“A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.”

Rules are not necessarily sacred, principles are.

True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.

An election cannot give a country a firm sense of direction if it has two or more national parties which merely have different names but are as alike in their principles and aims as peas in the same pod.

Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.

It is better to swallow words than to have to eat them later.

No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country… By living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level – I mean the wages of decent living.

We have always known that heedless self interest was bad morals, we now know that it is bad economics.

Presidents are selected, not elected.

In these days of difficulty, we Americans everywhere must and shall choose the path of social justice…, the path of faith, the path of hope, and the path of love toward our fellow man.

If civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human relationships – the ability of all peoples, of all kinds, to live together, in the same world at peace.

Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and Senators and Congressmen and Government officials but the voters of this country.

Remember you are just an extra in everyone else’s play.

The motto of war is: “Let the strong survive; let the weak die.” The motto of peace is: “Let the strong help the weak to survive.”

We, and all others who believe in freedom as deeply as we do, would rather die on our feet than live on our knees.

The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we provide enough for those who have little.

When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck to crush him.

Liberals measure compassion by how many people are given welfare. Conservatives measure compassion by how many people no longer need it.

The real division is not between conservatives and revolutionaries but between authoritarians and libertarians.

If conversation was the lyrics, laughter was the music, making time spent together a melody that could be replayed over and over without getting stale.

The trouble with her is that she lacks the power of conversation but not the power of speech.

It was impossible to get a conversation going, everybody was talking too much.

Compassionate conservative. I don’t know what that is, it sounds like a Volvo with a gun rack.

Patriotism has nothing to do with Conservatism.

A little less conversation, a little more action.