39 Inspiring Jimmy Carter Quotes To Live By

From faith to failure, Former President Jimmy Carter has wise words for hard times.

From peanut farmer to the highest office in the country, Former President Jimmy Carter has lived an extraordinary life alongside his wife of 77 years, Rosalynn. Beloved for his intelligence, calm temperament, and enduring faith, Jimmy Carter's wise words will live long after his death.

In honor of our peace-loving 39th president celebrating his 99th birthday, here are Jimmy Carter's all-time best quotes to live by.

Jimmy Carter Quotes On Faith

• “I have one life and one chance to make it count for something… My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference.”

• “I believe that anyone can be successful in life, regardless of natural talent or the environment within which we live. This is not based on measuring success by human competitiveness for wealth, possessions, influence, and fame, but adhering to God’s standards of truth, justice, humility, service, compassion, forgiveness, and love.”

• “We should live our lives as though Christ were coming this afternoon.”

• “The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices. God gives us the capacity for choice. We can choose to work together for peace. We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can make these changes and we must remember that there are many ways to accomplish our goals, together.”

• "God always answers prayers. Sometimes it's 'yes.' Sometimes the answer is 'no.' Sometimes it's 'you gotta be kidding.'"

• “You only have to have two loves in your life: for God, and for the person in front of you at any particular time.”

Jimmy Carter Quotes On Failure

• “Failure is a reality; we all fail at times, and it’s painful when we do. But it’s better to fail while striving for something wonderful, challenging, adventurous, and uncertain than to say, ‘I don’t want to try because I may not succeed completely.”

• “Sometimes we face potential failure, and we have to remember to try any way to find a way to reach our goal. We can overcome many global problems and build a better world if we all work together as a community.”

• “It's not necessary to fear the prospect of failure but to be determined not to fail.”

• “We have to inspire our children and grandchildren to take on challenges and risks that at first may seem to be overwhelming, or even impossible. They need to understand that the only failure is not trying.”

Jimmy Carter Quotes On Humanity

• “To be true to ourselves, we must be true to others.”

• “The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices.”

• “We have a tendency to condemn people who are different from us, to define their sins as paramount and our own sinfulness as being insignificant.”

• “Let us learn together and laugh together and work together and pray together, confident that in the end, we will triumph together in the right.”

• “The measure of a society is found in how they treat their weakest and most helpless citizens.”

Jimmy Carter Quotes On Perseverance

• “Tremendous progress can be made if we persevere through difficult challenges.”

• “You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can.”

Jimmy Carter Quotes On Life

• “Wherever life takes us, there are always moments of wonder.”

• "We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles.”

• “Earlier in my life, I thought the things that mattered were the things that you could see, like your car, your house, your wealth, your property, your office. But as I’ve grown older I’ve become convinced that the things that matter most are the things that you can’t see—the love you share with others, your inner purpose, your comfort with who you are.”

• “We tend to think that money and fame and the adulation of others will make us happy. But we come to realize that those things are not foundations for real success.”

• "Piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose."

• “What are the things that you can't see that are important? I would say justice, truth, humility, service, compassion, love. They're the guiding lights of a life.”

Jimmy Carter Quotes On Marriage

• “It's hard to live until you're 95 years old. I think the best explanation for that is to marry the best spouse, someone who will take care of you and engage and do things to challenge you and keep you alive and interested in life.”

• “I have often wanted to drown my troubles, but I can't get my wife to go swimming.”

• “I know for my sake it’s been the best thing I’ve ever had happen to me—marrying Rosalynn and living together for so long, growing to know each other more and more intimately every day in married life.”

• "I love her more now than I did to begin with—which is saying a lot, because I loved her a lot.”

• "I’ve never won an argument with her; and the only times I thought I had I found out the argument wasn’t over yet."

• "I think a good husband has to depend on having a good wife."

• "The best thing I ever did was marrying Rosalynn. That's the pinnacle of my life."

Jimmy Carter Quotes On Nature

• “It is good to realize that if love and peace can prevail on Earth, and if we can teach our children to honor nature’s gifts, the joys and beauties of the outdoors will be here forever.”

• “Like music and art, love of nature is a common language that can transcend political or social boundaries.”

• "I have never been happier, more exhilarated, at peace, rested, inspired, and aware of the grandeur of the universe and the greatness of God than when I find myself in a natural setting not much changed from the way He made it."

Jimmy Carter Quotes On America

• “We are of course a nation of differences. Those differences don't make us weak. They're the source of our strength.”

• “America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense… human rights invented America.”

• “The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices.”

• “We have become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.”

• “A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It is a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity.”

• "Our American values are not luxuries, but necessities—not the salt in our bread, but the bread itself."
  

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