Both sentences are genuinely Roosevelt’s, but they come from two different documents. The “lungs” line is from his 29 January 1935 statement accepting the Schlich Forestry Medal. The soil line is from his 26 February 1937 letter to state governors, where it reads “The Nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.” No document joining the two sentences has been found, and the popular version rewords both lines slightly.
“A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people” Popularly credited to Franklin D. Roosevelt, but this is two separate Roosevelt statements spliced together: the “lungs” line is from his Statement on Being Awarded the Schlich Forestry Medal (29 January 1935), and the soil line, which actually reads “The Nation that destroys its soil destroys itself,” is from his Letter to all State Governors on a Uniform Soil Conservation Law (26 February 1937). Via Quotle.info
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In context
Evoking the world of Franklin D. Roosevelt — 32nd President of the United States. Theme: "A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
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Provenance
Two real documents, no single source
Soil sentence
Letter to all State Governors on a Uniform Soil Conservation Law (26 February 1937)
Forests sentence
Statement on Being Awarded the Schlich Forestry Medal (29 January 1935)
Combined wording
No original document located
Text via
The American Presidency Project (UC Santa Barbara)
1937 letter to the governors: “I need not emphasize to you the seriousness of the problem and the desirability of our taking effective action, as a Nation and in the several States, to conserve the soil as our basic asset. The Nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.” — 1935 statement to the Society of American Foresters: “The forests are also needed for mitigating extreme climatic fluctuations, holding the soil on the slopes, retaining the moisture in the ground, and controlling the equable flow of water in our streams. The forests are the ‘lungs’ of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people. Truly, they make the country more livable.”
Two separate documents
These are two separate texts, shown together only for comparison. The popular quote puts the 1937 sentence first, changes “The Nation … soil” to “A nation … soils,” and, in the forests sentence, drops the opening “The” and the quotation marks Roosevelt put around “lungs.”
29 January 1935 — In a written statement addressed “To the Society of American Foresters,” accepting the Schlich Forestry Medal, Roosevelt writes: “The forests are the ‘lungs’ of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.” American Presidency Project ↗
26 February 1937 — In a letter to all state governors urging them to adopt the Standard State Soil Conservation Districts Law, Roosevelt writes: “The Nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.” American Presidency Project ↗
Later — The two lines are passed around as a single quote, with the soil sentence paraphrased and placed first. Wikiquote lists the combined form in its Disputed section and notes that no original document in precisely this form has been located. Wikiquote ↗
The combined two-sentence wording has no identifiable source document, so we assert no copyright status for it. The two genuine sentences come from official presidential documents dated 29 January 1935 and 26 February 1937, which The American Presidency Project ↗ reproduces in full.
Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.
Fact-check
Real words, wrong shape
The popular quote names the right person, but it isn’t one quote. It joins sentences from two separate Roosevelt documents and rewords one of them.
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The full two-sentence quoteFranklin D. Roosevelt, as a single statement Spliced
No Roosevelt document joining both sentences has been located. Wikiquote lists the combined form under Disputed: it “approximates 2 separate statements of FDR,” but “no original document in precisely this form” has been located. Wikiquote ↗
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“A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself”Roosevelt, reworded Paraphrase
In the letter to the governors the sentence reads “The Nation that destroys its soil destroys itself”: The, not A, and soil, not soils. Letter of 26 February 1937 ↗
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“Forests are the lungs of our land”Roosevelt, from an earlier document Genuine, but separate
This sentence comes from Roosevelt’s statement accepting the Schlich Forestry Medal from the Society of American Foresters. It predates the soil letter, and it reads “The forests are the ‘lungs’ of our land,” with “lungs” in quotation marks. Statement of 29 January 1935 ↗
✓Roosevelt wrote “The forests are the ‘lungs’ of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people” on 29 January 1935, and “The Nation that destroys its soil destroys itself” on 26 February 1937. No document that joins the two sentences has been found. Wikiquote ↗
Context
Why the lines were written
The soil sentence closes the opening paragraph of Roosevelt’s 26 February 1937 letter to every state governor. The letter pointed to “the dust storms and floods of the last few years” and asked each state to pass the Standard State Soil Conservation Districts Law. That model law let local “soil conservation districts” carry out erosion control. Read the letter ↗
The forests sentence is from an earlier and separate text: Roosevelt’s written thanks to the Society of American Foresters for its Schlich Forestry Medal. In it he argues that “the preservation of the forests must be lifted above mere dollars and cents considerations.” Read the statement ↗
The Nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.
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Filed under
More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. He led the country through the Great Depression and the Second World War. His New Deal included major conservation programs, among them the federal soil-erosion work of the Soil Conservation Service. Both genuine sentences behind this quote come from that conservation push.
For writers & researchers
Cite this
Primary sources (two documents)
Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Statement on Being Awarded the Schlich Forestry Medal,” January 29, 1935, and “Letter to all State Governors on a Uniform Soil Conservation Law,” February 26, 1937, online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. The combined two-sentence wording appears in neither document; see Wikiquote, “Franklin D. Roosevelt,” Disputed.
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people’?” Last verified 1 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/a-nation-that-destroys-its-soils-destroys-itself-forests/