Famous People Quotes

Political Figures:

• "Outside of the killings, [Washington] has one of the lowest crime rates in the country." -- Marion Barry, Mayor of Washington, D.C.

• "There are two kinds of truth. There are real truths, and there are made up truths." -- Marion Barry, on his arrest for drug use.

• "If crime went down 100%, it would still be fifty times higher than it should be." -- Councilman John Bowman, commenting on the high crime rate in Washington, D.C.

• "[I want to] make sure everybody who has a job wants a job." -- George Bush, during his first campaign for the presidency.

• "I would like to thank Nasal Beard for that warm welcome." -- George Bush, thanking Hazel Beard, mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1992.

• "Rarely is the question asked: is our children learning?" -- George W. Bush

• "I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family." -- George W. Bush

• "The most important job is not to be governor, or first lady in my case." -- George W. Bush

• "We must all hear the universal call to like your neighbor as you like to be liked yourself." -- George W. Bush

• "Well, I think if you say you're going to do something and don't do it, that's trustworthiness." -- George W. Bush

• "I think if you know what you believe, it makes it a lot easier to answer questions. I can't answer your question." -- George W. Bush

• "This campaign not only hears the voices of the entrepreneurs and the farmers and the entrepreneurs, we hear the voices of those struggling to get ahead." -- George W. Bush

• "We cannot let terrorists and rogue nations hold this nation hostile or hold our allies hostile." -- George W. Bush

• "Actually, I -- this may sound a little West Texan to you, but I like it. When I'm talking about--when I'm talking about myself, and when he's talking about myself, all of us are talking about me." -- George W. Bush

• "Will the highways on the Internet become more few?" -- George W. Bush

• "This is Preservation Month. I appreciate preservation. It's what you do when you run for president. You gotta preserve." -- George W. Bush, speaking during Perseverance Month.

• "A proof is a proof. What kind of a proof? It's a proof. A proof is a proof. And when you have a good proof, it's because it's proven." -- Jean Chretien

• "When a great many people are unable to find work, unemployment results." -- Calvin Coolidge, ex-president, discussing the United States economic situation in 1931.

• "This opens the door on another chapter of history." -- Walter Cronkite

• "President Carter speaks loudly and carries a fly spotter, a fly swasher -- it's been a long day." -- Gerald Ford

• "If Lincoln was alive today, he'd roll over in his grave." -- Gerald Ford

• "Things are more like they are now than they have ever been." -- Gerald Ford

• "I love sports. Whenever I can, I always watch the Detroit Tigers on the radio." -- Gerald Ford

• "That is what has made America last these past 200 centuries." -- Gerald Ford

• "China is a big country, inhabited by many Chinese." -- Charles de Gaulle, President of France

• "A zebra does not change its spots." -- Al Gore

• "The theories -- the ideas she expressed about equality of results within legislative bodies and with -- by outcome, by decisions made by legislative bodies, ideas related to proportional voting as a general remedy, not in particular cases where the circumstances make that a feasible idea..." -- Al Gore

• "The best cure for insomnia is to get a lot of sleep." -- Senator S. I. Hayakawa

• "Wherever I have gone in this country, I have found Americans." -- Alf Landon (in America), during a speech in his presidential campaign against FDR.

• "When your back is against the wall, there is only one thing to do, and that is turn around and fight." -- John Major

• "There is a mandate to impose a voluntary return to traditional values." -- Ronald Reagan

• "Now we are trying to get unemployment to go up, and I think we're going to succeed." -- Ronald Reagan

• "The right to suffer is one of the joys of a free economy." -- Howard Pyle, aide to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, commenting on the unemployment situation in Detroit.

• "The streets are safe in Philadelphia -- it's only the people who make them unsafe." -- Frank Rizzo, ex-police chief and mayor of Philadelphia.

• "A man could not be in two places at the same time unless he were a bird." -- Sir Boyle Roche, eighteenth century Member of Parliament from Tralee.

• "I'm not indecisive. Am I indecisive?" -- Jim Scheibel, mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota.

• "Wait a minute! I'm not interested in agriculture. I want the military stuff." -- Senator William Scott, during a briefing in which officials began telling him about missile silos.

Sports Figures:

• "I've never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body." -- Winston Bennet, former University of Kentucky basketball forward.

• "There's a hard shot to LeMaster -- and he throws Madlock into the dugout." -- Jerry Coleman, Padres announcer

• "The wind always seems to blow against catchers when they are running." -- Joe Garagiola

• "Wish: To end all the killing in the world. Hobbies: Hunting and fishing." -- California Angel Bryan Harvey (flashed on a scoreboard during a game).

• "People think we make $3 million and $4 million a year. They don't realize that most of us only make $500,000." -- Pete Incavigila, baseball player for the Texas Rangers.

• "Our offense is like the pythagorean theorem: There is no answer!" -- Shaquille O'Neal, basketball player for the L.A. Lakers

• "Me and George and Billy are two of a kind." -- Micky Rivers, Texas Rangers outfielder, on his warm relationship with Yankee owner Steinbrenner and manager Billy Martin.

• "If you can't make the putts and can't get the man in from second on the bottom of the ninth, you're not going to win enough football games in this league, and that's the problem we had today." -- Sam Rutigliano, Cleveland Browns coach, on why his team lost.

• "A lot is said about defense, but at the end of the game, the team with the most points wins, the other team loses." -- Isaiah Thomas, commentating on an NBA game. Bob Costas replied with just, "Uh...well...ok."

• "It just as easily could have gone the other way." -- Don Zimmer, Chicago Cubs manager, on his team's 4-4 record.

Entertainers:

• "I resign in Florida." -- Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter, at age 14. The comment scared the interviewer and fellow band members into thinking he was leaving the group.

• "Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life." -- Brooke Shields

• "I get to go to lots of overseas places, like Canada." -- Louisiana native Britney Spears, when asked the best part of being famous.

Other:

• "Oh, here comes Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny and Jimmy Smits!" -- Roger Ebert, announcing the arrival of Mel Blanc and Jimmy Smits to the Academy Awards ceremony.

• "...the wind shining, and the sun blowing gently across the fields." -- Ray Laurence

• "An end is in sight to the severe weather shortage." -- Ian Macaskill, BBC weather

• "They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist--" -- The last words of General John Sedgwick, Union Commander in the Civil War.

• "Was it you or your brother that was killed in the war?" -- Reverend William Archibald Spooner