Presidential Quotes - Page 3

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

Perhaps one of the most important accomplishments of my administration has been minding my own business.

You are a den of vipers and thieves. I intend to rout you out, and by the eternal God, I will rout you out.

The problem to be solved is, not what form of government is perfect, but which of the forms is least imperfect.

There is a connection, hard to explain logically but easy to feel, between achievement in public life and progress in the arts. The age of Pericles was also the age of Phidias. The age of Lorenzo de Medici was also the age of Leonardo da Vinci. The age of Elizabeth was also the age of Shakespeare. And the New Frontier for which I campaign in public life, can also be a New Frontier for American art.

Don't write so that you can be understood, write so that you can't be misunderstood.

Two problems of our country - energy and malaise.

With me it is exceptionally true that the Presidency is no bed of roses.

The bud of victory is always in the truth.

Popularity, I have always thought, may aptly be compared to a coquette - the more you woo her, the more apt is she to elude your embrace.

I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.

A government which lays taxes on the people not required by urgent public necessity and sound public policy is not a protector of liberty, but an instrument of tyranny. It condemns the citizen to servitude.

We Americans have no commission from God to police the world.

I am tolerant of all creeds. Yet if any sect suffered itself to be used for political objects I would meet it by political opposition. In my view church and state should be separate, not only in form, but fact. Religion and politics should not be mingled.

The man who can look upon a crisis without being willing to offer himself upon the altar of his country is not for public trust.

As to the presidency, the two happiest days of my life were those of my entrance upon the office and my surrender of it.

O God, thy sea is so great and my boat is so small.

A zebra can not change it's spots.

If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.

Absolute freedom of the press to discuss public questions is a foundation stone of American liberty.

Honest conviction is my courage; the Constitution is my guide.

If some among you fear taking a stand because you are afraid of reprisals from customers, clients, or even government, recognize that you are just feeding the crocodile hoping he'll eat you last.

...for two centuries supporters of the Electoral College have built their arguments on a series of faulty premises. The Electoral College is a gross violation of the cherished value of political equality. At the same time, it does not protect the interests of small states or racial minorities, nor does it serve as a bastion of federalism. Instead the Electoral College distorts the presidential campaign so that candidates ignore most small states - and many large ones - and pay little attention to minorities.

Ambition is a commendable attribute, without which no man succeeds. Only inconsiderate ambition imperils.

The budget should be balanced not by more taxes, but by reduction of follies.