54 of the Most Memorable Jimmy Carter Quotes

Jimmy Carter is known for his eloquent and passionate reflections. Here are some of his best quotes.

At 98, Jimmy Carter is the oldest president in United States history. He and former first lady Rosalyn Carter still live in Plains, Georgia, in a modest house they built in 1961. A father of four children and 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Carter has remained humble and kind despite his lofty status.

On Feb. 18 the Carter Center announced that Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, was entering hospice care.

“After a series of short hospital stays, former US President Jimmy Carter today decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention,” the Carter Center announced in a statement on Twitter. “He has the full support of his family and his medical team. The Carter family asks for privacy during this time and is grateful for the concern shown by his many admirers.”

Carter has faced a series of illnesses over the past several years, including melanoma that spread other parts of his body, like his brain and experienced several falls including one that caused a minor pelvic fracture and surgery.

Carter’s care will focus on quality of life and making him as comfortable as possible. He will not receive any medical intervening treatment.

Related: How Immunotherapy Saved Jimmy Carter's Life

“To our friends Jimmy and Rosalynn and to their family – Jill and I are with you in prayer and send you our love,” wrote President Biden on Twitter. “We admire you for the strength and humility you have shown in difficult times. May you continue your journey with grace and dignity, and God grant you peace.”

Although no other details were given by the Carter Center, grandson Jason Carter Tweeted, "I saw both of my grandparents yesterday. They are at peace and—as always—their home is full of love. Thank you all for your kind words."

While Carter missed the inauguration of Joseph Biden and his public appearances became more rare, last May Carter filed a brief to appeal to the court to prevent a road from being built through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. In the brief, he described himself like this,

“My name is Jimmy Carter,” he wrote. “In my lifetime, I have been a farmer, a naval officer, a Sunday school teacher, an outdoorsman, a democracy activist, a builder, governor of Georgia and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. And from 1977 to 1981, I had the privilege of serving as the 39th president of the United States.”

Related: Jimmy Carter Looks Back on a Life of Faith and Service, and Ahead to a More Peaceful World

An accomplished statesman, Carter was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for his work to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts. He also authored thirty-two books and was devoted to helping others around the world. (Since 1984 he and Mrs. Carter have been building and advocating for affordable housing via Habitat for Humanity.) Ever eloquent he was known for his impassioned speeches and writings. Here are some of our favorite quotes.

Jimmy Carter quotes

—“We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make these changes and we must.”

—“Whether the borders that divide us are picket fences or national boundaries, we are all neighbors in a global community.”

—“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.”

—“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.”

—“Sometimes we face potential failure, and we have to remember to try anyway 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”

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

—“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.”

—“When people are intimidated about having their own opinions, oppression is at hand.”

—“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.”

—“All I want is the same thing you want. To have a nation with a government that is as good and honest and decent and competent and compassionate and as filled with love as are the American people.”

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

—“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.’”

—“I hope that all of you will join me in being a champion for women and girls around the world and protect their human rights.”

—“We all know grandparents whose values transcend passing fads and pressures, and who possess the wisdom of distilled pain and joy.”

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

—“The most serious and universal problem is the growing chasm between the richest and poorest people on earth. Citizens of the ten wealthiest countries are now seventy-five times richer than those who live in the ten poorest ones, and the separation is increasing every year, not only between nations but also within them.”

—“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.”

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

—“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.”

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

—“The test of a government is not how popular it is with the powerful and privileged few but how honestly and fairly it deals with the many who must depend on it.”

—“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.”

—“My position has always been, along with many other people, that any differences be resolved in a nonviolent way."

—“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.”

—“When I reflect upon my blessings during my very nice lifetime, I am inspired to make sure that I spend the balance of the days of my existence in a productive way.”

—“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.”

—“Sometimes we face potential failure, and we have to remember to try anyway 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”

—“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.”

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

—“Like other Habitat volunteers, I have learned that our greatest blessings come when we are able to improve the lives of others, and this is especially true when those others are desperately poor or in need.”

—“My vision of this nation and its future has been deepened and matured during the nineteen months that I have campaigned among you for President. I have never had more faith in America than I do today. We have an America that, in Bob Dylan’s phrase, is busy being born, not busy dying.”

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

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

—“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.”

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

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

—“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.”

—“When women are empowered in significant numbers, in the corporate world as well as in politics and in daily life, better decisions are made and more sustainable solutions are adopted.”

—“It is clear that we must embrace human rights and aggressively challenge our society’s acceptance of violence, which should never be seen as normal or as the preferred means of solving problems.”

—“I predict that every one of you who volunteers to help others in need will feel this same sense of exaltation. I believe that, in making what seems to be a sacrifice, you will find fulfillment in the memorable experience of helping others less fortunate than yourself.”

—“What is needed now, more than ever, is leadership that steers us away from fear and fosters greater confidence in the inherent goodness and ingenuity of humanity.”

—“We have a moral obligation to prevent suffering wherever we can.”

—“Everyone has a right to peaceful coexistence, the basic personal freedoms, the alleviation of suffering, and the opportunity to lead a productive life.”

—“Our goals are also the same. To have a just system of economics and politics, to let the people of the world share in growth, in peace, in personal freedom, and in the benefits to be derived from the proper utilization of natural resources. We believe in enhancing human rights. We believe that we should enhance, as independent nations, the freedom of our own people.”

—“Perhaps the most significant after-effect is on the Habitat volunteers who join us in building projects, who almost unanimously agree that the personal benefits to their lives always exceed their own financial contributions, time and effort — and that this incentive lasts for years in the future, or for a lifetime.”

—“I thought often during my years in the White House of an admonition that we received in our small school in Plains, Georgia, from a beloved teacher, Miss Julia Coleman. She often said: “We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles.”

—When I was a young boy, this same teacher also introduced me to Leo Tolstoy’s novel, “War and Peace.” She interpreted that powerful narrative as a reminder that the simple human attributes of goodness and truth can overcome great power. She also taught us that an individual is not swept along on a tide of inevitability but can influence even the greatest human events.”

—“One of the most serious problems that our country has inherited an unwillingness to talk to anyone who disagrees with us or who won’t accept, before a discussion, all the premises that we demand.”

—“Human rights can be defined in many different ways. If you ask Americans on the street to name some human rights, they are likely to say freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to assemble, the right to a trial by jury, or the right to elect one’s leaders. Those are perfectly good legal human rights. But one of the most important — a human right that people often forget — is the right to lead a good life. By this I mean the right to have food to eat, a place to sleep at night, access to doctors and education, and a decent job, as well as self-respect and dignity.”

—“I saw the presidency as a way to accomplish specific goals that I considered important,. . . I look back on those four years with peace and satisfaction, knowing that I did my best and had some notable accomplishments.”“We give each other plenty of space. She has a lot of interests that I don’t share. I have a lot of interests that she doesn’t share,” [Jimmy Carter on the key to a successful marriage.]

—“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.” [Jimmy Carter on his marriage to Rosalynn Carter.]

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