Not only our future economic soundness but the very soundness of our democratic institutions depends on the determination of our government to give employment to idle men.
Interpretation
The stability of our economy and democracy relies on providing jobs to those who are unemployed.
In this quote, Franklin D. Roosevelt emphasizes that both economic soundness and the integrity of democratic institutions are closely linked to the government's commitment to creating job opportunities for the unemployed. He suggests that addressing unemployment is not just an economic imperative, but also a foundational aspect of maintaining a healthy democracy, as it helps to prevent social unrest and promotes civic participation.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech advocating for job creation programs.
There has been one persistent theme through all Axis propaganda. This theme has been that Americans are admittedly rich, that Americans have considerable industrial power - but that Americans are soft and decadent, that they cannot and will not unite and work and fight. ... Let them tell that to the Marines!
The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.
A war of ideas can no more be won without books than a naval war can be won without ships. Books, like ships, have the toughest armor, the longest cruising range, and mount the most powerful guns.
Better the occasional faults of a government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.
A world turned into a stereotype, a society converted into a regiment, a life translated into a routine, make it difficult for either art or artists to survive. Crush individuality in society and you crush art as well. Nourish the conditions of a free life and you nourish the arts, too.
A winner-takes-all economy that offers only limited access to the middle class is a recipe for democratic malaise and dereliction.
Measures which serve to abridge the free competition of foreign Articles, have a tendency to occasion an enhancement of prices.
Large fortunes are all founded either on the occupation of land, or lending or the taxation of labor.
If anything, taxes for the lower and middle class and maybe even the upper-middle class should even probably be cut further. But I think that people at the high end - people like myself - should be paying a lot more in taxes. We have it better than we've ever had it.
My agency in promoting the passage of the National Bank Act was the greatest financial mistake of my life. It has built up a monopoly, which affects every interest in the country. It should be repealed, but before that can be accomplished, the people will be arrayed on one side and the banks on the other, in a contest such as we have never before seen in this country.
Building new roads and bridges creates jobs. Growing our exports creates jobs. Reforming our outdated tax system and our broken immigration system creates jobs.
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