The community which has neither poverty nor riches will always have the noblest principles.

I’m interested in that drive, that rush to judgment, that is so prevalent in our society. We all know that pleasurable rush that comes from condemning, and in the short term it’s quite a satisfying thing to do, isn’t it?

No people come into possession of a culture without having paid a heavy price for it.

There are some loony people in this world!

I think what you’re seeing is a profound recognition on the part of the American people that gays and lesbians and transgender persons are our brothers, our sisters, our children, our cousins, our friends, our co-workers, and that they’ve got to be treated like every other American. And I think that principle will win out.

This way of life is worth defending.

It is hard to interest those who have everything in those who have nothing.

Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.

Our society strives to avoid any possibility of offending anyone – except God.

In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.

A man who is good enough to shed his blood for the country is good enough to be given a square deal afterwards.

If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen.

Great countries are those that produce great people.

Most poor people live in the poorest countries.

Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both.

Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.

What you’re seeing with Occupy Wall Street and the others are people who are unhappy and they’re directing their unhappiness now toward Wall Street and toward those they think are doing too well in our society.

Where you live in the world should not determine whether you live in the world.

The Public is merely a multiplied ‚me.‘

All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.

To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.

Anyone who knows history, particularly the history of Europe, will, I think, recognize that the domination of education or of government by any one particular religious faith is never a happy arrangement for the people.

Happiness is within the reach of everyone, rich or poor. Yet comparatively few people are happy. I believe the reason for this is that the majority don’t recognize happiness even when it is within their grasp.

The belief that the world is getting worse, that we can’t solve extreme poverty and disease, isn’t just mistaken. It is harmful.

We win justice quickest by rendering justice to the other party.

The world is a republic of mediocrities, and always was.

I favor the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and it must be enforced at gunpoint if necessary.

More than anything else, I want the folks back at home to think right of me.

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.

The poor are discussed as this homogeneous mash, like porridge. The idea that they might be individuals, and be where they are for very different, diverse reasons, again seems to escape some people.

In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.

To be successful, a woman has to be much better at her job than a man.

Some folks believe that hardship breeds artistic creativity. I don’t buy it. One can put up with poverty for a while when one is young, but it will inevitably wear a person down.

We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.

If one has a good disposition, what other virtue is needed? If a man has fame, what is the value of other ornamentation?

When there is a lack of honor in government, the morals of the whole people are poisoned.

Look at our society. Everyone wants to be thin, but nobody wants to diet. Everyone wants to live long, but few will exercise. Everybody wants money, yet seldom will anyone budget or control their spending.

Hollywood is a place where they’ll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.

When in doubt tell the truth.

The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.

Scouting is nothing less than applied Christianity.

When I was an orphan, I was the richest kid at the orphanage because everyone else was complaining about not having anything. But when I discovered that you could get two cents for a Coca-Cola bottle, I would follow people around who were drinking it and ask them if they were almost through with it.

The time is long overdue to stop looking for progress through racial or ethnic leaders. Such leaders have too many incentives to promote polarizing attitudes and actions that are counterproductive for minorities and disastrous for the country.

Progressive art can assist people to learn not only about the objective forces at work in the society in which they live, but also about the intensely social character of their interior lives. Ultimately, it can propel people toward social emancipation.

The answer to many of the domestic problems we face is not higher taxes and more spending. It is less waste, more results and greater freedom for the individual American to earn a rightful place in his own community – and for States and localities to address their own needs in their own ways, in the light of their own priorities.

The man with a toothache thinks everyone happy whose teeth are sound. The poverty-stricken man makes the same mistake about the rich man.

Girls shouldn’t worry about being the equal of men in the business world.

Democracy arises out of the notion that those who are equal in any respect are equal in all respects; because men are equally free, they claim to be absolutely equal.

The ultimate tendency of civilization is towards barbarism.

Mankind, when left to themselves, are unfit for their own government.

You lose your individuality a huge amount when you have no money, and I certainly had that experience.

What makes us Americans is our shared commitment to an ideal – that all of us are created equal, and all of us have the chance to make of our lives what we will.

The love of the family, the love of one person can heal. It heals the scars left by a larger society. A massive, powerful society.

I know why we’re strong. I know why we have held together; I know why we are united: it’s because there’s always been a growing middle class.

Part of your heritage in this society is the opportunity to become financially independent.

Riches do not consist in the possession of treasures, but in the use made of them.

I think tolerance and acceptance and love is something that feeds every community.

The fault lines are shifting from the boundaries of nations into the web of our societies and the streets of our cities. And, terrorism and extremism are a global force that are larger than their changing names, groups, territories and targets.

What is permissible is not always honorable.

If you’re in trouble, or hurt or need – go to the poor people. They’re the only ones that’ll help – the only ones.

In December, I agreed to extend the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans because it was the only way I could prevent a tax hike on middle-class Americans. But we cannot afford $1 trillion worth of tax cuts for every millionaire and billionaire in our society. We can’t afford it. And I refuse to renew them again.