A biography for Hubert H. Humphreyhasn’t been written yet.
“I learnt more about politics during one South Dakota dust storm than in seven years at the university.”
“There are incalculable resources in the human spirit, once it has been set free.”
“The test we must set for ourselves is not to march alone but to march in such a way that others will wish to join us.”
“The impersonal hand of government can never replace the helping hand of a neighbor.”
“I learned more about the economy from one South Dakota dust storm that I did in all my years of college.”
“There are not enough jails, not enough police, not enough courts to enforce a law not supported by the people.”
“I have seen in the Halls of Congress more idealism, more humanness, more compassion, more profiles of courage than in any other institution that I have ever known.”
“The President is the people's lobbyist.”
“The moral test of government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life – the sick, the needy, and the handicapped.”
“Never answer a question from a farmer.”
“Liberalism, above all, means emancipation - emancipation from one's fears, his inadequacies, from prejudice, from discrimination, from poverty.”
“For the first time in the history of mankind, one generation literally has the power to destroy the past, the present and the future, the power to bring time to an end.”
“The essence of statesmanship is not a rigid adherence to the past, but a prudent and probing concern for the future.”
“The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love.”
“Never give in and never give up.”
“In real life, unlike in Shakespeare, the sweetness of the rose depends upon the name it bears. Things are not only what they are. They are, in very important respects, what they seem to be.”
“It is not what they take away from you that counts. It's what you do with what you have left.”
“Behind every successful man stands a surprised mother-in-law.”
“It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.”
“It is not enough to merely defend democracy. To defend it may be to lose it; to extend it is to strengthen it. Democracy is not property; it is an idea.”