Harry S. Truman Quotes

“There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know.”

— Harry S. Truman

“Nixon is one of the few in the history of this country to run for high office talking out of both sides of his mouth at the same time and lying out of both sides.”

— Harry S. Truman

“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.”

— Harry S. Truman

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.

— Harry S. Truman

“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.”

— Harry S. Truman

“The atom bomb was no 'great decision.' It was merely another powerful weapon in the arsenal of righteousness.”

— Harry S. Truman

It sure is hell to be president.

— Harry S. Truman

“Intense feeling too often obscures the truth.”

— Harry S. Truman

Being too good is apt to be uninteresting.

— Harry S. Truman

“A politician is a man who understands government. A statesman is a politician who's been dead for 15 years.”

— Harry S. Truman

I would rather have peace in the world than be President.

— Harry S. Truman

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

— Harry S. Truman

The President is always abused. If he isn't, he isn't doing anything.

— Harry S. Truman

“Given the choice between a Republican and someone who acts like a Republican, people will vote for the real Republican all the time”

— Harry S. Truman

“Work Hard. Do your best. Keep your word. Never get too big for your britches. Trust in God. Have no fear; and Never forget a friend.”

— Harry S. Truman

“I have just read your lousy review. You sound like a frustrated old man who never made a success, an eightulcer man on a four ulcer job ... I have never met you but if I do, you'll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and a supporter below.”

— Harry S. Truman

“Some of my best friends never agree with me politically.”

— Harry S. Truman

“There is no gratitude for things past. Gratitude is always for what you're going to do for people in the future.”

— Harry S. Truman

“It doesn't matter how big a ranch you own or how many cows you brand, the size of your funeral is still gonna depend on the weather.”

— Harry S. Truman

“It is time that all Americans realized that the place of labor is side by side with the businessman and with the farmer, and not one-degree lower.”

— Harry S. Truman

“John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were political enemies, but they became fast friends. And when they passed away on the same day, the last words of one of them was, The country is safe. Jefferson still lives. And the last words of the other was, John Adams will see that things go forward.”

— Harry S. Truman

Children and dogs are as necessary to the welfare of the country as Wall Street and the railroads.

— Harry S. Truman

“Justice remains the greatest power on earth. To that tremendous power alone will we submit.”

— Harry S. Truman

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

— Harry S. Truman

Doing the right thing is easy. [It is] much more difficult [to ... ] figure out what [the right thing] is.

— Harry S. Truman

“Andrew Johnson wasn't too bad, but he was overwhelmed by a hostile Congress.”

— Harry S. Truman

“I consider Monroe a pretty minor president. In spite of the Monroe Doctrine. That's the only important thing he ever did more or less on his own, when you really get down to it.”

— Harry S. Truman

“Whenever the press quits abusing me, I know I'm in the wrong pew.”

— Harry S. Truman

“Leadership is getting people to do things that they don't want to do.”

— Harry S. Truman

Such an atmosphere is un-American, the most un-American thing we have to contend with today. It is the climate of a totalitarian country in which scientists are expected to change their theories to match changes in the police state's propaganda line.

— Harry S. Truman

“Everybody is headed for the same place, and they are headed on the same train, and under the same engineer.”

— Harry S. Truman

“Our religious faith gives us the answer to the false beliefs of Communism ... I have the feeling that God has created us and brought us to our present position of power and strength for some great purpose.”

— Harry S. Truman

“He wanted to know what assurance we could give the American people that we aren't getting the tar licked out of us by the North Korean army. It has never happened to us. It won't happen this time.”

— Harry S. Truman

“I think there is an immense shortage of Christian charity among so-called Christians.”

— Harry S. Truman

“We worship money instead of honour.”

— Harry S. Truman

“I have little patience with people who take the Bill of Rights for granted. The Bill of Rights, contained in the first ten amendments to the Constitution, is every American's guarantee of freedom.”

— Harry S. Truman

“When we refused to be forced out of Berlin, we demonstrated to the people of Europe that with their cooperation we would act, and act resolutely, when their freedom was threatened.”

— Harry S. Truman

“I've had a few setbacks in my life, but I never gave up.”

— Harry S. Truman

“I can always get along with an honest friend.”

— Harry S. Truman

If we let Korea down, the Soviet[s] will keep right on going and swallow up one [place] after another.

— Harry S. Truman

“I can deal with Stalin. He is honest, but smart as hell.”

— Harry S. Truman

May the sun never set on American baseball.

— Harry S. Truman

“The Marshall Plan will go down in history as one of America's greatest contributions to the peace of the world.”

— Harry S. Truman

“The America to which these Swedish settlers came was a land that needed the hardy qualities they brought. It was not a land that was particularly softhearted towards newcomers, but everyone believed that each should have a fair chance regardless of his origin.”

— Harry S. Truman

To reporters the day after his accession to the presidency, April 13, 1945: When they told me yesterday what had happened, I felt like the moon, the stars and all the planets had fallen on me.

— Harry S. Truman

“But Quantrill and his men were no more bandits than the men on the other side. I've been to reunions of Quantrill's men two or three times. All they were trying to do was protect the property on the Missouri side of the line ...”

— Harry S. Truman

As soon as the war was over, they had to justify what was done.

— Harry S. Truman

Religious and racial persecution is moronic at all times, perhaps the most idiotic of human stupidities.

— Harry S. Truman

“You know of our sympathetic interest in this country in Iran's desire to control its natural resources. From this point of view we were happy to see that the British Government has on its part accepted the principle of nationalization.”

— Harry S. Truman

“When you have to deal with a beast, you have to treat him as a beast. It is most regrettable but nevertheless true.”

— Harry S. Truman