Norman Thomas Quotations

All our rulers have said that war is unthinkable, and then we think about it almost all the time. We've got to make it unthinkable.

Kennedy said that if we had nuclear war we'd kill 300 million people in the first hour. McNamara, who is a good businessman and likes to save, says it would be only 200 million.

He who would save liberty must put his trust in democracy.

I now see Norman Thomas as indeed a liberal, but as a real, old-fashioned, unreconstructed liberal who believes in freedom and justice for everybody.

Rebellion per se is not a virtue. If it were, we would have some heroes on very low levels.

The central law of all wholesome life is reciprocity, mutuality. ... But the group is valuable only as it permits personalities, not automatons, to emerge.

I always get more applause than votes.

Harry Truman proves that old adage that any man can become President of the United States.

Peace will never be entirely secure until men everywhere have learned to conquer poverty without sacrificing liberty or security.

To us Americans much has been given; of us much is required. With all our faults and mistakes, it is our strength in support of the freedom our forefathers loved which has saved mankind from subjection to totalitarian power.