Hubert H. Humphrey Quotations

The greatest gift of life is friendship, and I have received it.

The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love.

There is in every American, I think, something of the old Daniel Boone - who, when he could see the smoke from another chimney, felt himself too crowded and moved further out into the wilderness.

The impersonal hand of government can never replace the helping hand of a neighbor.

Liberalism, above all, means emancipation - emancipation from one's fears, his inadequacies, from prejudice, from discrimination, from poverty.

The Senate is a place filled with goodwill and good intentions, and if the road to hell is paved with them, then it's a pretty good detour.

If there is dissatisfaction with the status quo, good. If there is ferment, so much the better. If there is restlessness, I am pleased. Then let there be ideas, and hard thought, and hard work. If man feels small, let man make himself bigger.

Freedom is hammered out on the anvil of discussion, dissent, and debate.

This, then, is the test we must set for ourselves; not to march alone but to march in such a way that others will wish to join us.

It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.

Each child is an adventure into a better life - an opportunity to change the old pattern and make it new.

Anyone who thinks that the vice-president can take a position independent of the president of his administration simply has no knowledge of politics or government. You are his choice in a political marriage, and he expects your absolute loyalty.

Propaganda, to be effective, must be believed. To be believed, it must be credible. To be credible, it must be true.

There are not enough jails, not enough police, not enough courts to enforce a law not supported by the people.

In real life, unlike in Shakespeare, the sweetness of the rose depends upon the name it bears. Things are not only what they are. They are, in very important respects, what they seem to be.

To err is human. To blame someone else is politics.

Behind every successful man is a proud wife and a surprised mother-in-law.

To be realistic today is to be visionary. To be realistic is to be starry-eyed.

It is not what they take away from you that counts. It's what you do with what you have left.

Behind every successful man stands a surprised mother-in-law.

The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously.

Unfortunately, our affluent society has also been an effluent society.

For the first time in the history of mankind, one generation literally has the power to destroy the past, the present and the future, the power to bring time to an end.

I learned more about the economy from one South Dakota dust storm that I did in all my years of college.

The difference between hearsay and prophecy is often one of sequence. Hearsay often turns out to have been prophecy.

Compassion is not weakness, and concern for the unfortunate is not socialism.

Asia is rich in people, rich in culture and rich in resources. It is also rich in trouble.

Today we know that World War II began not in 1939 or 1941 but in the 1920's and 1930's when those who should have known better persuaded themselves that they were not their brother's keeper.

Foreign policy is really domestic policy with its hat on.

Freedom is the most contagious virus known to man.

I learnt more about politics during one South Dakota dust storm than in seven years at the university.

There are those who say to you - we are rushing this issue of civil rights. I say we are 172 years late.

The President has only 190 million bosses. The Vice President has 190 million and one.

It is not enough to merely defend democracy. To defend it may be to lose it; to extend it is to strengthen it. Democracy is not property; it is an idea.

I have seen in the Halls of Congress more idealism, more humanness, more compassion, more profiles of courage than in any other institution that I have ever known.

A politician never forgets the precarious nature of elective life. We have never established a practice of tenure in public office.

There are incalculable resources in the human spirit, once it has been set free.

Leadership in today's world requires far more than a large stock of gunboats and a hard fist at the conference table.

The essence of statesmanship is not a rigid adherence to the past, but a prudent and probing concern for the future.

American public opinion is like an ocean, it cannot be stirred by a teaspoon.

We are in danger of making our cities places where business goes on but where life, in its real sense, is lost.

We're going to expose what the tobacco companies knew and when they knew it. The American public is going to know how the tobacco industry manipulated kids, manipulated nicotine and manipulated public policy. Congress and the Department of Justice are going to know the pervasiveness of the fraud,

We hear every single day how terrible suicides are, automobile accidents are, how terrible cocaine and heroin are, murders, homicides, all of them. You put them all together, they don't come close to what this drug nicotine combined in tobacco does. Four hundred and forty thousand people a year, the equivalent of three 747s dropping out of the sky every single day of our lives. It's time we changed this folks,

We believe that to err is human. To blame it on someone else is politics.

The right to be heard does not autmatically include the right to be taken seriously.

It's disingenuous for the tobacco industry to claim that this PR stunt proves they are coming clean with the truth, ... It's like Dick Nixon taking credit for releasing the Watergate tapes.

Oh, my friend, it's not what they take away from you that counts. It's what you do with what you have left.

The road to freedom, here and everywhere, begins in the classroom.

The ugliness of bigotry stands in direct contradiction to the very meaning of America.

We should have learnt by now that laws and court decisions can only point the way. They can establish criteria of right and wrong. And they can provide a basis for rooting out the evils of bigotry and racism. But they cannot wipe away centuries of oppression and injustice - however much we might desire it.

Life's unfairness is not irrevocable; we can help balance the scales for others, if not always for ourselves.

When the dignity of one person is denied, all of us are denied.

This is the first generation in all of recorded history that can do something about the scourge of poverty. We have the means to do it. We can banish hunger from the face of the earth.

We live by hope. We do not ever get all we want when we want it. But we have to believe that someday, somehow, some way, it will be better and that we can make it so.

Surely anyone who has ever been elected to public office understands that one commodity above all others, namely the trust and confidence of the people, is fundamental in maintaining a free and open political system.

And it is to these rights - the right of law and order, the right of life, the right of liberty, the right of a job, the right of a home in a decent neighborhood, and the right to an education - it is to these rights that I pledge my life and whatever capacity and ability I have.

Before people will do anything, they have got to eat. And if you are really looking for a way for people to lean on you and to be dependent on you, in terms of their cooperation with you, it seems to me that food dependence would be terrific.

Much of our American progress has been the product of the individual who had an idea; pursued it; fashioned it; tenaciously clung to it against all odds; and then produced it, sold it, and profited from it.

Peace of mind is another way of saying that you've learned how to love, that you have come to appreciate the importance of giving love in order to be worthy of receiving it.

None of us would trade freedom of expression for the narrowness of the public censor. America is a free market for people who have something to say, and need not fear to say it.

I am absolutely disgusted that anyone would put thousands of America's boys at risk just to win a Political Campaign.

If I believe in something, I will fight for it, with all I have. But I do not demand all or nothing. I would rather get something than nothing.

You cannot go around and keep score. If you keep score on the good things and the bad things, you'll find out that you're a very miserable person. God gave man the ability to forget, which is one of the greatest attributes you have. Because if you remember everything that's happened to you, you generally remember that which is the most unfortunate.

In life it isn't what you've lost, it's what you've got left that counts

The pursuit of peace resembles the building of a great cathedral. It is the work of a generation. In concept it requires a mater-architect; in execution, the labors of many.

Here we are the way politics ought to be in America; the politics of happiness, the politics of purpose and the politics of joy.

Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of citizens to keep and bear arms.

National isolation breeds national neurosis.

It is better to gain a foot than to stand still, even when you seek to gain a mile.

There is a great deal of difference between living and surviving. You can survive in debauchery, even in sickness and despair. But you live with a spirit of vitality and a spirit of participation, of being wanted, and having something to contribute.

We will be remembered not for the power of our weapons but for the power of our compassion, our dedication to human welfare.

We can not expect to breed respect for law and order among people who do not share the fruits of our freedom.

Hubert Humphrey with kids"Be clear where America stands. Human brotherhood and equal opportunity for every man, woman, and child, we are committed to it, in America and around the world."

I am not here to judge whether people are locked in poverty because of themselves or because of the society in which they live. All I know is that they are there and we are trying to do something about it.

I do not feel that we should allow a shortage of funds to prevent cities from financing needed projects.

I had no money to buy books, so between classes and work, I haunted the library. I even tutored in French with a sliding scale of payment: twenty dollars for an A, fifteen for a B, ten for a C, five for a D.

Until racial justice and freedom is a reality in this land, our union will remain profoundly imperfect.

If today there is a proper American "sphere of influence" it is this fragile sphere called earth upon which all men live and share a common fate--a sphere where our influence must be for peace and justice.

I've never thought my speeches were too long; I've rather enjoyed them.

What do we want for people? Human dignity, personal expression and fulfillment, justice, freedom.

Profit and morality are a hard combination to beat.

There is a lot of difference between failure and defeat. Failure is when you are defeated and neither learn nor contribute anything.

When people generally are aware of a problem, it can be said to have entered the public consciousness. When people get on their hind legs and holler, the problem has not only entered the public consciousness -- it has also become a part of the public conscience. At that point, things in our democracy begin to hum.

More progress results from the violent execution of an imperfect plan than the perfection of a plan to violently execute.

Our greatest songs are still unsung.

In the minds and hearts of the American people, there is a great hunger for peace based on a universal recognition of the values of freedom and human dignity.

The moral test of a society is how that society treats those who are in the dawn of life: the children; ... the elderly.

In this time of national crises...per haps we would do well to spend a few minutes in considering projects which grace and embellish the earth, instead of shaking it.

You can't hoot with the owls and then soar with the eagles

The leadership for civil rights has to take place in the White House or it is going to take place in the streets.

You cannot tell a poor boy from a small country town on the plains of South Dakota who has had the opportunity to be a teacher, a mayor, a senator, and a vice president, that America is not a nation of promise.

The measure of a civilization is how it treats those at the dawn of life, the margins of life and the twilight of life.

I wish to suggest that ample opportunity does exist for dissent, for protest, and for nonconformity. But I must also say that the right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously.

If I believe in something, I will fight for it with all I have. But I do not demand all or nothing. I would rather get something than nothing. Professional liberals want the fiery debate. They glory in defeat. The hardest job for a politician today is to have the courage to be a moderate. It's easy to take an extreme position.

Capital, and the question of who owns it and therefore reaps the benefit of its productiveness, is an extremely important issue that is complementary to the issue of full employment... I see these as twin pillars of our economy: Full employment of our labor resources and widespread ownership of our capital resources. Such twin pillars would go a long way in providing a firm underlying support for future economic growth that would be equitably shared.

My favorite sandwich is peanut butter, baloney, cheddar cheese, lettuce, and mayonnaise on toasted bread with catsup on the side.

Like many things in our national life, we miscalculated. We overestimated our ability to control events, which is one of the great dangers of a great power. Power tends to be a substitute for judgment and wisdom.

We will have to decide today whether we will design the future or resign ourselves to it.

History teaches us that the great revolutions aren't started by people who are utterly down and out, without hope and vision. They take place when people begin to live a little better - and when they see how much yet remains to be achieved.

The great challenge which faces us is to assure that, in our society of big-ness, we do not strangle the voice of creativity, that the rules of the game do not come to overshadow its purpose, that the grand orchestration of society leaves ample room for the man who marches to the music of another drummer.