Quotes to inspire and reflect

We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever.

The universe is a pretty big place. If it's just us, seems like an awful waste of space.

The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of star stuff.

It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brains fall out.

Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.

We can judge our progress by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers, our willingness to embrace what is true rather than what feels good.

Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.

A typical vice of American politics is the avoidance of saying anything real on real issues.

Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering.

Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind.

The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.

The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life.

Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster.

A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.

Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or leave the country.

It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage that we move on to better things.

Wars are, of course, as a rule to be avoided; but they are far better than certain kinds of peace.

People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader works in the open, and the boss in covert. The leader leads, and the boss drives.

No foreign policy-no matter how ingenious-has any chance of success if it is born in the minds of few and carried in the hearts of many.

We cannot afford merely to sit down and deplore the evils of city life as inevitable, when cities are constantly growing, both absolutely and relatively. We must set ourselves vigorously about the task of improving them; and this task is now well begun.

There is a homely old adage which runs: "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far." If the American nation will speak softly, and yet build and keep at a pitch of the highest training a thoroughly efficient navy, the Monroe Doctrine will go far.

Let us speak courteously, deal fairly, and keep ourselves armed and ready.

The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired, in value.

The most practical kind of politics is the politics of decency.

The conservation of our natural resources and their proper use constitute the fundamental problem which underlies almost every other problem of our national life.

The death-knell of the republic had rung as soon as the active power became lodged in the hands of those who sought, not to do justice to all citizens, rich and poor alike, but to stand for one special class and for its interests as opposed to the interests of others.

Justice consists not in being neutral between right and wrong, but in finding out the right and upholding it, wherever found, against the wrong.

We are face to face with our destiny and we must meet it with high and resolute courage. For us is the life of action, of strenuous performance of duty; let us live in the harness, striving mightily; let us rather run the risk of wearing out than rusting out.

Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, 'Certainly I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it.

No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expediency.

The wild life of today is not ours to do with as we please. The original stock was given to us in trust for the benefit both of the present and the future. We must render an accounting of this trust to those who come after us.

When you play, play hard; when you work, don't play at all.

The United States does not have a choice as to whether or not is will or will not play a great part in the world. Fate has made that choice for us. The only question is whether we will play the part well or badly.

The decisions of the courts on economic and social questions depend on their economic and social philosophy.

Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president.

No, I'm not a good shot, but I shoot often.

It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things.

In a civilized and cultivated country, wild animals only continue to exist at all when preserved by sportsmen.

Aggressive fighting for the right is the greatest sport in the world.

The school is the last expenditure upon which America should be willing to economize.

Physical strength can never permanently withstand the impact of spiritual force.

When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck to crush him.

Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off.

True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.

The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.

I think we consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm.

The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.

Here is my principle: Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle.