Harry S. Truman was vice president under Franklin D. Roosevelt and 33rd president of the United States. After the unexpected death of President Roosevelt, Truman was sworn in as President on April 25th, 1945. Though he didn’t go through the traditional election process as many United States presidents do, Truman quickly showed himself as a force to be reckoned with. Among many other things, he began the Korean War, racially integrated the military, and ordered the atomic weapons attack against Japan.

‘It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.’

When one worries about who is getting credit for the work, it starts becoming a competition instead of a collaborative effort. It is said that two heads are better than one and investing a lot of concern in credit creates a bad atmosphere for group work.

‘Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.”

While all the fighting and battling between parties in Congress can be irritating to say the least, opposing voices are essential to the function of democracy. Without the opposition, one force would rule all, thus creating a government of repression and terror.

‘It’s a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose your own.’

Everyone perceives the state of the economy based on the economic condition of their own households. When you lose your job, the economy is in trouble.

‘How many times do you have to get hit over the head until you figure out who’s hitting you?’

This is a relatively simple, straight-to-the-point quote. There are only so many times a person can betray you until you have to acknowledge who the problem is. This is very similar to the quote ‘Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me.’

‘Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.’

This quote is pretty self-explanatory. Not all readers have what it takes to lead, but all good leaders must read in order to gain wisdom and insight.

‘Fame is a vapor, popularity is an accident, riches take wings, those who cheer today may curse tomorrow and only one thing endures – character.’

So many things in life are transient and temporary, yet those tend to be the things that people try to hold onto the most. The one thing that will remain consistent about a person’s life is their character and sense of self. Truman has proven this himself, as his words and character have endured long after his death.

‘I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was hell.’

This humorous expression reminds us that sometimes a person isn’t just giving you a hard time; they might just be trying to tell you a truth that you don’t want to hear.

‘We must remember that the test of our religious principles lies not just in what we say, not only in our prayers, not even in living blameless lives – but in what we do for others’

Piety is often defined by self-conduct, how strictly we follow a particular religious code ourselves. However, being pious is not just about working on the self. It is about striving to help others and make the world a better place as whole.

‘Selfishness and greed, individual or national, cause most of our troubles.’

Worrying about yourself ‘ as an individual or a nation ‘ is typically seen as a way to avoid trouble. Many countries take on isolationist policies for this very reason. But in a globalized world, turning away from the plights of others can ultimately come back to haunt you.

‘My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the truth, there’s hardly any difference.’

Truman’s humorous parallel that associates politicians with a lowly profession. He implies that politicians are entertainers of sorts, which is hilarious when you contrast this with the serious, esteemed image they are usually afforded by society.

‘A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.’

Difficulties are always a learning experience. The pessimist lets these difficulties keep them from success, while the optimist finds a way to turn them to their advantage.

‘Whenever you have an efficient government you have a dictatorship. ‘

Again, Truman points out that our government may take a long time to pass laws and there may be a lot of arguing along the way, but opposition is necessary to democracy. Passing legislation without conversation means that one person is making the decisions, which turns into a big problem when the people disagree with those decisions.

‘Tact is the ability to step on a man’s toes without messing up the shine on his shoes.’

This is an eloquent and humorous way to display the nature of tactfulness. The best kind of tact is criticizing a person without giving up the outward appearance of pleasance. This skill is essential to any political position and it is clear that Truman had a great understanding of it.

‘The most peaceful thing in the world is plowing a field. Chances are you’ll do your best thinking that way. And that’s why I’ve always thought and said, farmers are the smartest people in the world, they don’t go for high hats and they can spot a phony a mile off.’

The wisdom of a person that works with their hands cannot be underestimated. People usually think of farmers as country bumpkins with little to no education or understanding of the world. Here, Truman points out that farmers have plenty of time to think on their hands and are quite intuitive people.

‘The reward of suffering is experience.’

It is easy to go through difficult times and feel sorry for yourself. However, you are not truly taking advantage of the suffering if all you do is lament. There is always something to be learned from suffering and that is the only bright side of it.