Tao Te Ching

The Power of Goodness, the Wisdom Beyond Words
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Franklin Roosevelt

(FDR)

1882 – 1945 CE

Champion and creator of a more just and equitable society

32nd president of the United States, winner of a record 4 terms, widely considered one of the 3 greatest presidents and one of the of the 20th century's most influential politicians, and champion of the New Deal; Roosevelt met and successfully responded to some of the USA's most challenging problems including the Great Depression, Prohibition, and World War II. He helped establish the United Nations, Social Security, a minimum wage, and made child labor illegal. Like all of us though—in particular politicians—he has a shadow/dark side which manifested in the incarceration of Japanese-Americans during WWII, a subtle support for white supremacy, and a tremendous expansion of presidential powers.

Eras

Unlisted Sources

Radio address (1933)

Radio address (1940)

Quotes by Franklin Roosevelt (23 quotes)

“if a government is to be prudent, its taxes must produce ample revenues without discouraging enterprise; and if it is to be just, it must distribute the burden of taxes equitably.”

Themes: Economics

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“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”

Themes: Progress

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“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.”

Themes: Competition

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“The hopes of the Republic cannot forever tolerate either undeserved poverty or self-serving wealth.”

Themes: Poverty Hope

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“No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country.”

Themes: Business

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“We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties of all our citizens, whatever their background. We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization.”

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“Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.”

Themes: Kindness

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“The Nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.”

Themes: Health

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“Confidence... thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live.”

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“Many causes produce war. There are ancient hatreds, turbulent frontiers, the 'legacy of old forgotten, far-off things, and battles long ago.' There are new-born fanaticisms.”

Themes: Karma Fanaticism

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“It is common sense to take a method and try it: If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.”

Themes: Failure Mistakes

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“Forests require many years to mature; consequently the long point of view is necessary if the forests are to be maintained for the good of our country.”

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“I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded. I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen cities destroyed... I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I hate war.”

Themes: Hate War

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“No democracy can long survive which does not accept as fundamental to its very existence the recognition of the rights of its minorities.”

Themes: Democracy

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“Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth.”

Themes: Lies Deception

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“At home we have preached, and will continue to preach, the gospel of the good neighbor. I hope from the bottom of my heart that as the years go on, in every continent and in every clime, Nation will follow Nation in proving by deed as well as by word their adherence to the ideal of the Americas — I am a good neighbor.”

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“Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.”

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“The task of Government is that of application and encouragement. A wise Government seeks to provide the opportunity through which the best of individual achievement can be obtained, while at the same time it seeks to remove such obstruction, such unfairness as springs from selfish human motives.”

Themes: Government

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“Wealth in the modern world does not come merely from individual effort; it results from a combination... the people in the mass have inevitably helped to make large fortunes possible. Without mass cooperation great accumulations of wealth would be impossible.”

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“The forests are the "lungs" of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people. Truly, they make the country more livable.”

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“These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.”

Themes: Fate / Destiny

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“Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.”

from Radio address (1940)

Themes: Kindness

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“It is a good thing to demand liberty for ourselves and those who agree with us, but it is a better thing and a rarer thing to give liberty to others who do not agree with us.”

from Radio address (1933)

Themes: Pluralism

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Quotes about Franklin Roosevelt (6 quotes)

“No matter when this man might have left us, we would have felt that we had suffered an irreplaceable loss... may he have a lasting influence on the hearts and minds of men!”

Albert Einstein 1879 – 1955 CE

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“The quality of his being one with his people, of having no artificial or natural barriers between him and them, made it possible for him to be a leader without ever being or thinking of being a dictator.”

Frances Perkins 1880 – 1965 CE
One of the most influential champions for worker's rights

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“If anything happened to that man ... I couldn't stand it. He is the truest friend; he has the farthest vision; he is the greatest man I have ever known.”

Winston Churchill 1874 – 1965 CE

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“One of our greatest Presidents in the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, understood this truth... He called upon the world to embrace four fundamental freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.”

Barack Obama 1961 CE –

Themes: Freedom Fear

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“I voted for Roosevelt as long as he lived. I rank him among our greatest presidents. He rescued democracy abroad by coming to the aid of France and England in 1941; he rescued democracy at home by making government the instrument of the common weal instead of the servant of capital.”

Will Durant 1885 – 1981 CE
Philosophy apostle and popularizer of history's lessons

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“The greatest thing he accomplished was to make people all over the world feel that he, and therefore our country, actually was concerned about them and was interested in their problems.”

Eleanor Roosevelt 1884 – 1962 CE

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