Harry S. Truman Quotes

A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose yours.

When you have an efficient government, you have a dictatorship.

I studied the lives of great men and famous women; and I found that the men and women who got to the top were those who did the jobs they had in hand, with everything they had of energy and enthusiasm and hard work.

How do you live a long life? "Take a two-mile walk every morning before breakfast."

All the president is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing, and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway.

How far would Moses have gone if he had taken a poll in Egypt?

All my life, whenever it comes time to make a decision, I make it and forget about it.

The United Nations is designed to make possible lasting freedom and independence for all its members.

You can never get all the facts from just one newspaper, and unless you have all the facts, you cannot make proper judgements about what is going on.

Well, I wouldn't say that I was in the great class, but I had a great time while I was trying to be great.

Those who want the Government to regulate matters of the mind and spirit are like men who are so afraid of being murdered that they commit suicide to avoid assassination.

The buck stops here!

You know that being an American is more than a matter of where your parents came from. It is a belief that all men are created free and equal and that everyone deserves an even break.

Whenever a fellow tells me he's bipartisan, I know he's going to vote against me.

We must build a new world, a far better world - one in which the eternal dignity of man is respected.

We can never tell what is in store for us.

Actions are the seed of fate deeds grow into destiny.

I had faith in Israel before it was established, I have in it now. I believe it has a glorious future before it - not just another sovereign nation, but as an embodiment of the great ideals of our civilization.

The president is the representative of the whole nation and he's the only lobbyist that all the one hundred and sixty million people in the country have.

The White House is the finest prison in the world.

The 'C' students run the world.

The absence of war is not peace.

Study men, not historians.

Once a decision was made, I didn't worry about it afterward...

If there is one basic element in our Constitution, it is civilian control of the military.

I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell.

I come to the office each morning and stay for long hours doing what has to be done to the best of my ability. And when you've done the best you can, you can't do any better.

Carry the battle to them. Don't let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive and don't ever apologize for anything.

Any man who has had the job I've had and didn't have a sense of humor wouldn't still be here.

A president either is constantly on top of events or, if he hesitates, events will soon be on top of him. I never felt that I could let up for a moment.

It is understanding that gives us an ability to have peace. When we understand the other fellow's viewpoint, and he understands ours, then we can sit down and work out our differences.

If you can't convince them, confuse them.

In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves... self-discipline with all of them came first.

Experience has shown how deeply the seeds of war are planted by economic rivalry and social injustice.