Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from March 4, 1933, to April 12, 1945. There have been more than 30 first ladies of the United States. What made her so special? Well, for starters, she became the longest-serving First Lady of the United States while her husband, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, four terms in office.
Before Eleanor Roosevelt, the first ladies gave dinner and tea parties but did not speak about their country's issues. Well, that was not the plight of Eleanor Roosevelt. She paved the way for first ladies who followed her by writing newspaper columns and books, and she shared her opinions with the world and crucial issues for that time, such as equality for all Americans.
Not only was Eleanor Roosevelt unafraid to ruffle the feathers of the many critics who complained that she was overstepping her role as the First Lady. She was a committed supporter of women's suffrage, the architect of the welfare state, leader of the UN Commission on Human Rights, and author of the Declaration of Human Rights.
She became one of the world's greatest humanitarians, having dedicated her remarkable life to all people's liberty and equality. Eleanor Roosevelt quotes continue to inspire people of all backgrounds and political persuasions to strive for greatness and speak about our dreams' beauty.
Here are our top 30 Eleanor Roosevelt quotes that speak about the beauty of dreams and inspire your greatness:
1) People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously.
Growth happens in life when we exercise honesty and courage in our experiences. Life teaches us that success and failure are two equal parts that allow us to learn from. Success can only come after so many failures. You need to know how to move on from loss and accept it as part of your journey.
2) I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday.
Life is made up of an infinite amount of choices. You are who you are because of the choices you make. Sometimes it’s the smallest choice that can change your life forever. Think about the next decision you have to make and how it will reflect on you.
3) Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.
Always remember, it's not the people who stand by your side while you're at your best, but the ones who stand beside you when you're at your worst and sometimes you have to accept that some people will always be in your heart, but not in your life.
4) No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
If we let them— is the constant, and psychologically damaging, the event you can experience, letting other people affect your state of mind. The truth is your concern about what others think and feel toward you occupies way too much of distraction and yields nothing for you. But Eleanor Roosevelt here clearly states that your source of happiness and self-worth comes from YOU and only you can allow people to make yourself feel inferior.
5) With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.
Every day is a fresh start for you. It doesn't matter what your present circumstances may be. Every day is an opportunity for you to start anew, always start your day off right and be positive the entire day.
6) Comparison is the thief of joy.
Comparing yourself to other people is a recipe for unhappiness, which can be motivating, and sometimes it’s destructive. The only comparison that is acceptable is comparing yourself to who you were yesterday. What matters is YOU and BEING YOU. It’s simple but not easy.
7) It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.
This Eleanor Roosevelt's quote is the beautiful juxtaposition of lighting a candle, a metaphor for appreciating and cursing the darkness, a metaphor for hate. It is better to be the right person and find a reasonable person in a situation than to find bad people in a dire situation.
8) Have convictions. Be friendly. Stick to your beliefs as they stick to theirs. Work as hard as they do.
This bunch of Eleanor Roosevelt quotes strung together urges you to stick to your beliefs no matter what anyone says. Be friendly, keep motivating yourself to work hard, and achieve your goals every day.
9) I believe anyone can conquer fear by doing the things he fears to do.
Fear is a concept that you must consciously dethrone to have the courage to do what you must to succeed, rather than to cling to the things that make you fear to back out. Overcoming fears forces you to learn, and embracing risk-taking also helps you to overcome a fear of failure.
10) What one has to do usually can be done.
Like many quotes by Eleanor Roosevelt, this one is very true and straightforward. It speaks about when wanting to do something, don't wish or wait. Do it because life is too short, and you never know what life will offer the very next moment.
11) You wouldn't worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.
If you find yourself looking over your shoulder, consider this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt as a reminder to not worry about what other people think. You don't have to tailor your life to fit the expectation of others. Refrain from being a part of this vicious cycle!
12) Never allow a person to tell you no who doesn’t have the power to say yes.
This quote straight-up means that you should never listen to naysayers. Nobody knows you better than yourself!
13) You can often change your circumstances by changing your attitude.
Through this quote, Eleanor Roosevelt delivers a powerful yet simple message of how your attitude can change everything. Regardless of the circumstance, try to maintain a positive attitude. A positive attitude in an unfortunate situation shows the character of a person.
14) I lived through this horror; I can take the next thing that comes along.
This quote screams how important it is to remember the positive and good thing that life has offered, regardless of the unfortunate time in your life where you lived through a traumatic or horror experience. The thing is, you lived and are living!
15) Do the things that interest you and do them with all your heart.
Plain and simple, pick a career that you are genuinely interested in and stick with it. Enjoy the work that you do and spend all your time polishing the skill you possess at doing that work.
16) Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life.
Eleanor Roosevelt's quotation disguises knowledge as the source from which people earn money and can provide for their families. It's acquired through school, books, and work. In contrast, wisdom is what you learn from life, relationship and love.
17) Don’t be concerned about whether people are watching you or criticizing you.
This is sort of like a common theme in all of the quotes by Eleanor Roosevelt. Appreciate the people that support you and ignore the people who make you feel like you can not accomplish what you want to. Overall, Stay true to yourself and those around you.
18) Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.
Here, Eleanor Roosevelt believes that goals are happiness. It is something that is right along the side while you are working toward and completing that goal. Whereas dreams and goals are what we work for our whole lives.
19) All of life is a constant education.
Education is one of the most potent weapons -- it can change people, communities, entire nations, and humanity's future. Education is an essential need!
20) One must never, for any reason, turn his back on life.
Embrace and enjoy everything that life has till now offered you. Don't take anything for granted and never like never turn your back on life as it is the most precious thing God has blessed you.
21) In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves.
Nobody has the right and power to decide for you. You become YOU from the choices you make. Nobody can define or shape you better than you. You can be who you want to be.
22) The purpose of life is to live it, to taste the experience to the utmost.
Yet again, as many quotes by Eleanor Roosevelt, this one accentuates on life being made for living. Enjoy and live your moments to the fullest and be curious, along with taking care of yourself and your responsibilities.
23) It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.
No simple words could have summed it as perfect as this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt. Wising is not as productive as spending time working toward your goals instead of wishing you had gone something sooner. Live your life in wonder, not regret.
24) Life must be lived, and curiosity kept alive.
You need to appreciate and be grateful for everything that life offers you. Yes, that includes all the dire situations and people. Befriend people, learn about new cultures, try different food and get into new hobbies. After all, curiosity is what makes life worth living.
25) Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a great deal of thought into giving.
Here, The first lady discourses to realize the situation and give others joy than getting satisfaction out of many people. And find the best way to handle it through different ups and downs of life and provide a thought into giving.
26) You must do things you think you cannot do.
Quotes by Eleanor Roosevelt emphasizes the importance of learning as learning improves all aspects of your life. You gain strength, courage, and confidence when you practice and improve your weaknesses and become a well rounded and knowledgeable person.
27) The giving of love is education in itself.
This quote by Eleanor Roosevelt speaks volumes. Education is much more than learning a subject and scoring marks in it. Education is more of learning to live and learning to love. And one of the greatest lessons that education gives is to love.
28) Do what you feel in your heart to be right- for, you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't.
To sum it up, All you need to do is intend to listen more to your heart. One of the crucial steps in learning to use heart — instinct —and your mind — intellect to achieve absolute success.
29) Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.
This quote by Eleanor Roosevelt talks about small-minded people who often talk about other people negatively, gossip. The average-minded discusses the events happening worldwide, whereas great minds discuss ideas to look beyond the message behind an event and find solutions to help make the world a better place and to make themselves better people.
30) The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
At times, You may feel like your dreams make no sense, but no matter how audacious it is, yes, your dreams can come true as long as you do not allow the naysayers, society, or your inner critic, to distract you.
In a misogynist age, Eleanor Roosevelt dreamed of a world where women could impact world events just as much as men and became the supporter of women's suffrage the first chairperson of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Eleanor Roosevelt believed in her dreams, in the beauty of them, of why they must come true and made it happen even though some wished to stop her.
By the time of her death in 1962, Eleanor Roosevelt was known as "the First Lady of the World," which is quite apt considering she continues to inspire people from eloquent insights about life through her quotes.
Eleanor Roosevelt quotes will surely help you understand your dreams' beauty and motivate you to achieve what you dreamt of!
Read More:
- 46 Presidents of The United States of America With Great Personalities
- 60 Winston Churchill Quotes To Empower And Make You More Confident
- 40 Michelle Obama Quotes for Powerful Women To Get Inspired
- 35 Bill Gates Quotes For Motivation, Success And Inspiration
Explore: Feeding Trends | Events