The very first thing the President [Truman] did was to show me the new Presidential Seal, which he had just redesigned. He explained, 'The seal has to go everywhere the President goes. It must be displayed upon the lectern when he speaks. The eagle used to face the arrows but I have re-designed it so that it now faces the olive branches ... what do you think?' I said, 'Mr. President, with the greatest respect, I would prefer the American eagle's neck to be on a swivel so that it could face the olive branches or the arrows, as the occasion might demand.'

Personally I think that private property has a right to be defended. Our civilisation is built up on property, and can only be defended by private property.

It is not always possible to have everything go as one likes. In working with allies, it sometimes happens that they develop opinions of their own

Great and good are seldom the same man.

We must be very careful not to assign this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations

To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day.

I'm too busy. I have no time for worry.