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"Within the first few months I discovered that being a President is like
riding a tiger. A man has to keep on riding or be swallowed."
Harry S. Truman
Memoirs, Years Of Trial And Hope, Volume 2
"We must remember that the test of our religious principles lies
not just in what we say, not only in our prayers, not even in living
blameless personal lives -- but in what we do for others."
Harry S. Truman
Address, Washington Pilgrimage of American Churchmen
Washington, D.C.
September 28, 1951
"Friends don't count in fair weather. It is when trouble
comes that friends count."
Harry S. Truman
Autobiography
"There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know."
Harry S. Truman
Interview with William Hillman
"The President of the United States represents 154,000,000 people.
Most of them have no lobby and no special representation. The President
must represent all the people. Therefore, the President must
be a sort of super-public relations man. His powers are great, but he must
know how to make
people get along together... Some people think that public relations should
be based on polls. That is nonsense. I wonder how far Moses would have gone
if he had taken a poll in Egypt? What would Jesus Christ have preached if He
had taken a poll in the land of Israel? Where would the Reformation
have gone if Martin Luther had taken a poll? It isn't polls or public opinion
alone of the moment that counts. It is right and wrong, and leadership --
men with fortitude, honesty and a belief in the right that make epochs in the
history of the world."
Harry S. Truman
Interview with William Hillman
"Of course the Sermon on the Mount is the greatest of all things in the Bible, a way of
life and maybe some day men will get to understand it as the real way of life."
Harry S. Truman
Taken from an interview with William Hillman
"No matter how much the man who sits here may be properly criticized, I
hope the critics will once in a while remember
that he is the President of the United States as well as a human being."
Harry S. Truman
Diary
"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
Memoirs, Volume 2
"Any move to abridge the rights of the individual under the Constitution --
no matter in what form -- is a danger to the freedom of all."
Harry S. Truman
Memoirs, Volume 2
"This is a solemn
but glorious hour. General Eisenhower informs me that the forces of Germany
have surrendered to the United Nations. The flags of freedom fly all over
Europe.
For this victory, we join
in offering our thanks to the Providence which has guided and sustained
us through the dark days of adversity. Our rejoicing is sobered and subdued
by a supreme consciousness of the terrible price we have paid to rid the
world of Hitler and his evil band. Let us not forget, my fellow Americans,
the sorrow and the heartache which today abide in the homes of so many
of our neighbors - neighbors whose most priceless possession has been rendered
as a sacrifice to redeem our liberty.
We can repay the debt which
we owe to our God, to our dead, and to our children, only by work, by ceaseless
devotion to the responsibilities which lie ahead of us. If I could give
you a single watchword for the coming months, that word is work, work and
more work. We must work to finish the war. Our victory is only half over."
Harry S. Truman
V-E Day Announcement
"When you get an education, that is something nobody can take from you --
money is only temporary -- but what you have in your head, if you have
the right kind of head, stays with you."
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman In His Own Words
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