Great Throughts Treasury

"The mistake the world is making with the simple peoples is to try and hurry them into political concepts they don’t understand and aren’t prepared to cope with. I know. I am a peasant myself."

"I believe that he who has less in life should have more in law."

"I believe that the free world is collectively strong, and that there is neither need or reason to compromise the dignity of man."

"Guns alone are not the answer. We must provide hope for young people for better housing, clothing, and food; and if we do, the radicals will wither away"

"A leader should set an example of a big heart, an honest mind, sound instincts, the virtue of healthy impatience and an abiding love for the common man."

"Between our way of life and communism there can be no peace, no paralyzing coexistence, no gray neutralism. There can only be conflict-total and without reconciliation."

"I believe in the majesty of constitutional and legal processes, in the inviolability of human rights."

"I believe that a high and unwavering sense of morality should pervade all spheres of governmental activity."

"I believe that the pulse of government should be strong and steady, and the men at the helm imbued with missionary zeal."

"I believe that the President should set the example of a big heart, an honest mind, sound instincts, the virtue of healthy impatience and an abiding love for the common man."

"I believe that government starts at the bottom and moves upward, for government exists for the welfare of the masses of the nation."

"I believe that the little man is fundamentally entitled to a little bit more food in his stomach, a little more cloth in his back and a little more roof over his head."

"Our military offensive is indispensable, since force must be met by force. But our social offensive is the extra weapon which the enemy cannot produce. Here the enemy meets democracy's strongest element-the ability to realize and satisfy the needs of its people without taking from them their freedom and dignity as human beings."

"This country [the Philippines] is like a pyramid, like a tower. It is made up of millions of stones... . And the foundation stone of this pyramid is the common man."