Presidential Quotes - Page 13

• If you can't, or won't, think of Seymour, then you go right ahead and call in some ignorant psychoanalyst. You just do that. You just call in some analyst who's experienced in adjusting people to the joys of television, and Life magazine every Wednesday, and European travel, and the H-bomb, and Presidential elections, and the front page of the Times, and God knows what else that's gloriously normal.

  J. D. Salinger

  Thinking, People, Joy

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• Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities.

  Sarah Palin

  Jobs, Responsibility, Alaska

  Republican Vice Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech, delivered 3 September 2008, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota

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• To the American People: Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind. To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas. If we think on these things, there will be born in us a Savior and over us will shine a star sending its gleam of hope to the world." ~ Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933), American president. Presidential message (December 25, 1927).

  Calvin Coolidge

  Christmas, Stars, Xmas

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• To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

  Barack Obama

  Mutual Interest, Hands, Way Forward

  First Presidential Inaugural Address, Delivered 20 January 2009

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• I heard one presidential candidate say that what this country needed was a president for the nineties. I was set to run again. I thought he said a president IN his nineties.

  Ronald Reagan

  Running, Country, Said

  Ronald Reagan (2004). “Speaking My Mind: Selected Speeches”, p.421, Simon and Schuster

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• Over there you think of nothing but becoming President of the United States some day. Potentially every man is Presidential timber. Here it's different. Here every man is potentially a zero. If you become something or somebody it is an accident, a miracle.

  Henry Miller

  Zero, Men, Thinking

  Henry Miller (1977). “Tropic of Cancer”

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• I'm so overexposed, I'm making Paris Hilton look like a recluse.

  Barack Obama

  Funny, Sarcastic, Wisdom

  "The Senator's Humble Beginning" by Mark Leibovich, www.washingtonpost.com. February 24, 2005.

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• But did you know that during the past quarter century, no presidential election has been won by more than ten million ballots cast? Yet every federal election during the same time period had at least one hundred million people of voting age who did not bother to vote!

  Andy Andrews

  Past, Voting Age, People

  Andy Andrews (2012). “How Do You Kill 11 Million People? (International Edition): Why the Truth Matters More Than You Think”, p.45, Thomas Nelson Inc

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• We celebrate the past to awaken the future.

  John F. Kennedy

  Inspirational, Time, Past

  John F. Kennedy's Speech at the 25th Anniverary of the Signing of the Social Security Act, Hyde Park, New York, www.jfklibrary.org. August 14, 1960.

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• What really counts is not the immediate act of courage or of valor, but those who bear the struggle day in and day out - not the sunshine patriots but those who are willing to stand for a long period of time.

  John F. Kennedy

  Courage, Struggle, Sunshine

  Kennedy, John F. (1963). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1962”, p.185, Best Books on

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• Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom, and then lost it, have never known it again.

  Ronald Reagan

  Freedom, People, Liberty

  Ronald Reagan, Michael Reagan (2016). “The Last Best Hope: The Greatest Speeches of Ronald Reagan”, p.7, Humanix Books

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• The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know.

  Harry S. Truman

  History, World, Knows

  "Plain Speaking : An Oral Biography of Harry S Truman" by Merle Miller, (p. 26), 1974.

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• There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy and its charm.

  Theodore Roosevelt

  History, Environmental, Delight

  Theodore Roosevelt, H. W. Brands (2001). “African Game Trails: An Account of the African Wanderings of an American Hunter-naturalist”, p.21, Rowman & Littlefield

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• We must be the great arsenal of Democracy.

  Franklin D. Roosevelt

  History, Democracy, World War 2

  Radio broadcast, 29 Dec. 1940. According to Walter Isaacson and Evan Thomas, The Wise Men (1986), this slogan was picked up for Roosevelt's address after it was used in conversation by John McCloy, who had gotten it from Jean Monnet.

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• Most of the presidential candidates' economic packages involve 'tax breaks,' which is when the government, amid great fanfare, generously decides not to take quite so much of your income. In other words, these candidates are trying to buy your votes with your own money.

  Dave Barry

  Government, Trying, Income

  "The Bucks Drop Here". Washington Post Magazine, February 9, 1992.

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• You must believe that you can help bring about a better world. A good society is produced only by good individuals, just as truly as a majority in a presidential election is produced by the votes of single electors.

  Bertrand Russell

  Believe, Society, Majority

  Bertrand Russell, John Greer Slater, Peter Köllner (1996). “A Fresh Look at Empiricism: 1927-42”, p.642, Psychology Press

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• Of all the animosities which have existed among mankind, those which are caused by a difference of sentiments in religion appear to be the most inveterate and distressing, and ought to be deprecated. I was in hopes that the enlightened and liberal policy, which has marked the present age, would at least have reconciled Christians of every denomination so far that we should never again see the religious disputes carried to such a pitch as to endanger the peace of society.

  George Washington

  Christian, Religious, Differences

  George Washington, Edward Frank Humphrey (1932). “George Washington on religious liberty and mutual understanding: selections from Washington's letters”

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• This country cannot afford to be materially rich and spiritually poor.

  John F. Kennedy

  Country, Poverty, Wealth

  Kennedy, John F. (1964). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1963”, p.13, Best Books on

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• Every advance in this half-century-Social Security, civil rights, Medicare, aid to education, one after another-came with the support and leadership of American Labor.

  Jimmy Carter

  Rights, Support, Half

  United States. President (1977-1981 : Carter), Jimmy Carter (1980). “Jimmy Carter”

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• Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare, but only those specifically enumerated.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Liberty, Libertarian, Socialism

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• We do not want an official state church. If ninety-nine percent of the population were Catholics, I would still be opposed to it. I do not want civil power combined with religious power. I want to make it clear that I am committed as a matter of deep personal conviction to separation.

  John F. Kennedy

  Religious, Atheist, Ninety Nine

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• I never saw a pessimistic general win a battle.

  Dwight D. Eisenhower

  Inspirational, Life, Attitude

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• We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people. For space science, like nuclear science and technology, has no conscience of its own. Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man, and only if the United States occupies a position of preeminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new terrifying theater of war.

  John F. Kennedy

  War, Ocean, Knowledge

  Address at Rice University on the Nation's Space Program, delivered 12 September 1962, Rice Stadium, Houston, Texas

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• Crisis is the rallying cry of the tyrant.

  James Madison

  Rallying Cry, Tyrants, Liberty

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• General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

  Ronald Reagan

  Wall, Patriotic, Europe

  Remarks at the Brandenburg Gate, delivered 12 June 1987, West Berlin

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