Adlai E. Jr. Stevenson (1900-1965)

Quotes

• Patriotism is not a short outburst of emotion, but is the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.

• There is a New America every morning when we wake up. It is upon us whether we will it or not.

• Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.

• What counts now is not just what we are against, but what we are for. Who leads us is less important than what leads us-what convictions, what courage, what faith-win or lose. A man doesn't save a century, or a civilization, but a militant party wedded to a principal can.

• Self-criticism is the secret weapon of democracy, and candor and confession are good for the public soul

• If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow wherever that search may lead us. The free mind is no barking dog to be tethered on a ten-foot chain.

• My definition of a free society is where it's safe to be unpopular.

• The hardest thing about any political campaign is how to win without proving that you are unworthy of winning.

• I sometimes marvel at the extraordinary docility with which americans submit to speeches.

• I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends... that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.

• In America any boy may become President and I suppose it's just one of the risks he takes.

• My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.

• If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow wherever that search may lead us. The free mind is not a barking dog, to be tethered on a ten-foot chain.

• Words calculated to catch everyone may catch no one.

• Man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them.

• I believe in the forgiveness of sin and the redemption of ignorance.

• A free society is a place where it's safe to be unpopular.

• Let us talk sense to the American people. Let us tell them the truth, that there are no gains without pains.

• Understanding human needs is half the job of meeting them.

• I believe that if we really want human brotherhood to spread and increase until it makes life safe and sane, we must also be certain that there is no one true faith or path by which it may spread