A Better World on Mark Zuckerman - Composer

A Nation Does Not Have to be Cruel

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

from an address at Madison Square Garden in New York City on October 31, 1936:

Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the resolve of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.

Beyond the Horizon

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

from FDR’s Columbus Day speech on hemispheric defense, Dayton, Ohio, October 12, 1940:

We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon.

Civilization Cannot Go Back

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

from FDR’s State of the Union Address, January 3, 1934:

Civilization cannot go back; civilization must not stand still… It is our task to perfect, to improve, to alter when necessary, but in all cases to go forward.

Repetition Does Not Transform

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

from FDR’s radio address to the New York Herald Tribune Forum, October 26, 1939:

Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth.

The Basic Things Expected

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

from the State of the Union address, January 6, 1941:

There is nothing mysterious about the foundations of a healthy and strong democracy. The basic things expected by our people of their political and economic systems are simple. They are:

Equality of opportunity for youth and for others.
Jobs for those who can work.
Security for those who need it.
The ending of special privileges for the few.
The preservation of civil liberties for all.
The enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and constantly rising standard of living.

The Real Safeguard of Democracy

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

from an address to the National Education Association, June 30, 1938:

Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.

The Test of Our Progress

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

from the second inaugural address, January 20, 1937:

The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.

There Are Many Ways of Going Forward

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

(date and place unknown):

There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still.

This is the Time to Speak the Truth

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

from FDR’s first inaugural address, March 4, 1933:

This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly.

We Shall Choose a Path of Social Justice

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

from FDR’s campaign address in Detroit, Michigan on October 2, 1932:

We Americans everywhere must and shall choose a path of social justice: the path of faith, the path of hope, and the path of love toward our fellow man.

What the Flag and the Constitution Stand For

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s speech to the Democratic National Convention on June 27, 1936:

…What the Flag and the Constitution stand for. Now, as always, they stand for democracy, not tyranny; for freedom, not subjection; and against a dictatorship by mob rule and the overprivileged alike.

Without the Help of Thousands

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

combines excerpts from two addresses. The first is from his New York State gubernatorial inaugural address on January 1, 1929:

Without the help of thousands of others, any one of us would die, naked and starved.

The second is from his first presidential inaugural address on March 4, 1933:

We now realize as we have never realized before our interdependence on each other; that we cannot merely take but must give as well.