“When beggars and shoeshine boys, barbers and beauticians can tell you how to get rich it is time to remind yourself that there is no more dangerous illusion than the belief that one can get something for nothing.”

We are here today to make a choice between the quick and the dead.

Government is not a substitute for people, but simply the instrument through which they act. And if the individual fails to do his duty as a citizen, government becomes a very deadly instrument indeed.

Science has taught us how to put the atom to work. But to make it work for good instead of for evil lies in the domain dealing with the principles of human dignity. We are now facing a problem more of ethics than of physics.

All economic movements, by their very nature, are motivated by crowd psychology.

Creativity: Take the obvious, add a cupful of brains, a generous pinch of imagination, a bucketful of courage and daring, stir well and bring to a boil.

In a period scarcely twice my own lifetime it has risen from nothingness to become the world’s greatest power. It has become the ark of the covenant of freedom.

We are living in a highly organized state of socialism. The state is all; the individual is of importance only as he contributes to the welfare of the state. His property is only his as the state does not need it. He must hold his life and his possessions at the call of the state.

None of us can be free of conflict and woe. Even the greatest men have had to accept disappointments as their daily bread. … The art of living lies less in eliminating our troubles than in growing with them.

“The king may die, or I may die, or the horse may die. Furthermore, in a year, who knows? Maybe the horse will learn to fly.” My philosophy is like that man’s. I take the long-range view.

One of the secrets of a long and fruitful life is to forgive everybody everything everynight before you go to bed.

You can overcome anything if you don’t bellyache.

Never pay the slightest attention to what a company president ever says about his stock.

I have known men who could see through the motivations of others with the skill of a clairvoyant; only to prove blind to their own mistakes. I have been one of those men.

The essence of any plan for financing old age is saving-to put aside some part of today’s earnings for the future.

If the history of the past fifty years teaches us anything, it is that peace does not follow disarmament – disarmament follows peace.

Beware of him who promises something for nothing. Do not blame anybody for your mistakes and failures. Do not look for approval except the consciousness of doing your best.

Without hope of reward Provide help to others. Bear suffering alone, And share your pleasures with beggars.

It is not begging but the beggar, who has forfeited favor with the elect.

Sturdy beggars can bear stout denials.

Better a living beggar than a buried emperor.

The Alliance for Progress is an alliance between one millionaire and many beggars.

For one who knows me, I am one with him; for one who wants to know me, I am very near to him; and for one who does not know me, I am a beggar before him.

Make of the Silence your to-do tasks, of the compassion your wealth and of the meditation your beggar’s bowl.

All true language is incomprehensible, like the chatter of a beggar’s teeth.