John McCain Quotes

Parents are not the all-knowing, ideal people we would like you to think we are. We've made wrong choices before, and will again, like everyone else, .. But our mistakes are not the measure of our love for you. You are that measure, and how well you are prepared to make better choices than we have made.

I'm just trying to keep things normal around the house, because there's no reason why things shouldn't be normal.

I guess he believes if a lie is big enough and repeated often enough, it will be believed.

There's a whole generation that's retiring. It is unconscionable that the average salary of a lawyer is $79,000 a year and the average salary of a teacher is $39,000 a year.

When a major airline goes on a route that a new entrant has gone into, reduces fares, increases capacity, and then when the new entrant goes off, they leave the route, that's not competition.

The 'Main Street' retailers ... see customers come to the store to locate items ... only to leave and order the items over the Internet just to escape the sales tax.

But we have a war of ideals and ideas, and that is to sell democracy ...

How much damage will have been done before we act?

Congress and the American people have good reason to fear that we are heading toward another permanent garrison of Americans in a Balkan country where our mission is confused, and our exit strategy a complete mystery.

We cannot forever hide the truth about ourselves, from ourselves.

I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself. I dont expect to be a great communicator, I dont expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need.

I am proud to be a conservative ... but I am also proud throughout my life to have attracted the support and the love and affection of people from all over America and all parts of it.

I would like to mention that a couple days ago Senator Obama was out in Ohio and he had an encounter with a guy who's a plumber, his name is Joe Wurzelbacher.

That does not mean we won't experience the tragedy of the loss of some American lives. We will have an opportunity to instill a democracy in Iraq which will be an example and perhaps force other nations in that region to move in the same direction.

Katrina did not declare a truce on Iraq.

It's pretty clear we have enough Guard people in the United States, but are they capable of handling our oversees commitments as well? We need to figure out how that impacts our ability in Iraq.

As part of Social Security reform, I believe that private savings accounts are a part of it
along the lines that President Bush proposed.

Some urge we do nothing because we can't be certain how bad the (climate) problem might become or they presume the worst effects are most likely to occur in our grandchildren's lifetime. I'm a proud conservative, and I reject that kind of live-for-today, 'me generation,' attitude. It is unworthy of us and incompatible with our reputation as visionaries and problem solvers. Americans have never feared change. We make change work for us.

Anybody who believes the surge has not succeeded, militarily, politically and in most other ways, frankly, does not know the facts on the ground.

Sen. Obama is a decent person and a person you don't have to be scared of as president of the United States.

On the subject of Osama bin Laden ... we will track him down. We will capture him. We will bring him to justice, and I will follow him to the gates of hell.

Our nation has both an obligation and self-interest in facing head-on the serious environmental, economic and national security threat posed by global warming.

Iraq is now the central front in the war against al-Qaeda.

Our economy, I think, is still
the fundamentals of our economy are strong.

It is perhaps my greatest hope, Mr. President, that some day we'll consider tax and spending measures with no one else in mind but future generations of American taxpayers. We're tying a millstone of debt around their necks, and it is a grave mistake.

But certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force X number of women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations.

And the people who live in the southern part of my state do not have a secure environment. To wit, there are signs that the government put up that say, 'Warning. You are in a drug smuggling area and a human smuggling area.'

I'm as frustrated with the French, I think, as anyone, but look, there's going to be other challenges and there are going to be other issues. As long as there's a war on terrorism going on, we're all going to have to work together.

But please know, whether you believe campaign contributions are speech or property, that I learned to love very dearly the right of free expression when I lived without that freedom for a while a long time ago.

I'm ashamed that Congress finds billions for pork-barrel subsidies but fails to find money for veterans' health care.

I have said for a long time that I thought the president would be best served if the attorney general resigned so I think it's the right thing to do.

As a governor and senator, John Chafee set the standard for honesty and decency that the rest of us on our best days could only dream to emulate.

It's impossible to imagine the Democratic Party seeking a pro-life, free-trading, non-protectionist, deficit hawk.

I think the American people should know there's already strong influences toward another deployment of American troops in an open-ended commitment.

I will veto every single beer, um, bill with earmarks.

I think that Donald Rumsfeld will go down in history as one of the worst secretaries of defense in history. We are paying a very heavy price for the mismanagement - that's the kindest word I can give you - of Donald Rumsfeld, of this war.

I don't doubt the sincerity of my Democratic friends. And they should not doubt ours.

I am the son and grandson of Navy admirals, and I was born into America's service, ... It wasn't until I was deprived of her company that I fell in love with America.

In 2003, I warned of a 'creeping coup' in Russia against the forces of democracy and market capitalism in Russia.

I am not haunted by memories of Vietnam. But I must admit I never thought we would again witness in my lifetime the specter of politicians picking targets and ruling out offensive measures in the absurd hope that the enemy would respond to our restraint by yielding to our demands.

Why am I running for president? Well, my wife, Cindy, says it is because I sustainedseveral severe blows to the head in prison camp.

I think [social media] is fundamentally restructuring the whole nature of information and how it's expressed in America.

I believe that Congress will and must act before then to renew its objections to multiple and discriminatory taxes on the Internet, as well as to taxes that inhibit Internet access.

We know that Medicare's going broke in seven years, but we need to start over. That's what the American people want us to do.

I have campaigned for reform efforts all over the country, ... What happens in California has significant effect in states like mine that are nearby. It's just a reality.

I appreciate the decision made by Gov. Brewer to veto this legislation. I hope that we can now move on from this controversy and assure the American people that everyone is welcome to live, work and enjoy our beautiful State of Arizona.

Some of us are more favorably disposed than others.

It took a couple more weeks, and a commitment to being a real pain in the ass...

I'm not surprised that Governor Dean would oppose [the $87 billion to fund Iraq reconstruction] ... I've lost confidence that he has any understanding of the national security responsibilities of a President ... [b]ecause I don't believe that he has any understanding of the international role that the United States has to play in the world. I think it's a kind of a pseudo-isolationism that appeals to the base of the caucus voters. I do not believe that particularly in the case of Iraq that Governor Dean has any fundamental understanding of what's at stake here.

I do believe my view has evolved.

In the Washington soft money game, big business and big labor are accomplices working together to protect the mushy middle of big government, with plenty of special interest plums: Big unions get big spending and big business gets corporate welfare and special tax breaks - all at the expense of average Americans.

My patriotism and my conscience required me to support it and to engage in the debate over whether and how to fight it.

Certify border is secure; only then allow guest workers.

Bin Laden's death and the debate over torture

Presidential ambition is a disease that can only be cured by embalming fluid .

The smartest person in the United States Senate, and he knows it, is John Sununu. Thank God he had his mother's temperament.

My greatest fear is the Iranians acquire a nuclear weapon and give it to a terrorist organization. And there is a real threat of them doing that.

I think they put some lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig.

You know, the French remind me a little bit of an aging actress of the 1940s who was still trying to dine out on her looks but doesn't have the face for it

On my honor, I swear to you, that from my first day in office to the last breath I draw, I will do everything in my power to make you proud of your government.

While Secretary Rumsfeld and I have had our differences, he deserves Americans' respect and gratitude for his many years of public service.

Round up and deport two million aliens who committed crimes.

At no time have I ever done anything that would betray the public trust.

I'm not running for president because I think I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need. My country saved me. My country saved me, and I cannot forget it. And I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help me God.

I didn't decide to run for president to start a national crusade for the political reforms I believed in, or to run a campaign as if it were some grand act of patriotism. In truth, I wanted to be president because it had become my ambition to be president.

I think there [are] great economies that can be made starting with a round of base closings, ... I want the president to veto these pork-barrel spending bills which have grown to incredible obscene levels. I believe there are a number of weapons systems that have to be eliminated.

I believe strongly that we should have nominees to the United States Supreme Court based on their qualifications rather than any litmus test.

Subjecting prisoners to abuse leads to bad intelligence because under torture a detainee will tell his interrogator anything to make the pain stop, ... Second, mistreatment of our prisoners endangers U.S. troops who might be captured by the enemy ... And third, prisoner abuses exact on us a terrible toll in the war of ideas because inevitably these abuses become public.

I put the Vietnam War behind me a long time ago, and what I wanted to (do) among other things was help veterans also be able to come all the way home as some of our veterans have not been able to do. But I harbor no anger nor rancor. I'm a better man for my experience, and I'm grateful for having the opportunity of serving.

So Ahmadinejad wants to be the first Iranian in space - wasn't he there just last week? 'Iran launches monkey into space.'

It seems to me that President Carter has earned his place as if not the worst president in history, the worst president of the 20th Century.

I would vote for a Muslim if he or she was the best candidate able to lead the country and defend our political values.

I think that decisions should rest in the hands of the states. I'm a federalist.

We are united in a wait-and-see approach.

Only a fool or a fraud talks tough or romantically about war.

Our nation's continued prosperity hinges on our ability to solve environmental problems and sustain the natural resources on which we all depend.

I intend to do what I can, working with my congressional colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, to help bring about the changes to the practices and institutions of our democracy that they want and deserve.

A man I admire and respect - Congressman John Lewis, an American hero, made allegations that Sarah Palin and I were somehow associated with the worst chapter in American history, segregation, deaths of children in church bombings, George Wallace. That, to me, was so hurtful.

Torture gives you reliable and unreliable information. That's the reason why most people in the world don't do it. So this idea that you have to torture people in order to protect national security is a false argument, and I reject it.

The benefit of an open town hall meeting is one that you get to hear a lot of different views, and two it has credibility.

I am fully prepared to be commander in chief ... I don't need on-the-job training.

Even in this room full of proud Manhattan Democrats. I can't shake that feeling that some people here are pulling for me ... I'm delighted to see you here tonight, Hillary.

I think I am becoming incapable of being too surprised. But it just makes me sad and sick.

When we're talking about a trillion dollars of taxpayer money, "trust me" just isn't good enough.

The first pork-barrel bill that crosses my desk, I'm going to veto it and make the authors of those pork-barrel items famous all over America.

There's a certain romanticism associated with exploration of space, which is one of the major factors why we'll continue.

We must win in Iraq. If we withdraw, there will be chaos; there will be genocide; and they will follow us home.

How does it make sense to remove an option, to tell your enemy before you go into a conflict, that you will not exercise whatever options are necessary in order to achieve victory?

I know where a lot of them [the elite or elitists] live.
Where's that?
Well, in our nation's capital and New York City. I've seen it. I've lived there.

You cannot tell the enemy you're going to leave and expect the enemy to not - and expect to succeed. I mean, that's just a fundamental of warfare.

Reducing military presence has never in history won a war.

Tolerance of dissent is the hallmark of a mature party, and it is well past time for the Republican Party to grow up.

Remember the words of Chairman Mao: 'It's always darkest before it's totally black.'.

Women need the education and training, particularly since more and more women are heads of their households, as much or more than anybody else ... And it's hard for them to leave their families when they don't have somebody to take care of them ... It's a vicious cycle that's affecting women, particularly in a part of the country like this, where mining is the mainstay; traditionally, women have not gone into that line of work, to say the least.

We will have to wait a little longer to see if Armageddon has arrived.

I think that Joe Biden is qualified in many respects. But I do point out that he's been wrong on many foreign policy and national security issues, which is supposed to be his strength.

I would never want to see myself viewed as beating the drums of war, ... but I would rather live with that image than look into the mirror and see a member of Congress who failed to do his duty.

I don't e-mail. I've never felt the particular need to e-mail.

Many good people mistake their reputation for their character. It is a mistake I have made many, many times.

Instead of giving the effort the level of attention needed, the Air Force has wasted a year doing very little to end our reliance on Russian rocket engines, if the Air Force is unwilling to do what is necessary to meet the 2019 deadline, they are going to have to figure out how to meet our space launch needs without the RD-180 (Russian engine).