Top 83 Presidential Quotes

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Of all the Presidents of the United States, some were better than others. However, all of them have gone down as important historical figures. As such, for this Presidents Day, check out the top 83 Presidential quotes.

#83 – 80. Presidential Quotes

83. “Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery.” – Calvin Coolidge

82. “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

81. If you treat people right they will treat you right… ninety percent of the time. – Franklin D. Roosevelt

80. I walk slowly, but I never walk backward. – Abraham Lincoln

#79 – 70. Presidential Quotes

79. “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

78. “By leadership we mean the art of getting someone else to do something that you want done because he wants to do it, not because your position of power can compel him to do it.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

77. “Without passion you don’t have energy, with out energy you have nothing.” – Donald Trump

76. “Be patient and calm; no one can catch a fish with anger.” – Herbert Hoover

75. “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.” – Bill Clinton

74. “God knows that I detest slavery, but it is an existing evil, for which we are not responsible, and we must endure it, till we can get rid of it without destroying the last hope of free government in the world.” – Millard Fillmore

73. “Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching.” – Thomas Jefferson

72. Believe you can and you’re halfway there. – Theodore Roosevelt

71. “The gratitude … should be commensurate with the boundless blessings which we enjoy.” – James K. Polk

70. “It is better to be defeated standing for a high principle than to run by committing subterfuge.” – Grover Cleveland

#69 – 60. Presidential Quotes

69. “No nation is fit to sit in judgment upon any other nation.” – Woodrow Wilson

68. “An honorable defeat is better than a dishonorable victory.” – Millard Fillmore

67. “Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error.” – Andrew Jackson

66. “Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” – John F. Kennedy

65. Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth. – John F. Kennedy

64. “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

63. “If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month.” – Theodore Roosevelt

62. “Aggression unopposed becomes a contagious disease.” – Jimmy Carter

61. “The object of love is to serve, not to win.” – Woodrow Wilson

60. Tell the truth, work hard, and come to dinner on time. – Gerald R. Ford

#59 – 50. Presidential Quotes

59. “I don’t know much about Americanism, but it’s a damn good word with which to carry an election.” – Warren Gamaliel Harding

58. “To be good, and to do good, is all we have to do.” – John Adams

57. “Heroes may not be braver than anyone else. They’re just braver five minutes longer.” – Ronald Reagan

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 M. Nixon

55. “It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn’t.” – Martin Van Buren

54. “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

53. “Right reason is stronger than force.” – James A. Garfield

52. “Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error.” – Andrew Jackson

51. “The circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money.” – James Madison

50. “Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today.” – Abraham Lincoln

#49 – 40. Presidential Quotes

49. “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

48. “Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.” – Lyndon B. Johnson

47. “Be fit for more than the thing you are now doing. Let everyone know that you have a reserve in yourself; that you have more power than you are now using. If you are not too large for the place you occupy, you are too small for it.” – Chester A. Arthur

46. “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favors.” – George Washington

45. “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

44. “99% of failures come from people who make excuses.” – George Washington

43. “We must teach our children to resolve their conflicts with words, not weapons.” – Bill Clinton

42. “While men inhabiting different parts of this vast continent cannot be expected to hold the same opinions, they can unite in a common objective and sustain common principles.” – Franklin Pierce

41. “I can never consent to being dictated to.” – John Tyler

40. “If you always support the correct principles then you will never get the wrong results!” – Andrew Johnson

#39 – 30. Presidential Quotes

39. “In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten, then he who continues the attack wins.” – Gen. Ulysses S. Grant

38. “I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.” – Abraham Lincoln

37. Accomplishment will prove to be a journey, not a destination. – Dwight D. Eisenhower

36. “The test of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there.” – James Buchanan

35. “Have you not learned that not stocks or bonds or stately houses, or products of the mill or field are our country? It is a spiritual thought that is in our minds.” – Benjamin Harrison

34. “I pity the man who wants a coat so cheap that the man or woman who produces the cloth will starve in the process.” – Benjamin Harrison

33. “Let us resolve to be masters, not the victims, of our history, controlling our own destiny without giving way to blind suspicions and emotions.” – John F. Kennedy

32. “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

31. “Labor disgraces no man, but occasionally men disgrace labor.” – Ulysses S. Grant

30. “One of the tests of the civilization of people is the treatment of its criminals.” – Rutherford Birchard Hayes

#29 – 20. Presidential Quotes

29. “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” – Thomas Jefferson

28. If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress. – Barack Obama

27. “Unswerving loyalty to duty, constant devotion to truth, and a clear conscience will overcome every discouragement and surely lead the way to usefulness and high achievement.” – Grover Cleveland

26. “Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it.” – Abraham Lincoln

25. “A leadership is someone who brings people together.” – George W. Bush

24. “You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can.” – Jimmy Carter

23. “Great lives never go out; they go on.” – Benjamin Harrison

22. “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader” – John Quincy Adams

21. “The mission of the United States is one of benevolent assimilation.” – William McKinley, Jr.

20. “There’s good in everybody. Boost. Don’t knock.” – Warren G. Harding

#19 – 10. Presidential Quotes

19. “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

18. “The only thing to fear is, fear itself.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

17. “Every expert was once a beginner.” – Rutherford B. Hayes

16. “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” – Harry S. Truman

15. “Times change, and we change with them.” – William Henry Harrison

14. “I have always done my duty. I am ready to die. My only regret is for the friends I leave behind me.” – Zachary Taylor

13. “A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits.” – Richard Nixon

12. “America—a great social and economic experiment, noble in motive and far-reaching in purpose.” – Herbert Hoover

11. “Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

10. “Read my lips. No new taxes.” – George H. W. Bush

#9 – 1. Presidential Quotes

9. “In the time of darkest defeat, victory may be nearest.” – William McKinley

8. In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. – Thomas Jefferson

7. “When you are in any contest you should work as if there were—to the very last minute a chance to lose it.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

6. “For this is what America is all about. It is the uncrossed desert and the unclimbed ridge. It is the star that is not reached and the harvest that is sleeping in the unplowed ground.” – Lyndon Johnson

5. “The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them away.” – Ronald Reagan

4. “No problem of human making is too great to be overcome by human ingenuity, human energy, and the untiring hope of the human spirit.” – George Bush

3. “Pessimism never won any battle.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

2. “Don’t write so that you can be understood; write so that you can’t be misunderstood.” – William H. Taft

1.”It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. In this life we get nothing save by effort.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Ideas for the top 83 Presidential quotes were taken from the following sources.^[1]Psychology Today – Inspirational Quotes from the 45 U.S. Presidents^[2]Entrepreneur – 10 Inspirational Presidential Quote^[3]Inc. – 15 Timeless Presidential Quote on Leadership for Presidents Day^[4]ThoughtCo. – Famous Quotes From America’s Legendary Presidents