Harry S. Truman quotes - page 3

Well, I wouldn't say that I was in the great class, but I had a great time while I was trying to be great. (Harry S. Truman)
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. View quote
Harry S. Truman
The President is always abused. If he isn't, he isn't doing anything. View quote
Harry S. Truman
The atom bomb was no 'great decision.' It was merely another powerful weapon in the arsenal of righteousness. View quote
Harry S. Truman
Richard Nixon is a no good, lying bastard. He can lie out of both sides of his mouth at the same time, and if he ever caught himself telling the truth, he'd lie just to keep his hand in. View quote
Harry S. Truman
Being too good is apt to be uninteresting. View quote
Harry S. Truman
Whenever a fellow tells me he's bipartisan, I know he's going to vote against me. View quote
Harry S. Truman
When even one American - who has done nothing wrong - is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth - then all Americans are in peril. View quote
Harry S. Truman
I do not believe there is a problem in this country or the world today which could not be settled if approached through the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount. View quote
Harry S. Truman
If I hadn't been President of the United States, I probably would have ended up a piano player in a bawdy house. View quote
Harry S. Truman
All my life, whenever it comes time to make a decision, I make it and forget about it. (Harry S. Truman)
You know that being an American is more than a matter of where your parents came from. It is a belief that all men are created free and equal and that everyone deserves an even break. View quote
Harry S. Truman
It sure is hell to be president. View quote
Harry S. Truman
All of you, I am sure, have heard many cries about Government interference with business and about "creeping socialism." I should like to remind the gentlemen who make these complaints that if events had been allowed to continue as they were going prior to March 4, 1933, most of them would have no businesses left for the Government or for anyone else to interfere with - and almost surely we would have socialism in this country, real socialism. View quote
Harry S. Truman
Once a decision was made, I did not worry about it afterward. View quote
Harry S. Truman
A statesman is a politician who's been dead ten or fifteen years. View quote
Harry S. Truman
If we see that Germany is winning we ought to help Russia and if Russia is winning we ought to help Germany, and that way let them kill as many as possible. View quote
Harry S. Truman
Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes. View quote
Harry S. Truman
There's nothing better than cake but more cake. View quote
Harry S. Truman
Not every reader is a leader, but every leader must be a reader. View quote
Harry S. Truman
Republicans don't like people to talk about depressions. You can hardly blame them for that. You remember the old saying: Don't talk about rope in the house where somebody has been hanged. (Harry S. Truman)
They couldn't include me in it because I was the President, and I can be elected as often as I want to be. I'm going to run again when I'm ninety. I've announced that a time or two, and you know, some damn fool looked the situation over and said, "When you're ninety, it's an off year," so I can't even run then. I didn't know I was going to stir up all that trouble . . . View quote
Harry S. Truman
I've seen it happen time after time. When the Democratic candidate allows himself to be put on the defensive and starts apologizing for the New Deal and the fair Deal, and says he really doesn't believe in them, he is sure to lose. The people don't want a phony Democrat. If it's a choice between a genuine Republican, and a Republican in Democratic clothing, the people will choose the genuine article, every time; that is, they will take a Republican before they will a phony Democrat, and I don't want any phony Democratic candidates in this campaign. View quote
Harry S. Truman
Tell him to go to hell; I'm for Jimmy Byrnes. View quote
Harry S. Truman
You know, the United States Government turns its Chief Executive out to grass. They're just allowed to starve... If I hadn't inherited some property that finally paid things through, I'd be on relief now. View quote
Harry S. Truman