Quotes by Harry S Truman

“A leader in the Democratic Party is a boss, in the Republican Party he is a leader.”

“You want a friend in Washington? Get a dog.”

“All the president is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing, and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway.”

“When you have an efficient government, you have a dictatorship.”

“A President needs political understanding to run the government, but he may be elected without it.”

“A politician is a man who understands government. A statesman is a politician who's been dead for 15 years.”

“Those who want the Government to regulate matters of the mind and spirit are like men who are so afraid of being murdered that they commit suicide to avoid assassination.”

“Upon books the collective education of the race depends; they are the sole instruments of registering, perpetuating and transmitting thought.”

“It is understanding that gives us an ability to have peace. When we understand the other fellow's viewpoint, and he understands ours, then we can sit down and work out our differences.”

“I would rather have peace in the world than be President.”

“You know that being an American is more than a matter of where your parents came from. It is a belief that all men are created free and equal and that everyone deserves an even break.”

“Any man who has had the job I've had and didn't have a sense of humor wouldn't still be here.”

“We shall never be able to remove suspicion and fear as potential causes of war until communication is permitted to flow, free and open, across international boundaries.”