Biggest damfool mistake I ever made.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
In order to be a leader a man must have followers. And to have followers, a man must have their confidence. Hence, the supreme quality for a leader is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office. If a man’s associates find him guilty of being phony, if they find that he lacks forthright integrity, he will fail. His teachings and actions must square with each other. The first great need, therefore is integrity and high purpose.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Topics: Army, Leadership
There is no victory at bargain basement prices.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Topics: Value, Winning
So that here we have, really, the compound, the overall philosophy of Lincoln: in all those things which deal with people, be liberal, be human. In all those things which deal with the peoples money or their economy, or their form of government, be conservativeand don’t be afraid to use the word. And so today, Republicans come forward with programs in which there are such words as balanced budgets, and cutting expenditures, and all the kind of thing that means this economy must be conservative, it must be solvent. But they also come forward and say we are concerned with every Americans health, with a decent house for him, we are concerned that he will have a chance for health, and his children for education. We are going to see that he has power available to him. We are going to see that everything takes place that will enrich his life and let him as an individual, hard-working American citizen, have full opportunity to do for his children and his family what any decent American should want to do.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Oh, that lovely title, ex-president.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Topics: Presidency
The world moves, and ideas that were once good are not always good.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Topics: Change, World, Ideas
The best morale exists when you never hear the word mentioned. When you hear a lot of talk about it, it’s usually lousy.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Topics: Motivation, Motivational
Every step we take towards making the State our Caretaker of our lives, by that much we move toward making the State our Master
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Topics: Government
In London, my associates and I planned two great expeditions—that to invade the Mediterranean and later that to cross the Channel. London’s hospitality to the Americans, her good-humored acceptance of the added inconvenience we brought, her example of fortitude and quiet confidence in the final outcome—all these helped to make the Supreme Headquarters of the two Allied expeditions the smooth-working organizations they became.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
This is what I found out about religion: It gives you courage to make the decisions you must make in a crisis, and then the confidence to leave the result to a higher Power. Only by trust in God can a man carrying responsibility find repose.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Topics: Religion, Prayer
Only strength can cooperate. Weakness can only beg.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Topics: Weakness, Cooperation, Help, One liners
We seek peace, knowing that peace is the climate of freedom.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Topics: Freedom, Peace
Should a nation which attacks and occupies foreign territory in the face of United Nations disapproval be allowed to impose conditions on its own withdrawal?
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Our pleasures were simple-they included survival.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Topics: Survival
I’m saving that rocker for the day when I feel as old as I really am.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Topics: Aging, Age
Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim earned in the blood of his followers and the sacrifices of his friends.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Topics: The Military, Humility
Worry is a word that I don’t allow myself to use.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Topics: Worry
Our American heritage is threatened as much by our own indifference as it is by the most unscrupulous office or by the most powerful foreign threat. The future of this republic is in the hands of the American voter.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Topics: Voting
I have only one yardstick by which I test every major problem—and that yardstick is: Is it good for America?
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Topics: America
I believe that for the past twenty years there has been a creeping socialism spreading in the United States.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Politics ought to be the part-time profession of every citizen who would protect the rights and privileges of free people and who would preserve what is good and fruitful in our national heritage.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Topics: Politicians, Politics
Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Topics: Nature, Farming
I have serious doubts about the value of debates in a presidential election. They tend to be a test of reaction time rather than a genuine exposition of the participants philosophies and programs. Further, in debate, candidates tend to overstate their views. In the 1960 situation I had a very practical objection: Nixon was widely known; Kennedy was not; dramatic debates would therefore help Kennedy.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
The emergence of this new world poses a vital issue: will outer space be preserved for peaceful use and developed for the benefit of all mankind? Or will it become another focus for the arms raceand thus an area of dangerous and sterile competition? The choice is urgent. And it is ours to make. The nations of the world have recently united in declaring the continent of Antarctica off limits to military preparations. We could extend this principle to an even more important sphere. National vested interests have not yet been developed in space or in celestial bodies. Barriers to agreement are now lower than they will ever be again.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Things have never been more like the way they are today in history.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Topics: Change
You do not lead by hitting people over the head—that’s assault, not leadership.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Topics: Leaders, Leadership
Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
With a full century of contrary proof in our possession and despite our demonstrated capacity for cooperative teamwork, some among us seem to accept the shibboleth of an unbridgeable gap between those who hire and those who are employed. We miserably fail to challenge the lie that what is good for management is necessarily bad for labor; that for one side to profit, the other must be depressed. Such distorted doctrine is false and foreign to the American scene where common ideals and purpose permit us a common approach toward the common good.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Topics: Planning
Only our individual faith in freedom can keep us free.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Topics: Freedom
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
- George S. Patton American Military Leader
- Douglas MacArthur American Military Leader
- Winston Churchill British Head of State
- Omar Bradley American Military Leader
- Ronald Reagan American Head of State
- Herbert Hoover American Statesman
- George H. W. Bush American Head of State
- George Marshall American Military Leader
- Lyndon B. Johnson American Head of State
- Charles G. Dawes American Diplomat, Politician
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