“A leader or a man of action in a crisis almost always acts subconsciously and then thinks of the reasons for his action.”

I am getting old and the sign of old age is that I begin to philosophize and ponder over problems which should not be my concern at all.

You don’t change the course of history by turning the faces of portraits to the wall.

Facts are facts and will not disappear on account of your likes.

I have become a queer mixture of the East and the West, out of place everywhere, at home nowhere.

I do not attach much importance to America’s bombs. I attach importance to her great vitality and integrity. The strength of America is deeper and more significant than her financial power.

Action to be effective must be directed to clearly conceived ends.

To be in good moral condition requires at least as much training as to be in good physical condition.

The purely agitational attitude is not good enough for a detailed consideration of a subject.

When the present is full of gloom, the past becomes haven of refuge that provides relief and inspiration.

The boundaries of democracy have to be widened so as to include economic equality also. This is the great revolution through which we are all passing.

The ambition of the greatest men of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but so long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over.

Play the hand you’re dealt.

Do not advise too much: do the job yourself. This is the only advice you can give to others. Do it and others will follow.

It is only too easy to make suggestions and later try to escape the consequences of what we say.

Poverty anywhere is a danger to prosperity everywhere.

America is a country no one should go to for the first time.

Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.

We know only too well that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But if the drop were not there, the ocean would be missing something.

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

Every action has its pleasures and its price.

All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire.

Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.

Act without expectation.

I feel a moral obligation to speak out at this key moment in human history – it is a moment for action.