Eleanor
Roosevelt
A shy,
awkward child, starved for recognition
and love, Eleanor Roosevelt grew
into a woman
with great sensitivity to the underprivileged
of all
creeds, races, and nations. Her constant
work to improve their lot made
her one of the
most loved--and for some years one of the
most revered women of her generation.
(continued
at the bottom of page)
|
thinkers home |
All human beings have
failings, all human beings have needs and
temptations and stresses. Men and women who live together through
long years get to know one
another's failings;
but they also come to
know what is worthy of respect
and admiration in those they live
with
and in themselves. If at the
end one can say, "This man used to the
limit the powers
that God
granted him; he was worthy of love and
respect and of the sacrifices of
many people,
made in order that he
might achieve what he deemed to be his
task,"
then that life has
been lived well and there are no regrets.
|
|
|
A
successful life for a man or for a woman seems to me to lie in the
knowledge
that one has developed to the limit the capacities with which
one was endowed;
that one has contributed something constructive to
family and friends
and to a home community; that one has brought
happiness wherever it was possible;
that one has earned one's way in the
world, has kept some friends,
and need not be ashamed to face oneself
honestly.
For
it isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And
it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it.
|
|
Every
time you meet a situation, though you think at the time it is
an impossibility and you go through the torture of the damned,
once you have met it and lived through it, you find that forever
you are freer than you were before.
|
|
A mature person is one
who does not think only in absolutes,
who is able to be objective even
when deeply stirred emotionally,
who has learned that there is both good
and bad in all people and in all things,
and who walks humbly and deals
charitably with the circumstances of life,
knowing that in this world no
one is all knowing
and therefore all of us need both love and charity.
|
|
|
No
one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
|
|
It
is not fair to ask
of others what you are
not willing to do yourself.
|
|
|
|
When you cease to
make a
contribution,
you begin to die.
|
Somehow we learn who
we really are
and then live with that decision.
|
|
|
Friendship with oneself is all-important,
because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else.
|
|
In
the long run we shape our lives and we shape ourselves.
The
process never ends until we die.
And the choices we make are
ultimately our own responsibility.
|
|
|
|
The
future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
|
|
Remember
always that you have not only
the right to
be an individual,
you have an
obligation to be one.
|
|
No
one from the beginning of time has had security.
|
|
You
gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience
in which you
really stop to look fear in the face. . . .
You must do the thing you
think you cannot do.
|
|
I
believe that anyone can conquer fear by doing the things
they fear to do,
provided they keep doing them until they
get a record of successful
experiences behind them.
|
|
|
|
When
you have decided what you believe, what you feel must be done,
have the
courage to stand alone and be counted.
|
|
The
only person who makes no mistakes is the person who never does anything.
|
|
Do
not be afraid of mistakes, providing
you do not make the same one twice. |
When
you get to the end of your rope--
tie a knot in it and hang on. |
|
|
Nearly
all great civilizations that perished did so because they
had
crystallized, because they were incapable of adapting
themselves to new
conditions, new methods, new points of view.
It is as though
people would literally rather die than change. |
|
|
|
A
little simplification would be the first
step toward rational living, I
think. |
|
Usefulness,
whatever form it may take, is the price we should pay
for the air we
breathe and the food we eat and the privilege of being alive.
|
|
One
thing we know beyond all doubt: Nothing has ever
been achieved
by
the person who says, "It can't be done."
|
|
So
much attention is paid to the aggressive sins,
such as violence and
cruelty and greed with all their tragic effects,
that too little
attention is paid to the passive sins,
such as apathy and laziness,
which in the long run can have
a more devastating and destructive effect
upon society than the others.
|
|
I
have never given very deep thought to a philosophy of life,
though I have a few ideas that I think are useful to me.
One is that you do whatever comes your way as well as you
can, and another is that you think as little as possible about
yourself and as much as possible about other people and about
things that are interesting.
The third is that you get more joy out of giving joy to
others and should put a good deal of thought into the happiness
that you are able to give. |
|
|
|
|
When
will our consciences grow so tender
that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it? |
|
As
for accomplishments, I just did
what I had to do as things came along. |
All
big changes in human history have been arrived at slowly and
through many compromises. |
|
|
I could
not, at any age, be content to take my place
by the fireside and simply look on. Life was meant
to be lived. Curiosity must be kept alive. One must
never, for whatever reason, turn his or her back on life. |
|
Anyone who knows
history, particularly the history of Europe,
will, I think, recognize that the domination of education or
of government by any one particular religious faith is never
a happy arrangement for the people. |
|
A
mature person is one who is does not think only in absolutes, who is
able to be objective even when deeply stirred emotionally, who
has learned that there is both good and bad in all people and all
things,
and who walks humbly and deals charitably with the circumstances of
life,
knowing that in this world no one is all-knowing and therefore
all of us need both love and charity. |
|
I could not
at any age be content to take my place
in a corner by the fireside and simply look on. |
|
|
|
The most beautiful people
we have known are those who have known
defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found
their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a
sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with
compassion,
gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just
happen.
Eleanor Roosevelt |
|
|
We
have some
inspiring and motivational books that may interest you.
Our main way of supporting this site is
through the sale of books, either physical copies
or digital copies for your Amazon Kindle (including the
online reader). We try to make them
well worth
reading, and pretty much all of the money that we earn
through them comes
back to the site
in one way or another. Just click on the picture
above
to visit our page of books, both fiction and
non-fiction! |
|
|
She was born in
New York City on October 11, 1884, daughter of lovely Anna Hall and
Elliott Roosevelt,
younger brother of Theodore. When her mother died in
1892, the children went to live with
Grandmother Hall; her adored father
died only two years later. Attending a distinguished school
in England
gave her, at 15, her first chance to develop self-confidence among other
girls.
Tall, slender,
graceful of figure but apprehensive at the thought of being a
wallflower, she returned
for a debut that she dreaded. In her circle of
friends was a distant cousin, handsome young
Franklin Delano Roosevelt. They became engaged in 1903 and were married in 1905, with her
uncle the
President giving the bride away. Within eleven years Eleanor bore six
children; one son
died in infancy. "I suppose I was fitting pretty
well into the pattern of a fairly conventional, quiet,
young society
matron," she wrote later in her autobiography.
In Albany,
where Franklin served in the state Senate from 1910 to 1913, Eleanor
started her
long career as political helpmate. She gained a knowledge of
Washington and its ways while he
served as Assistant Secretary of the
Navy. When he was stricken with poliomyelitis in 1921,
she tended him
devotedly. She became active in the women's division of the State
Democratic
Committee to keep his interest in politics alive. From his
successful campaign for governor in 1928
to the day of his death, she
dedicated her life to his purposes. She became eyes and ears for him,
a
trusted and tireless reporter.
When Mrs.
Roosevelt came to the White House in 1933, she understood social
conditions better
than any of her predecessors and she transformed the
role of First Lady accordingly. She never
shirked official entertaining;
she greeted thousands with charming friendliness. She also broke
precedent to hold press conferences, travel to all parts of the country,
give lectures and radio
broadcasts, and express her opinions candidly in
a daily syndicated newspaper column, "My Day."
This made her a
tempting target for political enemies but her integrity, her
graciousness,
and her sincerity of purpose endeared her personally to
many--from heads of state to
servicemen she visited abroad during World
War II. As she had written wistfully at 14:
"...no matter how plain
a woman may be if truth and loyalty are stamped upon
her face all will
be attracted to her...."
After the
President's death in 1945 she returned to a cottage at his Hyde Park
estate;
she told reporters: "the story is over." Within a
year, however, she began her service
as American spokesman in the United
Nations. She continued a vigorous career until
her strength began to
wane in 1962. She died in New York City that November,
and was buried at
Hyde Park beside her husband.
Taken from the
White House site dedicated to First Women at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/ar32.html.
|
|
welcome
page
- contents
-
gallery
-
obstacles
-
quotations
- the
people behind the words
our
current e-zine
-
articles and excerpts
- Daily
Meditations, Year
Two - Year Three
Sign up
for your free daily spiritual or general quotation ~ ~ Sign
up for your free daily meditation
|
|
|
|
|