"Here is my principle:
Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay.
That is the only American principle."
by:
Franklin D. Roosevelt
(1882-1945), 32nd US President
Source:
Franklin D. Roosevelt: "Address at Worcester, Mass.," October 21, 1936
Rating:
Categories:
 
Bookmark and Share  
Reader comments about this quote:
Excuse me -- progressive/graduated taxation is purely a Communist principle. FDR is the father of Socialism in America. The New Deal was a raw deal, and America has never recovered.
 -- E Archer, NYC     
  • 7 4
    		•  
    If everyone simply took what they need and give back what they can, we wouldn't have hunger in the world. If you can't pay your rent, you shouldn't have to give up any of your income to the government. If it means you might not be able to buy that boat this year, then you have the means to help support the government.
     -- Anonymous     
  • 1 6
    		•  
    Anonymous - just in case you don't know, the Utopia of selfless government and boundless wealth that you are advocating does exist. All you need to do to find it is immigrate to North Korea, and please don't come back until you figure out where the poor are better off: in the greedy capitalist America, or in the compassionate, egalitarian, people's republic of North Korea... Hope you don't starve to death or upset their madman/dictator.
     -- Johnson, Gainesville, FL     
  • 4
    		•  
    Right on... clean air & water, safe food, shelter, basic health care, good educational systems... our true needs are relatively simple... no one NEEDS a second (third, fourth) "home" (house really) when there are others that have none. Jesus taught us that caring for the needy is godly, too bad so many have forgotten this...
     -- Anonymous, Reston, VA US     
  • 3 6
    		•  
    Utterly amazing that there are people in this country that honestly believe this BS, and then have the incredible gall to think they are really Americans by anything other then by accident of birth. How apropos to place the Marx quote next to the FDR quote so it becomes obvious to even the casual observer that FDR was a communist just like his buddy Uncle Joe the darling of the NYT. Fortunately the real Americans know the 2d Amendment is the reset button on the Constitution, and it is getting close to the time to push it. Where is John Galt?
     -- helorat, Milton     
  • 5 2
    		•  
    So, where and when did FDR utter these words?
     -- chezjacq, Kansas City     
  • 1
    		•  
    Coming from someone of considerable wealth, as FDR was, it has more meaning than from someone not so well off. He felt it was an obligation for those in his position to help others. It's easy for someone with nothing to suggest sharing the wealth, but altruistic for those who already have it to do so.
     -- Jack, Green, OH     
  • 3
    		•  
    With FDR as well as all the rest of those that justify theft, it is all about power, not charity. The dole has never worked in the entire history of man for society as a whole or the vast majority of individuals and, to justify its perpetuation is ludicrous.
     -- Mike, Norwalk     
  • 4
    		•  
    What is ludicrous is to call oneself a Christian or human or moral who believes as those who put thumbs down on this statement. What a pure hell this world would be if everyone felt this way.
     -- Dick, Fort Worth     
  • 2 6
    		•  
    Sorry, Dick. Christianity is not based on communism; nor is humanity or morality.
     -- Ken, Allyn, WA     
  • 5 1
    		•  
    Well said, FDR. Couldn't agree more.
     -- Proud to be an American     
  • 1 4
    		•  
     -- Anonymous      
    Christianity and this belief that selling your soul to a supposedly benevolent government are not even consistent with each other. I am a caring Christian. I just don't have my head buried in the sand.
     -- Dave, St. Louis     
  • 4
    		•  
    The greed of big business and republican rule drove this country inot the ditch. This is what brought FDR into office. And he told big business that they had not only met their match they had met their master. They still haven't forgiven him for bringing them to heel.
     -- Eloise, Portland     
  • 1 5
    		•  
    This quote must have actually come from the IRS.
     -- Mac User, Anywhere USA     
    		•  
    We need another FDR, and it certainly isn't Obama; the corporate Democrat that he is. What's funny is that the people crying "FDR was a socialist" ignore the fact that FDR used socialism to save capitalism from itself! LMAO!
     -- Daniel, Newark, OH     
  • 1 5
    		•  
    GOD Bless FDR ... The Now Old People Who Lived Through The Great Depression Revere Him . Now , I As A Recent Social Security Retiree , Thank GOD For Him ...This Whole Recession Would Be A Lot Worse Without , Social Security , Unemployment Insurance , Welfare & Food Stamps ...
     -- Lenny, Las Vegas     
  • 1 5
    		•  
    FDR helped to destroy the nation and turn people who work for a profit and liberty into economic slaves. His marxist policies are revered by the very simple minded who didn't seem to notice the government hand in taking away the means to make a living and the desruction of the economy, but did notice the bowl of soup they stood in line for...and were grateful...what complete idiots.
     -- J Carlton, Calgary     
  • 5 1
    		•  
    I agree with J. Carlton....FDR was one of the worst presidents ever....as well as Woodrow Wilson whose presidency was bought by the Elitists....no experience trashed the constitution and was a lawyer....does this ring a bell?.....It amazes me how people quickly trade their freedoms for.free.handouts.....we are endowed by our CREATOR with the inalienable rights of Life (that means the unborn too), Liberty (socialism/communism makes us all slaves), and the PURSUIT of happiness ( we are not guaranteed happiness, we have the freedom to pursue it)
     -- notsolargemarge, Indy     
  • 5 1
    		•  
    Eloise, Portland. Herbert Hoover was the first of only two presidents to give his entire salary to charity. The other was not FDR.
     -- Cal, lewisville, TX     
  • 1 1
    		•  
    Eloise, since you live in the tree hugger capital of the world, we need to cut you some slack. FDR's policies to get us out of the depression only made matters worse. Then along came the bombing of Pearl Harbor and everyone went to work making planes, bombs, vehicles, guns, and all sorts of items to fight the war. This pulled FDR's chestnuts out of the fire and everyone forgot all about the depression and got behind the war effort. And get a laugh out of this, when FDR ran against Hoover, he said that Hoover was a big spender and this had to stop. LoL.
     -- jim k, Austin, Tx     
  • 5 1
    		•  
    one (Red China) communist star for Liberty Quotes exposing the Trotskyite Rosenveld (Dutch Jews who changed their names) as the Marxist he was - thumbs down on him and the other "Big 2" - Uncle Joe Stalin and Winston Churchill. All three of the "Big 3" were Jewish. Look it up. When Patton got to Berlin and met his commie "allies" he declared that we (US) had defeated the wrong enemy. He wanted to go after the Bolsheviks (Trotskyites) THEN - drive them all the way back to Moscow. He was ready to resign his commission and come home and run for president - exposing what he had discovered and Eisenhauer's (aka "Ike") - "The Terrible Swedish Jew" as he was known at West Point (look it up!) for he and Churchill's war crimes - Dresden being only the worst. Eisenhauer totally trumped anything the nasty nazis supposedly did with REAL death camps. (No money, theater, library, swimming pool or whorehouse like Auschwitz.) So Patton had to be silenced - allegedly in a relatively minor traffic "accident" - but a syringe full of air to the heart was probably what did it. The multi-trillion dollar "cold war" and destruction of Germany and nearly all of Eastern Europe was at stake after all.
     -- Jimi Bigbear, Libertyville, Iowa     
    		•  
    Why all the undeserved credit for FDR? He was a well-managed 'agent' for the sociopaths who have manipulated the political strings of this country since day one of our Republic. Look to the people that were 'behind' him, just like now (can you say, 'David Axelrod', 'Rahm Emanuel' (before Axelrod)),etc., etc., etc.
    Taxation? Here's a quote by former Supreme Court Justice George Sutherland: "The legal right of a taxpayer to decrease the amount of what otherwise would be his taxes, or altogether avoid them, by means which the law permits, cannot be doubted. Most people in this country have NO CLUE about the correct application of the Internal Revenue Code to the citizens of the 50 states."
     -- Finnegan, Elyria     
  • 5
    		•  
    Dick, you make a good point. No Christian would or could be against charity and then legitimately call himself a Christian; During the lying socialist's here attempt to justify his personal favorite brand of larceny, he alluded to charity being outside his only American principle. Also, the socialist's forced dole has nothing to do with Christian Charity (charity being a religious issue, government in the de jure U.S.A. was to be secular, not a theocracy)
     -- Mike, Norwalk     
  • 4
    		•  
    Charity, mutual helpfulness, forbearance, respect, and conscience -- none of these virtues can be legislated nor can they be claimed by 'religious groups' as their exclusive domain. If there be any virtue, it is in the INDIVIDUAL. There are many, many philosophies whether religious or secular that incorporate these virtues -- they are not exclusively Christian or Buddhist or Democratic or Republican. It is the INDIVIDUAL who can give -- if that 'gift' is a legal or religious obligation, then it is not a gift -- period. It is up to each individual whom to give aid based on their own conscience -- church and state have no consciences of their own, they are corporations (i.e. corpses, straw men, legal fictions). Collectivism in whatever form reduces the individual to a debilitated state, subject to the dictates of 'authorities' and 'leaders' that are nothing more than other individuals. Individualism values Liberty, collectivism values Power. There is great power in groups, but when one has no choice to be in the group or not and must 'give' of his labor and property to support the group, it is servitude.
     -- E Archer, NYC     
  • 5
    		•  
    "FDR was one of the worst presidents ever" - ?

    So that explains why he is the most popular president of the 20th century.
     -- anonymous     
  • 1
    		•  
    Sounds a lot like:

    From each according to his ability, to each according to his need (or needs) is a slogan that Karl Marx made popular in his writing Critique of the Gotha program, published in 1875. The German original is Jeder nach seinen Fhigkeiten, jedem nach seinen Bedrfnissen!. Once society has changed to Communism, it will produce enough goods and services so that everyone's needs can be satisfied.

    Even though the phrase is commonly attributed to Marx, he was not the first to use it. The slogan was common to the socialist movement. Louis Blanc first used it in 1839, in "The organization of work",The origin of this phrasing has also been attributed to the French communist Morelly, who proposed in his 1755 Code of Nature "Sacred and Fundamental Laws that would tear out the roots of vice and of all the evils of a society" including

    And that's supposed to be "an American principle"?
    Roosevelt and his mentor Marx can bite me.
     -- J Carlton, Calgary     
  • 4
    		•  
    Archer, you are right, religion is a very personal thing. Organized anything of like minded individuals only allows for kindred association. It is that association (you can't fix stupid) that answers the immediatly above anonymous's question.
     -- Mike, Norwalk     
  • 3
    		•  
    Mike, I honor the fellowship of men and women, especially those gathered together in harmony with 'Nature's God' no matter whether the spiritual customs are Christian or Lakota Sioux. However, should membership of that fellowship be mandatory with tribute and obedience demanded through threats and force, the group dishonors itself and surely seeds its own destruction. The heart, one's own conscience, determines the path and the aim -- it is a force that many have tried to control in others. This is the ongoing contention in the world, and Liberty rests with the individual.
     -- E Archer, NYC     
  • 5
    		•  
     -- Roland, Bonner's Ferry      
    No, Franklin. That is merely additional affirmation you didn't believe in the TRUE American principle of equality and equal justice. You believed instead, in progressive socialist redistribution of wealth and the expansion of an all powerful "State" which steals more and more power and wealth from it's dependent slaves.

    Thanks to Liberty Quotes for the reminder of how much we should detest this former "ruler". One of our bad choices...sadly, not the last.
     -- empty pockets, NO, La     
  • 3
    		•  
    The worst economic record of any President in history and it's not even close. An enemy of individual and economic freedom. Progressive taxation is discrimination.
    All laws should apply to all people equally. Only an arrogant, ignorant self serving socialist such as FDR could argue otherwise.
     -- J. Allen, Arlington, Va     
  • 1
    		•  
    Today's quote along with the numerous responses today, show us how far America is moving away from liberty towards communism...and the NWO. More and more people are beginning to believe (not think-thinking isn't very prevalent these days) it will be okay to steal from one person to give to another against their will. Liberty and freedom are just becoming words...we are no longer FREE in this country if we must work 4 months to have our money taken by force & spent as we would NOT want it spent (sent to countries who have their own resources, sent to our enemies, spent to bolster interlopers in our country while our countrymen go without, food stamps, disability for those who are merely unemployed but lacking desire to work, subsidies for corps., etc), and a federal education system that promotes childishness and dependence. I don't get it...but I see that it is so well promoted with the propaganda we are spoon fed every hour of our lives via TV, that honor, ethics,and other virtues, along with innovation, imagination, reason, and personal pride that are just a few of the necessary descriptions of a GROWING and sane country with a GROWING economy are becoming unknown and unlived by today's lazy society. The rewards will be brief and grief will ensue. We are Rome...or so it seems when we see the screaming and cheering people at the Bernie rallies as he promises ice cream and back rubs for all.
     -- Abby     
  • 3
    		•  
    For those that know and were there, FDR the communist, took by the point of a gun, jailing 140,000 Patriotic Independent Sovereign citizens. Many ,Many Yoemen Farmers, their Communities and families, who by the way, made up the majority of Responsible sustaining people in society. Being solvent and sufficient meeting their needs and that of the small rural towns wherein they traded and bartered their commodities in exchange for hardware, staples and seed. Very peaceful communities and their cultures destroyed from the inside out. Remnants only remain, a cloudy picture for the children. Not knowing how close or far a life of Liberty and Freedom, was once lived. Taken away at the point of a gun, Now the socialist, communistic foolish children it has fostered, wish to steal even more for the Robber Baron Elites, taxing all, owning all, inheriting all. Lapping like a dog at the bowl of their masters !
     -- Ronw13, Yachats OR     
  • 1 1
    		•  
    Archer, to your question; NO ! membership of such fellowships NOT be mandatory. Tribute and mandatory obedience (slavery) through threats and force are antithetical to liberty, law of nature, justice, etc. and is tyranny.
     -- Mike, Norwalk     
    		•  
    You're an idiot. North Korea's economy was ruined by sanctions & embargoes put into place by USA & UN.
     -- P®Φ₫!ĢҰ™     
  • 1
    		•  
    You need to learn the definition of communism.
     -- P®Φ₫!ĢҰ™     
    		•  
    Clearly you haven't the slightest idea that slavery is capitalism.
     -- P®Φ₫!ĢҰ™     
    		•  
    How old are you? You do realize that the people at Bernie rallies don't watch TV. This remark you made, in itself, reveals how out of touch you are with current reality. The only thing you're correct about is how broken society & government is today. Rome collapsed because of greedy capitalists & imperialism.
     -- P®Φ₫!ĢҰ™     
    		•  
     
    Rate this quote!
    How many stars?
    0
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
     
    What do YOU think?
    Your name:
    		 Your town:
        CLICK JUST ONCE!

    Today's Quotes
    More Quotations
    Most Popular
    Recent Comments
    Get a Quote-A-Day! Free!
    Liberty Quotes sent to your mail box.
    RSS Subscribe
    Quotes & Quotations - Send This Quote to a Friend

    © 1998-2024 Liberty-Tree.ca