Adlai E. Stevenson Quotes

It's hard to lead a cavalry charge if you think you look funny on a horse.

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

I offer my opponents a bargain: if they will stop telling lies about us, I will stop telling the truth about them

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

You can tell the size of a man by the size of the thing that makes him mad.

All progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions.

He who slings mud generally loses ground.

A hypocrite is the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree, then mount the stump and make a speech for conservation.

In America, anybody can be president. That's one of the risks you take.

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

Someone asked me...how it felt and I was reminded of a story that a fellow townsman of ours used to tell--Abraham Lincoln. They asked him how he felt once after an unsuccessful election. He said he felt like a little boy who had stubbed his toe in the dark. He said that he was too old to cry, but it hurt too much to laugh.

She was the kind of person who would rather light a candle than curse the darkness.

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.

I venture to suggest that patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.

The first principle of a free society is an untrammeled flow of words in an open forum." (Adlai E. Stevenson, 1900-1965, American Lawyer, Politician)

Newspaper editors are men who separate the wheat from the chaff, and then print the chaff.

What counts is not the years in your life but the life in your years.

Understanding human needs is half the job of meeting them.

She would rather light candles than curse the darkness and her glow has warmed the world.

In quiet places, reason abounds.

...if Clinton's answers come off as well-intended lectures, Obama is offering soaring sermons and generational opportunity. In 1960, the articulate Adlai Stevenson compared his own oratory unfavorably with John F. Kennedy's. "Do you remember," Stevenson said, "that in classical times when Cicero had finished speaking, the people said, 'How well he spoke,' but when Demosthenes had finished speaking, the people said, 'Let us march.' " At this hour, Obama is the Democrats' Demosthenes.

We can chart our future clearly and wisely only when we know the path which has led to the present.

In America, anyone can become president. That's one of the risks you take.

A beauty is a woman you notice; a charmer is one who notices you.

Do you remember that in classical times when Cicero had finished speaking, the people said, "How well he spoke" but when Demosthenes had finished speaking, they said, "Let us march.

Your days are short here; this is the last of your springs. And now in the serenity and quiet of this lovely place, touch the depths of truth, feel the hem of Heaven. You will go away with old, good friends. And don't forget when you leave why you came.

Tidak ada yang bisa dicapai tanpa usaha.

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.

America is much more than a geographical fact. It is a political and moral fact - the first community in which men set out in principle to institutionalize freedom, responsible government, and human equality.

Someone heard Stevenson’s impressive speech and said, “Every thinking person in America will be voting for you.” Stevenson replied, “I’m afraid that won’t do—I need a majority.

Freedom rings where opinions clash,

We can chart our future clearly and wisely only when we know the path which has led to the present. Adlai E. Stevenson (1952)