Quotes from No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II

Doris Kearns Goodwin ·  759 pages

Rating: (33K votes)


“We do not have to become heroes overnight,” Eleanor once wrote. “Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appears, discovering that we have the strength to stare it down.”
― Doris Kearns Goodwin, quote from No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II


“She feared that she would become a slave to superficial, symbolic duties.”
― Doris Kearns Goodwin, quote from No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II


“If I wasn't busy," she replied, "I'd go crazy.”
― Doris Kearns Goodwin, quote from No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II


“The domestic scene,” she admitted, referring not only to the coal dispute but to a rash of racial disturbances that had recently broken out, “is anything but encouraging and one would like not to think about it, because it gives one a feeling that, as a whole, we are not really prepared for democracy.”
― Doris Kearns Goodwin, quote from No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II


“FDR, even weakened and near the end of his life, opted to allow disabled veterans to see his true condition. This allowed them to understand the life which could still be before them.”
― Doris Kearns Goodwin, quote from No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II



“The same magazines which not long before advertised products which would quickly allow women to return to their war work now extolled elaborate recipes which women could attempt if they stayed home and vacated jobs for men.”
― Doris Kearns Goodwin, quote from No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II


“The habit of mobility had become ingrained.”
― Doris Kearns Goodwin, quote from No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II


“Spring had come to Washington. The cherry blossoms were in bloom. Yet the glacial mood of the capital refused to melt. Accusations”
― Doris Kearns Goodwin, quote from No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II


“If he could not go out into the world, the world could come to him.”
― Doris Kearns Goodwin, quote from No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II


“The author writes that key FDR aide Harry Hopkins was in such poor health near the end of his boss's second term that one observer said he didn't know how Hopkins could possibly report to the president. But, at the onset of war and genuine national emergency, Hopkins was animated with a new sense of purpose.”
― Doris Kearns Goodwin, quote from No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II



“We should constantly be reminded of what we owe in return for what we have.”
― Doris Kearns Goodwin, quote from No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II


“Through the last days of May and the early days of June, Eleanor”
― Doris Kearns Goodwin, quote from No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II


“Nothing so extraordinary has ever happened in American politics,” a dazed Harold Ickes wrote. “Here was a man—a Democrat until a couple of years ago—who, without any organization went into a Republican National Convention and ran away with the nomination for President . ”
― Doris Kearns Goodwin, quote from No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II


“Eleanor had defended over the years, that the money spent on arms would be much better spent on education and medical care.”
― Doris Kearns Goodwin, quote from No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II


“On the morning of June 20, at a hastily arranged conference at New York’s Gramercy Park Hotel, a new umbrella organization was born with Eleanor as honorary chair—the U.S. Committee for the Care of European Children. The purpose of the new committee was to coordinate all the different agencies and resources available in the United States for the care of refugee children.”
― Doris Kearns Goodwin, quote from No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II



About the author

Doris Kearns Goodwin
Born place: in Brooklyn, New York, The United States
Born date January 4, 1943
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“It is always tedious when someone tells you that if you don't stop crying, they will give you something to cry about, because if you are crying then you already have something to cry about, and so there is no reason for them to give you anything additional to cry about, thank you very much.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Slippery Slope


“He respected the slight nervous shadow that crossed her face when he came too near her. But there arose out of this denial itself the perfume of a tenderness, that ghost of passion which, in the most unexpected relationship, can make even a whole lifetime devoted to irksome duty pass like a gracious dream.”
― Thornton Wilder, quote from The Bridge of San Luis Rey


“We never apologize to anyone for depending upon our Creator. We can laugh at those who think spirituality the way of weakness. Paradoxically, it is the way of strength. The verdict of the ages is that faith means courage. All men of faith have courage. They trust their God. We never apologize for God. Instead we let Him demonstrate, through us, what He can do. We ask Him to remove our fear and direct our attention to what He would have us be. At once, we commence to outgrow fear.”
― quote from Alcoholics Anonymous


“Now, how did you know that I was going to propose?" I asked in genuine wonder. "Don't women always know? Do you suppose any woman in the world was ever taken unawares?”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Lost World


“A man wants to earn money in order to be happy, and his whole effort and the best of a life are devoted to the earning of that money. Happiness is forgotten; the means are taken for the end.”
― Albert Camus, quote from The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays


Interesting books

Loving Mr. Darcy: Journeys Beyond Pemberley
(1.7K)
Loving Mr. Darcy: Jo...
by Sharon Lathan
Tales From the Hood
(16.5K)
Tales From the Hood
by Michael Buckley
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
(54.1K)
The Merry Adventures...
by Howard Pyle
You Know You Love Me
(19.6K)
You Know You Love Me
by Cecily von Ziegesar
Havemercy
(2.5K)
Havemercy
by Jaida Jones
Zazie in the Metro
(5.2K)
Zazie in the Metro
by Raymond Queneau

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.