75 Inspirational & Timeless Quotes From U.S. Presidents
From some of the wisest men in history.
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While every politician is faced with scrutiny at some point during their leadership, what we can all agree on is that our presidents have shared a lot of wise words over the years of our young nation.
I mean we have a federal holiday dedicated to them: President's Day which was first established in 1885 in honor of George Washington's birthday, in 1971 the holiday was revised to create more 3-day weekends (woo!) and honor all of our nation's presidents who have given inspiring presidential quotes.
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According to historical rankings, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and George Washington are the most famous presidents of America.
And of course, we can't forget Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, JFK, Ronald Reagan, and Barack Obama, who so often moved the nation with their words.
Whether or not you have agreed with past presidents you can still appreciate some of the knowledge that they had.
The following presidential quotes are inspirational sayings from our nation's highest leaders.
1. "Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly." — John F. Kennedy
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2. "Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company." — George Washington
3. "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." — John Quincy Adams
4. "The cynics may be the loudest voices — but I promise you they will accomplish the least." — Barack Obama
5. "To be good, and to do good, is all we have to do." — John Adams
6. "Believe you can and you're halfway there." — Theodore Roosevelt
7. "The best way to predict the future is to create it." — Abraham Lincoln
8. "The circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money." — James Madison
9. "Accomplishment will prove to be a journey, not a destination." — Dwight D. Eisenhower
10. "Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try." — John F. Kennedy
11. "It is by a thorough knowledge of the whole subject that [people] are enabled to judge correctly of the past and to give a proper direction to the future." — James Monroe
12. "In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." — Thomas Jefferson
13. "A leadership is someone who brings people together." — George W. Bush
14. "Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men." — John F. Kennedy
15. "We should never despair, our situation before has been unpromising and has changed for the better, so I trust, it will again." — George Washington
16. "Without passion you don't have energy, without energy you have nothing." — Donald Trump
17. "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today." — Thomas Jefferson
18. "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." — Theodore Roosevelt
19. "Heroes may not be braver than anyone else. They’re just braver five minutes longer." — Ronald Reagan
20. "Always stand on principle... even if you stand alone." — John Adams
21. "Never be satisfied with less than your very best effort. If you strive for the top and miss, you'll still 'beat the pack." — Gerald R. Ford
22. "Let us dare to read, think, speak and write." — John Adams
23."Great lives never go out; they go on." — Benjamin Harrison
24. "Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose." — Lyndon B. Johnson
25. "The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph." — George Washington
26. "If wrinkles must be written on our brow, let them not be written on our heart. The spirit should never grow old." — James Garfield
27. "There's good in everybody. Boost. Don't knock." — Warren G. Harding
28. "Try and fail, but don't fail to try." — John Quincy Adams
29. "Tell the truth, work hard and come to dinner on time." — Gerald Ford
30. "Be patient and calm; no one can catch a fish with anger." — Herbert Hoover
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31. "If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress." — Barack Obama
32. "I walk slowly, but I never walk backward." — Abraham Lincoln
33. "The circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money." — James Madison
34. "The object of love is to serve, not to win." — Woodrow Wilson
35. "It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn't." — Martin Van Buren
36. "I can never consent to being dictated to." — John Tyler
37. "Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction." — John F. Kennedy
38. "An honorable defeat is better than a dishonorable victory." — Millard Fillmore
39. "Pessimism never won any battle." — Dwight D. Eisenhower
40. "In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten, then he who continues the attack wins." — Ulysses S. Grant
41. "Every expert was once a beginner." — Rutherford B. Hayes
42. "In the time of darkest defeat, victory may be nearest." — William McKinley
43. "Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds." — Franklin D. Roosevelt
44. "We must dare to be great, and we must realize that greatness is the fruit of toil and sacrifice and high courage." — William Howard Taft
45. "The object of love is to serve not to win." — Woodrow Wilson
46. "If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month." — Theodore Roosevelt
47. "If you see ten troubles coming down the road, you can be sure that nine will run into the ditch before they reach you." — Calvin Coolidge
48. "Be patient and calm, no one can catch a fish with anger." — Herbert Hoover
49. "In the time of darkest defeat, victory may be nearest." — William McKinley
50. "If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity." — John F. Kennedy
51. "Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you." — Thomas Jefferson
52. "I not only use all the brains I have but all I can borrow." — Woodrow Wilson
53. "It is better to be defeated standing for a high principle than to run by committing subterfuge." — Grover Cleveland
54. "Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose." — Lyndon B. Johnson
55. "Right reason is stronger than force." — James A. Garfield
56. "Remember always give your best. Never get discouraged. Never be petty. Always remember others may hate you. But those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself." — Richard Nixon
57. "Never be satisfied with less than your very best effort. If you strive for the top and miss, you'll still 'beat the pack.'" — Gerald R. Ford
58. "You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can." — Jimmy Carter
59. "If you live long enough, you'll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you'll be a better person. It's how you handle adversity, not how it affects you. The main thing is never quit, never quit, never quit." — William J. Clinton
60. "I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better." — Abraham Lincoln
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61. "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." — Barack Obama
62. "An honorable defeat is better than a dishonorable victory." — Millard Fillmore
63. "We will not waver; we will not tire; we will not falter, and we will not fail. Peace and Freedom will prevail." — George W. Bush
64. "No problem of human making is too great to be overcome by human ingenuity, human energy, and the untiring hope of the human spirit." — William J. Clinton
65. "Right reason is stronger than force." — James A. Garfield
66. "Times change and we change with them." — William Henry Harrison
67. "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." — Barack Obama
68. "There are no necessary evils in government. Its evils exist only in its abuses." — Andrew Jackson
69. "I’d rather have lasting peace in the world than be president. I wish for peace, I work for peace, and I pray for peace continually." — Harry S. Truman
70. "There is nothing more corrupting, nothing more destructive of the noblest and finest feelings of our nature, than the exercise of unlimited power." — William Henry Harrison
71. "There is something inherently wrong, something out of accord with the ideals of representative democracy when one portion of our citizenship turns its activities to private gain amid defensive war while another is fighting, sacrificing, or dying for national preservation." — Warren G. Harding
72. "Peace is the best time for improvement and preparation of every kind; it is in peace that our commerce flourishes most, that taxes are most easily paid, and that the revenue is most productive." — James Monroe
73. "We the people tell the government what to do, it doesn’t tell us." — Ronald Reagan
74. "America has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens." — George W. Bush
75."I would rather belong to a poor nation that was free than to a rich nation that had ceased to be in love with liberty." — Woodrow Wilson
Molly Given is a writer and lover of all things to do with mystery and magic in life. When she’s not writing her fingers off she can be found planning her next adventure in a new part of the world.
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