Democracy Quotes by Franklin D. Roosevelt

We must be the great arsenal of Democracy.

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Democracy is not a static thing. It is an everlasting march.

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

The real safeguard of democracy is education.

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Democracy alone, of all forms of government, enlists the full force of men's enlightened will.

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

It [concentration of wealth and power] has been a menace to . . . American democracy.

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Democracy, the practice of self-government, is a covenant among free men to respect the rights and liberties of their fellows.

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

We have the men--the skill--the wealth--and above all, the will… We must be the great arsenal of democracy.

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

The democratic aspiration is no mere recent phase in human history. It is human history.

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

I have an unshaken conviction that democracy can never be undermined if we maintain our library resources and a national intelligence capable…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

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

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

In our democracy officers of the government are the servants, and never the masters of the people.

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Where freedom of religion has been attacked, the attack has come from sources opposed to democracy. Where democracy has been overthrown, the…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

An election cannot give a country a firm sense of direction if it has two or more national parties which merely have…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

In vain they seek to hide behind the flag and the Constitution. In their blindness they forget what the flag and the…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

A serf-supporting and self-respecting democracy can plead no justification for the existence of child labor, no economic reason for chiseling workers' wages…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

The constant free flow of communication amount us-enabling the free interchange of ideas-forms the very bloodstream of our nation. It keeps the…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

To bring about government by oligarchy, masquerading as democracy, it is fundamentally essential that practically all authority and control be centralized in…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Freedom of conscience, of education, of speech, of assembly are among the very fundamentals of democracy and all of them would be…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

The future lies with those wise political leaders who realize that the great public is interested more in Government than in politics.…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

There comes a time in the affairs of men when they must prepare to defend not their homes alone but the tenets…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

The lessons of religious toleration - a toleration which recognizes complete liberty of human thought, liberty of conscience - is one which,…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

We have our difficulties, true; but we are a wiser and a tougher nation than we were in 1932. Never have there…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

History proves that dictatorships do not grow out of strong and successful governments, but out of weak and helpless ones. If by…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

It took six weeks of debate in the Senate to get the Arms Embargo Law repealed--and we face other delays during the…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

The creed of our democracy is that liberty is acquired and kept by men and women who are strong and self-reliant, and…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

“To the Congress: Unhappy events abroad have retaught us two simple truths about the liberty of a democratic people. The first truth…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

“From the end of the World War twenty-one years ago, this country, like many others, went through a phase of having large…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

In a democratic nation, power must be linked with responsibility, and obliged to defend and justify itself within the framework of the…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

“A Radical is a man with both feet firmly planted--in the air. A Conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Freedom of the press is essential to the preservation of a democracy; but there is a difference between freedom and license. Editorialists…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerated the growth of private power to a point where it…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

We must be the great arsenal of democracy. For us this is an emergency as serious as war itself. We must apply…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

It is time to provide a smashing answer for those cynical men who say that a democracy cannot be honest, cannot be…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

In vain these economic royalists seek to hide behind the flag and the Constitution. In their blindness they forget what the flag…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

“I venture the challenging statement that if American democracy ceases to move forward as a living force, seeking day and night by…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

The ultimate victory of tomorrow is democracy, and through democracy with education, for no people in all the world can be kept…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

'Peace on earth, good will toward men' - democracy must cling to that message. For it is my deep conviction that democracy…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Democracy can thrive only when it enlists the devotion of those whom Lincoln called the common people. Democracy can hold that devotion…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

We must recognize the fundamental rights of man. There can be no true national life in our democracy unless we give unqualified…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt