name gives you a sense that you are not alone in the world.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
(Attributed)

Quoted in J. Lash, Eleanor: The Years Alone (1972)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- (Attributed)

Dave — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 12:38:48 +0000

You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best you have to give.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
(Attributed)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 13:38:46 +0000

The reason that fiction is more interesting than any other form of literature, to those who really like to study people, is that in fiction the author can really tell the truth without humiliating himself.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
(Attributed)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 21:40:06 +0000

Some people are going to leave a mark on this world, while others will leave a stain.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
(Attributed)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Eleanor Roosevelt’s Book of Common Sense Etiquette, ch. 2 (1962)

Dave — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 19:57:14 +0000

Too many of us stay walled up because we are afraid of being hurt. We are afraid to care too much, for fear that the other person does not care at all.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Eleanor Roosevelt’s Book of Common Sense Etiquette, ch. 2 (1962)
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- If You Ask Me (1946)

Dave — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 12:47:23 +0000

My greatest fear has always been that I would be afraid — afraid physically or mentally or morally and allow myself to be influenced by fear instead of by my honest convictions.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
If You Ask Me (1946)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- If You Ask Me (1946)

Dave — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 13:10:49 +0000

No, I have never wanted to be a man. I have often wanted to be more effective as a woman, but I have never felt that trousers would do the trick!

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
If You Ask Me (1946)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- India and the Awakening East (1953)

Dave — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 13:54:53 +0000

We must show by our behavior that we believe in equality and justice and that our religion teaches faith and love and charity to our fellow men. Here is where each of us has a job to do that must be done at home, because we can lose the battle on the soil of the United States just as surely as we can lose it in any one of the countries of the world.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
India and the Awakening East (1953)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- New York Times (1960)

Dave — Tue, 20 May 2008 10:24:41 +0000

We have to face the fact that either all of us are going to die together or we are going to learn to live together and if we are to live together we have to talk.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
New York Times (1960)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt, ch. 43 “Milestones” (1961)

Dave — Thu, 12 Feb 2015 14:51:35 +0000

It seems to me that America’s objective today should be to try to make herself the best possible mirror of democracy that she can. The people of the world can see what happens here. They watch us to see what we are going to do and how well we can do it. We are giving them the only possible picture of democracy that we can: the picture as it works in actual practice. This is the only way other peoples can see for themselves how it works; and can determine for themselves whether this thing is good in itself, whether it is better than they have, better than what other political and economic systems offer them.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt, ch. 43 “Milestones” (1961)
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt, Preface (1961)

Dave — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:28:26 +0000

To me who dreamed so much as a child, who made a dreamworld in which I was the heroine of an unending story, the lives of people around me continued to have a certain storybook quality. I learned something which has stood me in good stead many times — The most important thing in any relationship is not what you get but what you give.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt, Preface (1961)

The last line was originally in her autobiography This Is My Story (1937).

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- The Nation Magazine (1940)

Dave — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:01:59 +0000

We do not move forward by curtailing people’s liberty because we are afraid of what they may do or say.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
The Nation Magazine (1940)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- This Is My Story (1937)

Dave — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:55:46 +0000

Up to a certain point it is good for us to know that there are people in the world who will give us love and unquestioned loyalty to the limit of their ability. I doubt, however, if it is good for us to feel assured of this without the accompanying obligation of having to justify this devotion by our behavior.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
This Is My Story (1937)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- This Troubled World (1938)

Dave — Wed, 13 May 2015 12:10:40 +0000

We will have to want peace, want it enough to pay for it, pay for it in our own behavior and in material ways. We will have to want it enough to overcome our lethargy and go out and find all those in other countries who want it as much as we do.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
This Troubled World (1938)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Tomorrow Is Now (1963)

Dave — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:12:28 +0000

We must know what we think and speak out, even at the risk of unpopularity. In the final analysis, a democratic government represents the sum total of the courage and the integrity of its individuals. It cannot be better than they are.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Tomorrow Is Now (1963)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Tomorrow Is Now (1963)

Dave — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:22:43 +0000

There never has been security. No man has ever known what he would meet around the next corner; if life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Tomorrow Is Now (1963)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Tomorrow Is Now (1963)

Dave — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 00:38:33 +0000

A respect for the rights of other people to determine their forms of government and their economy will not weaken our democracy. It will inevitably strengthen it. One of the first things we must get rid of is the idea that democracy is tantamount to capitalism.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Tomorrow Is Now (1963)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Tomorrow Is Now (1963)

Dave — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 14:30:24 +0000

Democracy requires both discipline and hard work. It is not easy for individuals to govern themselves. … It is one thing to gain freedom, but no one can give you the right to self-government. This you must earn for yourself by long discipline.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Tomorrow Is Now (1963)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Tomorrow Is Now (1963)

Dave — Wed, 08 Apr 2015 12:40:47 +0000

Our trouble is that we do not demand enough of the people who represent us. We are responsible for their activities. … We must spur them to more imagination and enterprise in making a push into the unknown; we must make clear that we intend to have responsible and courageous leadership.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Tomorrow Is Now (1963)
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Tomorrow Is Now (1963)

Dave — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 12:09:04 +0000

One thing I believe profoundly: We make our own history. The course of history is directed by the choices we make and our choices grow out of the ideas, the beliefs, the values, the dreams of the people. It is not so much the powerful leaders that determine our destiny as the much more powerful influence of the combined voices of the people themselves.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Tomorrow Is Now (1963)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Tomorrow Is Now (1963)

Dave — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 12:26:36 +0000

I am stressing that it is the force of ideas rather than the impact of material things that made us a great nation. It is my conviction, too, that only the power of ideas, of enduring values, can keep us a great nation. For, where there is no vision the people perish.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Tomorrow Is Now (1963)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Tomorrow Is Now (1963)

Dave — Tue, 15 Aug 2017 03:09:32 +0000

Ability is not something to be saved, like money, in the hope that you can draw interest on it. The interest comes from the spending. Unused ability, like unused muscles, will atrophy.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Tomorrow Is Now (1963)
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Tomorrow is Now (1963)

Dave — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 18:19:07 +0000

Long ago, there was a noble word, “liberal,” which derives from the word “free.” Now a strange thing happened to that word. A man named Hitler made it a term of abuse, a matter of suspicion, because those who were not with him were against him, and liberals had no use for Hitler. And then another man named McCarthy cast the same opprobrium on the word. Indeed, there was a time — a short but dismaying time — when many Americans began to distrust the word which derived from “free.”

One thing we must all do. We must cherish and honor the word “free” or it will cease to apply to us. And that would be an inconceivable situation.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Tomorrow is Now (1963)
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- You Learn by Living (1960)

Dave — Tue, 06 May 2008 11:00:51 +0000

A mature person is one who does not think only in absolutes, who is able to be objective even when deeply stirred emotionally, who has learned that there is both good and bad in all people and all things, and who walks humbly and deals charitably with the circumstances of life, knowing that in this world no one is all-knowing and therefore all of us need both love and charity.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
You Learn by Living (1960)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- You Learn By Living (1960)

Dave — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 14:42:43 +0000

Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
You Learn By Living (1960)

An earlier version of this (the first sentence, at least) was included in a letter to Joseph Lash (13 Feb 1946).

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- You Learn By Living (1960)

Dave — Wed, 22 Apr 2015 12:30:11 +0000

Surely, in the light of history, it is more intelligent to hope rather than to fear, to try rather than not to try. For one thing we know beyond all doubt: Nothing has ever been achieved by the person who says, “It can’t be done.”

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
You Learn By Living (1960)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- You Learn by Living, ch. 1 “Learning to Learn” (1960)

Dave — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 15:42:30 +0000

One thing life has taught me: if you are interested, you never have to look for new interests. They come to you. They will gravitate as automatically as the needle to the north. Somehow, it is unnecessary, in any cold-blooded sense, to sit down and put your head in your hands and plan them. All you need to do is to be curious, receptive, eager for experience. And there’s one strange thing: when you are genuinely interested in one thing, it will always lead to something else.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
You Learn by Living, ch. 1 “Learning to Learn” (1960)
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- You Learn by Living, ch. 10 (1960)

Dave — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 21:51:42 +0000

No man is defeated without until he has first been defeated within.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
You Learn by Living, ch. 10 (1960)
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- You Learn by Living, ch. 2 “Fear — the Great Enemy” (1960)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

The encouraging thing is that every time you meet a situation, though you may think at the time it is an impossibility and you go through the tortures of the damned, once you have met it and lived through it you find that forever after you are freer than you ever were before. If you can live through that you can live through anything. You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, “I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.” The danger lies in refusing to face the fear, in not daring to come to grips with it. If you fail anywhere along the line it will take away your confidence. You must make yourself succeed every time. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
You Learn by Living, ch. 2 “Fear — the Great Enemy” (1960)
(Source)

This is the likely source for the misattribution of this Mary Schmich quotation to Roosevelt.

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- You Learn by Living, Foreword (1960)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. In stopping to think through the meaning of what I have learned, there is much that I believe intensely, much I am unsure of. In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And, the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
You Learn by Living, Foreword (1960)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- You Learn By Living, Introduction (1960)

Dave — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 19:53:29 +0000

Learning and living. But they are really the same thing, aren’t they? There is no experience from which you can’t learn something. … And the purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
You Learn By Living, Introduction (1960)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1939-04-01), “My Day”

Dave — Wed, 28 May 2008 10:22:41 +0000

Like everything else in the world, however, there is a price to pay for love, for the more happiness we derive from the existence and companionship of other human beings, the more vulnerable we are when there is any cause for apprehension. It takes courage to love, but pain through love is the purifying fire which those who live generously know. We all know people who are so much afraid of pain that they shut themselves up like clams in a shell and, giving out nothing, receive nothing and therefore shrink until life is a mere living death.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1939-04-01), “My Day”
(Source)

Written following the birth of her grandson, John Roosevelt Boettiger.

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1939-07-14), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 13 May 2008 10:21:16 +0000

Little by little it dawned upon me that this law [Prohibition] was not making people drink any less, but it was making hypocrites and law breakers of a great number of people. It seemed to me best to go back to the old situation in which, if a man or woman drank to excess, they were injuring themselves and their immediate family and friends and the act was a violation against their own sense of morality and no violation against the law of the land.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1939-07-14), “My Day”
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1939-07-14), “My Day”

Dave — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:16:27 +0000

I was one of those who was very happy when the original prohibition amendment passed. I thought innocently that a law in this country would automatically be complied with, and my own observation led me to feel rather ardently that the less strong liquor anyone consumed the better it was. During prohibition I observed the law meticulously, but I came gradually to see that laws are only observed with the consent of the individuals concerned and a moral change still depends on the individual and not on the passage of any law.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1939-07-14), “My Day”
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1939-10-16), “My Day”

Dave — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:29:51 +0000

Will we ever learn to use reason instead of force in the world, and will people ever be wise enough to refuse to follow bad leaders or to take away the freedom of other people?

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1939-10-16), “My Day”
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1940-05-17), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 19:09:37 +0000

Much has been said in this country about not wanting to participate in foreign wars and people who have said it, must now face the fact that foreign wars come very close to our own shores. We will always have not only the religious groups, but many groups who feel that war is wrong. I cannot imagine how anyone could feel otherwise with the picture before them today. But when force not only rules in certain countries, but is as menacing to all the world, as it is today, one cannot live in a Utopia which prays for different conditions and ignores those which exist.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1940-05-17), “My Day”
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1940-05-17), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 16:19:28 +0000

I have a great belief in spiritual force, but I think we have to realize that spiritual force alone has to have material force with it so long as we live in a material world. The two together make a strong combination.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1940-05-17), “My Day”
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1940-05-17), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 18:22:00 +0000

For years I have hoped that we could stop war as an instrument for settling any national and international difficulties. I have worked for it and shall continue to work for it. However, one has to face the world as it is and, without discarding one’s ideals, meet the realities of the day and keep on working for what one hopes will be a better future.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1940-05-17), “My Day”
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1940-07-01), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:52:31 +0000

I do not know Mr. Willkie, but the headline in one of the metropolitan papers yesterday said: “Willkie Aims At Unity, Defense and Recovery.” I’m discouraged. In Heaven’s name, will anyone aim at anything else?
Sometimes I wonder if we shall ever grow up in our politics and say definite things which mean something, or whether we shall always go on using generalities to which everyone can subscribe, and which mean very little.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1940-07-01), “My Day”
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1941-09-12), “My Day”

Dave — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:12:02 +0000

Long ago I can remember my grandmother telling me that one should always sleep in all of one’s guests’ beds, to make sure that they are comfortable.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1941-09-12), “My Day”
(Source)

Writing with relief to discover that the Lincoln Bedroom bed, where she had to sleep while her room was being painted, was in fact comfortable.

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1942-01-14), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:56:07 +0000

Long ago, I made up my mind that, when things were said involving only me, I would pay no attention to them, except when valid criticism was carried by which I could profit.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1942-01-14), “My Day”
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1943-04-15), “My Day”

Dave — Thu, 15 May 2008 10:27:34 +0000

It is not only in war, however, that we fight for freedom. One fights for freedom in personal contacts and in many phases of civilian life. When the war is over, the four freedoms will not have been won, we shall simply have dominated their more aggressive enemies. At all times, day by day, we have to continue fighting for freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom from fear, and freedom from want — for these are things that must be gained in peace as well as in war. At all times, day by day, we have to continue fighting for freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom from want — for these are things that must be gained in peace as well as in war.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1943-04-15), “My Day”
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1943-05-11), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 18:40:16 +0000

In the democracies of the world, the passion for freedom of speech and of thought is always accentuated when there is an effort anywhere to keep ideas away from people and to prevent them from making their own decisions. One of the best ways of enslaving a people is to keep them from education and thus make it impossible for them to understand what is going on in the world as a whole. […] The second way of enslaving a people is to suppress the sources of information, not only by burning books, but by controlling all the other ways in which ideas are transmitted.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1943-05-11), “My Day”
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1943-08-13), “My Day”

Dave — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 16:27:02 +0000

I know that we will be the sufferers if we let great wrongs occur without exerting ourselves to correct them.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1943-08-13), “My Day”
(Source)

On the persecution of Jews in Europe.

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1943-08-13), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 05 Aug 2025 16:59:37 +0000

It seems to me that it is the part of common sense for the world as a whole to protest in its own interest against wholesale persecution, because none of us by ourselves would be strong enough to stand against a big enough group which decided to treat us in the same way. We may have our individual likes and dislikes, but this is a question which far transcends prejudices or inclinations.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1943-08-13), “My Day”
(Source)

On the persecution of Jews in Europe.

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1943-09-23), “My Day”

Dave — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 11:51:51 +0000

The important thing is neither your nationality nor the religion you professed, but how your faith translated itself in your life.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1943-09-23), “My Day”
(Source)

On the war dead in the military cemetery on Guadalcanal, and the messages left by their comrades-in-arms.

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1944-01-07), “My Day”

Dave — Wed, 20 May 2015 13:39:57 +0000

Peace will not be built, however, by people with bitterness in their hearts.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1944-01-07), “My Day”
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1944-11-08), “My Day”

Dave — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 02:54:28 +0000

In political life I have never felt that anything really mattered but the satisfaction of knowing that you stood for the things in which you believed, and had done the very best you could.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1944-11-08), “My Day”
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1945-08-10), “My Day”

Dave — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 15:38:56 +0000

Person after person has said to me in these last few days that this new world we face terrifies them. I can understand how that feeling would arise unless one believes that men are capable of greatness beyond their past achievements. The times have usually brought us a leader when we needed him. The times now call for mankind as a whole to rise to great heights.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1945-08-10), “My Day”
(Source)

After the dropping of the atomic bomb.

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1946-02-16), “My Day”

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1946-02-16), “My Day”
(Source)

Regarding the Holocaust, on visiting a Jewish refugee camp in Frankfurt, Germany.

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1947-10-15), “My Day”

Dave — Wed, 06 May 2015 12:06:18 +0000

Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1947-10-15), “My Day”
(Source)

On the US, hoping that "a just and workable plan would be evolved," officially declaring support on 11 October for the United Nations plan to partition Palestine into separate Arab and Jewish states.

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1947-10-29), “My Day”

Dave — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:57:02 +0000

I have been one of those who have carried the fight for complete freedom of information in the United Nations. And while accepting the fact that some of our press, our radio commentators, our prominent citizens and our movies may at times be blamed legitimately for things they have said and done, still I feel that the fundamental right of freedom of thought and expression is essential. If you curtail what the other fellow says and does, you curtail what you yourself may say and do.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1947-10-29), “My Day”
(Source)

On the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1947-10-29), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 17:35:04 +0000

One thing is sure — none of the arts flourishes on censorship and repression. And by this time it should be evident that the American public is capable of doing its own censoring.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1947-10-29), “My Day”
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1947-10-29), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 15:41:41 +0000

The film industry is a great industry, with infinite possibilities for good and bad. Its primary purpose is to entertain people. On the side, it can do many other things. It can popularize certain ideals, it can make education palatable. But in the long run, the judge who decides whether what it does is good or bad is the man or woman who attends the movies. In a democratic country I do not think the public will tolerate a removal of its right to decide what it thinks of the ideas and performances of those who make the movie industry work.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1947-10-29), “My Day”
(Source)

On the House Un-American Activities Committee and Hollywood blacklisting.

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1947-10-29), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 14:43:01 +0000

I have never liked the idea of an Un-American Activities Committee. I have always thought that a strong democracy should stand by its fundamental beliefs and that a citizen of the United States should be considered innocent until he is proved guilty.
If he is employed in a government position where he has access to secret and important papers, then for the sake of security he must undergo some special tests. However, I doubt whether the loyalty test really adds much to our safety, since no Communist would hesitate to sign it and he would be in good standing until he was proved guilty. So it seems to me that we might as well do away with a test which is almost an insult to any loyal American citizen.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1947-10-29), “My Day”
(Source)

On the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1947-10-29), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 18:54:42 +0000

What is going on in the Un-American Activities Committee worries me primarily because little people have become frightened and we find ourselves living in the atmosphere of a police state, where people close doors before they state what they think or look over their shoulders apprehensively before they express an opinion.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1947-10-29), “My Day”
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1947-10-29), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 15:37:29 +0000

In our country we must trust the people to hear and see both the good and the bad and to choose the good. The Un-American Activities Committee seems to me to be better for a police state than for the USA.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1947-10-29), “My Day”
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1951-12-20), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 17:43:54 +0000

As long as we are not actually destroyed, we can work to gain greater understanding of other peoples and to try to present to the peoples of the world the values of our own beliefs. We can do this by demonstrating our conviction that human life is worth preserving and that we are willing to help others to enjoy benefits of our civilization just as we have enjoyed it. (20 December 1961)

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1951-12-20), “My Day”
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1954-04-16), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 22:08:52 +0000

No one can use this new destructive weapon without destroying innumerable innocent people. It would not be only our enemies that would condemn us, it would be our own conscience.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1954-04-16), “My Day”
(Source)

On the Hydrogen Bomb.

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1954-04-16), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 19:18:50 +0000

I think the women of this country, if they face the fact of the present situation, will agree with me that this is a time for action — not for war, but for mobilization of every bit of peace machinery. It is also a time for facing the fact that you cannot use a weapon, even though it is the weapon that gives you greater strength than other nations, if it is so destructive that it practically wipes out large areas of land and great numbers of innocent people.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1954-04-16), “My Day”
(Source)

On the Hydrogen Bomb.

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1956-08), “If You Ask Me,” McCall’s Magazine, Vol. 83

Dave — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 12:55:21 +0000

I doubt that anyone does not really believe in God. People may think they don’t have any belief, but you will usually find that somewhere down in a human being’s soul there is a belief in something beyond himself. In any case, I would not judge a man’s character by his belief or unbelief. I would judge his character by his deeds; and no matter what he said about his beliefs, his behavior would soon show whether he was a man of good character or bad.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1956-08), “If You Ask Me,” McCall’s Magazine, Vol. 83
(Source)

When asked, "What standards do you use to judge a man's character when you know he doesn't believe in God?"

A slightly shortened version of this is sometimes given, e.g., in Carol Kelly-Gangi (ed.), Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: Their Essential Wisdom (2014): "[...] People may think they don’t have any belief, but you will usually find that there is a belief in something beyond himself. [...]"

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1958-11-05), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 17:58:25 +0000

If the use of leisure time is confined to looking at TV for a few extra hours every day, we will deteriorate as a people.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1958-11-05), “My Day”
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1958-11-05), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 17:23:19 +0000

The appreciation of many things in which we are not proficient ourselves but which we have learned to enjoy is one of the important things to cultivate in modern education. The arts in every field — music, drama, sculpture, painting — we can learn to appreciate and enjoy. We need not be artists, but we should be able to appreciate the work of artists.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1958-11-05), “My Day”
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1961-12-20), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 17:23:16 +0000

A consciousness of the fact that war means practically total destruction is the reason, I think, for the rising tide to prevent what seems such a senseless procedure. I understand that it is perhaps difficult for some people, whose lives have been lived with a sense of the need for military development, to envisage the possibility of being no longer needed. But the average citizen is beginning to think more and more of the need to develop machinery to settle difficulties in the world without destruction or the use of atomic bombs.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1961-12-20), “My Day”
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Essay (1951-12), “This I Believe: Growth that Starts from Thinking,” on Edward R. Murrow, This I Believe, CBS Radio

Dave — Wed, 12 May 2004 19:03:47 +0000

I think I am pretty much of a fatalist. You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Essay (1951-12), “This I Believe: Growth that Starts from Thinking,” on Edward R. Murrow, This I Believe, CBS Radio
(Source)

(Source (Audio); start 3:51). The essay was read without a script.

Apparently this statement (or at least the "fatalist" part of it), coupled with her earlier in the broadcast saying she was unsure "whether I believe in a future life," caused something of a stir. The Archibishop of Los Angeles took it to mean that Roosevelt was an agnostic and publicly declared that she should not sit on the Commission of Civil Rights. Roosevelt clarified the statement in a "My Day" column (1951-12-18):

Of one thing I am quite sure, and that is that I never said I did not believe in immortality. That would not be true. What I was trying to say was that I, like a great many other people, could not definitely state what form immortality would take and that I did not see why people worried about this particular question. There I am a fatalist, for I do not believe in worrying about something I can do nothing about. The important thing is to live your life to the best of your ability here and to have faith that whatever happens hereafter is the will of God.

Collected in Edward P. Morgan (ed.), This I Believe (1952).

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Essay (1951-12), “This I Believe: Growth that Starts from Thinking,” on Edward R. Murrow, This I Believe, CBS Radio

Dave — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 16:58:08 +0000

Perhaps that’s what we all had to do — think out for ourselves what we could believe and how we could live by it. And so I came to the conclusion that you had to use this life to develop the very best that you could develop.

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Essay (1951-12), “This I Believe: Growth that Starts from Thinking,” on Edward R. Murrow, This I Believe, CBS Radio

Dave — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 17:18:33 +0000

And the important thing was that you never let down doing the best that you were able to do — it might be poor because you might not have very much within you to give, or to help other people with, or to live your life with. But as long as you did the very best that you were able to do, then that was what you were put here to do and that was what you were accomplishing by being here.

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Essay (1961-04), “What Has Happened to the American Dream?” Atlantic Monthly

Dave — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 13:47:33 +0000

To me, the democratic system represents man’s best and brightest hope of self-fulfillment, of a life rich in promise and free from fear; the one hope, perhaps, for the complete development of the whole man. But I know, and learn more clearly every day, that we cannot keep our system strong and free by neglect, by taking it for granted, by giving it our second-best attention. We must be prepared, like the suitor in The Merchant of Venice — and, I might point out, the successful suitor — to give and hazard all we have.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Essay (1961-04), “What Has Happened to the American Dream?” Atlantic Monthly
(Source)

(Source (Alternate)). Referencing Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Act 2, sc. 7, ll. 11-12.

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Essay (1961-04), “What Has Happened to the American Dream?” Atlantic Monthly

Dave — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 13:15:05 +0000

Man cannot live without hope. If it is not engendered by his own convictions and desires, it can easily be fired from without, and by the most meretricious and empty of promises.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Essay (1961-04), “What Has Happened to the American Dream?” Atlantic Monthly
(Source)

(Source (Alternate)). On the effectiveness of Soviet propaganda in the Third World.

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Essay (1961-04), “What Has Happened to the American Dream?” Atlantic Monthly

Dave — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 16:05:08 +0000

Perhaps the older generation is often to blame with its cautious warning: “Take a job that will give you security, not adventure.” But I say to the young: “Do not stop thinking of life as an adventure. You have no security unless you can live bravely, excitingly, and imaginatively; unless you can choose a challenge instead of a competence.”

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Letter to Cardinal Spellman (23 Jul 1949)

Dave — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 10:13:22 +0000

Anyone who knows history, particularly the history of Europe, will, I think, recognize that the domination of education or of government by any one particular religious faith is never a happy arrangement for the people.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Letter to Cardinal Spellman (23 Jul 1949)

Full text.

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Letter to Cardinal Spellman (23 Jul 1949)

Dave — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:34:02 +0000

Spiritual leadership should remain spiritual leadership and the temporal power should not become too important in any church.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Letter to Cardinal Spellman (23 Jul 1949)

Full text.

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Letter to Carrie Chapman (18 Apr 1936)

Dave — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:42:43 +0000

Criticism … makes very little dent upon me, unless I think there is some real justification and something should be done.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Letter to Carrie Chapman (18 Apr 1936)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- News Conference (3 Jan 1946)

Dave — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 13:24:51 +0000

I think that if the atomic bomb did nothing more, it scared the people to the point where they realized that either they must do something about preventing war or there is a chance that there may be a morning when we would not wake up.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
News Conference (3 Jan 1946)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Radio address (14 Oct 1941)

Dave — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:51:48 +0000

The test of democracy and civilization is to treat with fairness the individual’s right to self-expression, even when you can neither understand nor approve of it.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Radio address (14 Oct 1941)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Radio Broadcast (1951-11-11), Voice of America

Dave — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:13:41 +0000

It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Radio Broadcast (1951-11-11), Voice of America

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Remarks on “In Your Hands” booklet, United Nations Commission on Human Rights, New York (27 Mar 1958)

Dave — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 20:46:19 +0000

Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home—so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any map of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person: the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Remarks on “In Your Hands” booklet, United Nations Commission on Human Rights, New York (27 Mar 1958)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Speech (1950-04-02), Americans for Democratic Action

Dave — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 09:51:34 +0000

The day I’m afraid to sit down with people I do not know because five years from now someone will say five of those people were Communists and therefore you are a Communist — that will be a bad day.
I want to be able to sit down with anyone who may have a new idea and not be afraid of contamination by association. In a democracy you must be able to meet with people and argue your point of view — people whom you have not screened beforehand. That must be part of the freedom of people in the United States.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Speech (1950-04-02), Americans for Democratic Action
(Source)

On the rise of McCarthyism in the US.

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Speech (8 Dec 1959)

Dave — Thu, 15 Oct 2015 14:25:58 +0000

We cannot exist as a little island of well-being in a world where two-thirds of the people go to bed hungry every night.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Speech (8 Dec 1959)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Speech, Chicago Civil Liberties Committee (1940)

Dave — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:28:59 +0000

I believe that you must apply to all groups the right to all forms of thought, to all forms of expression.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Speech, Chicago Civil Liberties Committee (1940)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Speech, United Nations (27 Mar 1958)

Dave — Wed, 29 Apr 2015 11:52:03 +0000

Where after all do universal human rights begin? In small places, closes to home — so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any map of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person: The neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Speech, United Nations (27 Mar 1958)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- You Learn by Living (1960)

Dave — Wed, 07 May 2008 10:56:18 +0000

Happiness is not a goal, it is a by-product. Paradoxically, the one sure way not to be happy is deliberately to map out a way of life in which one would please oneself completely and exclusively.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
You Learn by Living (1960)