40 Best President’s Day Quotes From Presidents 2023

Presidents Day is celebrated annually in the US on the third Monday of February. This year, this federal holiday falls on Monday, Feb. 20. 2023.

It was first established in 1879 as Washington’s Birthday, in honor of President George Washington.

It was commemorated on the founding father’s Feb. 22 birthday until 1971, when it was moved to give federal workers another three-day weekend. 

How did Washington’s birthday become Presidents Day?

After George Washington’s death in 1799, his Feb. 22 birthday became an annual day of remembrance.

It wasn’t made a federal holiday, however, until 1879 — the first one to commemorate an individual. 

The holiday was only observed in Washington, DC until 1885, when it was expanded to include all government offices nationwide.

To help you celebrate this day, here is the list of more than 40 best, inspiring and leadership quotes for presidential day in America from Presidents themselves.

List Of Presidential Quotes:

“Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who make excuses.” ― George Washington

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” ― Barack Obama

“If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.” ― Barack Obama

“An honorable defeat is better than a dishonorable victory.” ― Millard Fillmore

“It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn’t.” ― Martin Van Buren

“Times change, and we change with them.” ― William Henry Harrison

“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” ―John Quincy Adams

“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.” ― Abraham Lincoln

“No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave.” ― Calvin Coolidge

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” ― Theodore Roosevelt

“If I am shot at, I want no man to be in the way of the bullet.” ― Andrew Johnson

“You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.” ― Woodrow Wilson

“Use power to help people. For we are given power not to advance our own purposes nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power and it is to serve people.” ― George W. Bush

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” ― Franklin D. Roosevelt

“The finest steel has to go through the hottest fire.” ― Richard M. Nixon

“Failure at some point in your life is inevitable, but giving up is unforgivable.” ―Joe Biden

“What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” ― Dwight D. Eisenhower

“The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph.” – George Washington

“In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten, then he who continues the attack wins.” ―Gen. Ulysses S. Grant

“In the time of darkest defeat, victory may be nearest.” ― William McKinley

“A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits.” ―Richard M. Nixon

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

“A brave man is a man who dares to look the Devil in the face and tell him he is a Devil.” ― James A. Garfield.

“The bold enterprises are the successful ones. Take counsel of hopes rather than of fears to win in this business.” ― Rutherford B. Hayes

“If you take no risks, you will suffer no defeats. But if you take no risks, you win no victories.” ― Richard M. Nixon

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” ―Calvin Coolidge

“When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.” ― Franklin D Roosevelt Note– this quote is also thought to have been originally written by Thomas Jefferson, and is often misattributed to other presidents like Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.

“Honesty is the first chapter of the book wisdom.” ― Thomas Jefferson

“Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error.” ― Andrew Jackson

“The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.” ― James A. Garfield

“Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.” ― Abraham Lincoln

“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” ― Harry S Truman

“Honor lies in honest toil.” ― Grover Cleveland

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, then you are a leader.” ― John Quincy Adams

“The circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money.” ―James Madison

“Every expert was once a beginner.” ― Rutherford B. Hayes

“Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” ― John F. Kennedy

“Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” ―Theodore Roosevelt

“A little flattery will support a man through great fatigue.” ― James Monroe

“I’ll never tell a lie. I’ll never make a misleading statement. I’ll never betray the confidence that any of you had in me. And I’ll never avoid a controversial issue.” ― Jimmy Carter

“The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible.” ― Dwight D Eisenhower

“The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people.” ―Woodrow Wilson

“Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.” ―Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.” ― Lyndon B. Johnson

“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” ― Dwight D. Eisenhower

“The test of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there.” ― James Buchanan