Quote#Politics & Power
The task of Government is that of application and encouragement. A…
Quote byFranklin Delano Roosevelt · 1882–1945
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Address at San Diego Exposition (1935).
English (original)
The task of Government is that of application and encouragement. A wise Government seeks to provide the opportunity through which the best of individual achievement can be obtained, while at the same time it seeks to remove such obstruction, such unfairness as springs from selfish human motives.
— Franklin Delano Roosevelt
More from Franklin Delano Roosevelt
During this Depression, when the spirit of the people is lower than at any other time, it is a splendid thing that for just 15 cents an American can go to a movie and look at the smiling face of a baby, and forget his troubles.
The United States Constitution has proven itself the most marvelously elastic compilation of rules of government ever written.
Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off.
I sometimes think we consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm.
Dear Sallie: I am very sorry you have a cold and you are in bed. I played with Mary today for a little while. I hope by tomorrow you will be able to be up. I am glad today [sic] that my cold is better. Your loving, Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it: If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.