It is perfectly true that that government is best which governs least. It is equally true that that government is best which provides most.

When everyone thinks the same, nobody is thinking.

A democracy which fails to concentrate authority in an emergency inevitably falls into such confusion that the ground is prepared for the rise of a dictator.

Many a time I have wanted to stop talking and find out what I really believed.

The chief element in the art of statesmanship under modern conditions is the ability to elucidate the confused and clamorous interests which converge upon the seat of government. It is an ability to penetrate from the na?ve self-interest of each group to its permanent and real interest. Statesmanship consists in giving the people not what they want but what they will learn to want.

While the right to talk may be the beginning of freedom, the necessity of listening is what makes that right important.

Franklin D. Roosevelt is no crusader. He is no tribune of the people. He is no enemy of entrenched privilege. He is a pleasant man who, without any important qualifications for the office, would very much like to be President.