I had been conscious a feeling of depression and so I voiced to [Secretary Of War Stimson] my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and secondly because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives. It was my belief that Japan was, at this very moment, seeking a way to surrender with a minimum loss of 'face.'

Whatever America hopes to bring to pass in the world must first come to pass in the heart of America.

The supreme quality of leadership is integrity.

You don't lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership.

Speeches are for the younger men who are going places. And I'm not going anyplace except six feet under the floor of that little chapel adjoining the museum and library at Abilene.

"In the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love."

There's no tragedy in life like the death of a child. Things never get back to the way they were.