George H W Bush Quotes

It's family, and it's faith, and it's friends, and it's not the glamour of the Presidency, or the wonder of going to receive the Nobel Prize. All those are important, of course. But maybe it's just that I'm 71 years old now. It's family, and it's faith, and it's friends. I would tell them that. Don't forget that. In your brilliance, don't turn your back on your friends. Don't think you're entitled to something, you're smarter than the next guy. ~ George H. W. Bush

Real improvement in our schools is not simply a matter of spending more, it is a matter of expecting more. ~ George H. W. Bush

A volunteer is a person who can see what others cannot see; who can feel what most do not feel. Often, such gifted persons do not think of themselves as volunteers, but as citizens - citizens in the fullest sense: partners in civilization. ~ George H. W. Bush

Not all Americans are living the American dream by a long shot. Many can't even imagine it. There are impoverished Americans, the poor and the homeless, the hungry and the hopeless, many unable to read and write. There are Americans gone astray, the kids dragged down by drugs, the shattered families, the teenage mothers struggling to cope. Then there are Americans uneasy, troubled and bewildered by the dizzying pace of change. ~ George H. W. Bush

Tell me your Dreams and I'll write you a Fantasy. Tell me your Fantasies and I'll paint you a Dream for the minds eye you can get lost in! ~ George H. W. Bush

Losing is tough. ~ George H. W. Bush

Monday is President's Day and former President Bill Clinton is very excited. He is taking George Bush, Sr. to 'Hooters' ... George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton have been spending more and more time together. Doesn't that seem like an unusual couple to you, honestly? Earlier today they went to go see that gay cowboy movie. ~ David Letterman

My favorite picture is a picture of American soldiers surrounding a guy in a foxhole, Iraqi soldier, and the American guy says, "We're not going to harm you. We're American soldiers." ~ George H. W. Bush

Somebody said, "Well, you're going to write your definitive book about your life, biography." No, I'm not. I haven't done that. I wrote a book of letters which gives an insight into the real me as opposed to the public perceptions of me. But I'm convinced historians will figure out the things we got wrong and hopefully the things we got right. ~ George H. W. Bush

We also share a profound desire for a lasting peace in the Middle East. My Administration is dedicated to achieving this goal, one which will guarantee Israel security. At the same time, we will do our utmost to defend and protect Israel, for unless Israel is strong and secure, then peace will always be beyond our grasp. We were with Israel at the beginning, 41 years ago. We are with Israel today. And we will be with Israel in the future. No one should doubt this basic committment. ~ George H. W. Bush

I can't ever remember sitting around and saying, 'gosh let's hurry up and get these debates going, that'll win it for me.' Nope. ~ George H. W. Bush

Bill Clinton beat Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush, for the White House in 1992 by focusing on 'the economy, stupid' - and Clinton's victory led, in time, to the longest sustained boom in American history. ~ Nigel Hamilton

Yogi's been an inspiration to me, not only because of his baseball skills, but of course for the enduring mark he left on the English language. Some in the press corps think he might even be my speechwriter. ~ George H. W. Bush

I think in defeat you grope for things that are happy, and it's hard. ~ George H. W. Bush

American business can out-think, out-work, out-perform any nation in the world. But we can't beat the competition if we don't get in the ball game. ~ George H. W. Bush

Atheists are not Americans. ~ George H. W. Bush

Equality begins with economic empowerment. ~ George H. W. Bush

I think I'd be a better president because I was in combat. ~ George H. W. Bush

No generation can escape history. ~ George H. W. Bush

The rigidity of those pledges is something I don't like. The circumstances change and you can't be wedded to some formula by Grover Norquist. It's - who the hell is Grover Norquist, anyway? ~ George H. W. Bush

A good country song taps into strong undercurrents of family, faith, and patriotism. ~ George H. W. Bush

People say I'm indecisive, but I don't know about that. ~ George H. W. Bush

We have before us the opportunity to forge, for ourselves and for future generations, a New World Order. A world where the rule of law, not the law of the jungle, rules all nations. When we are successful-and we will be-we have a real chance at this New World Order. An order in which a credible United Nations can use its peacekeeping forces to fulfill the promise and vision of its founders. ~ George H. W. Bush

I want to make sure everybody who has a job wants a job. ~ George H. W. Bush

Courage is a terribly important value. It means you don't run away when things are tough. It means you don't turn away from a friend when he or she is in trouble. It means standing up against the majority opinion ... There's a lot of people who won't wear it on their sleeve, or display it through some heroic act. But courage is having the strength to do what's honorable and decent. ~ George H. W. Bush

Thousand points of light. ~ George H. W. Bush

Our stewardship of the Earth is brief. We owe it to those who follow to keep that in perspective, to be responsible passengers along the way. ~ George H. W. Bush

A troubled economy is always the sitting president's fault. It was when Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter, when Bill Clinton defeated George H.W. Bush, and when Barack Obama defeated John McCain by running against George W. Bush. ~ Mark McKinnon

My first act as president is a prayer. I ask you to bow your heads: Heavenly Father, we bow our heads and thank You for Your love. Accept our thanks for the peace that yields this day and the shared faith that makes its continuance likely. Make us strong to do Your work, willing to head and hear Your will, and write on our hearts these words: 'Use power to help people. For we know that we are given power, not to advance our own purposes, nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power, and it is to serve people. Help us to remember it Lord, Amen. ~ George H. W. Bush

It's a very good question, very direct, and I'm not going to answer it. ~ George H. W. Bush

It's no exaggeration to say that the undecideds could go one way or another. ~ George H. W. Bush

You cannot be President of the United States if you don't have faith. Remember Lincoln, going to his knees in times of trial in the Civil War and all that stuff. ~ George H. W. Bush

Many schools include a service project as part of their curriculum, and many corporations have in-house projects for their employees or give them time off to do volunteer work. ~ George H. W. Bush

America needs to be a lot more like the Waltons and a lot less like the Simpsons. ~ George H. W. Bush

But let me tell you, this gender thing is history. You're looking at a guy who sat down with Margaret Thatcher across the table and talked about serious issues. ~ George H. W. Bush

This is a fact: Strength in the pursuit of peace is no vice; isolation in the pursuit of security is no virtue. ~ George H. W. Bush

Looking back on his adolescence from the vantage point of his mid-eighties, George H.W. Bush candidly admitted, "I might have been obsessed with bodies – boobs they are now called. But what seventeen-year-old kid was not? Guilty am I. ~ H.W. Brands

The Persian Gulf crisis has forged a new world order in which the superpower adversaries of the Cold War now stand united to reverse Iraq's conquest of Kuwait ... ~ George H. W. Bush

For 18 years I have resisted talking about current events. I am not going to start now. ~ George H. W. Bush

The boar held a VCR reote control and cackled maliciously as he watched a video of U.S. politicians grinning with their one-time budy Saddam
Dick Cheney, Gulf War-era Secretary of State James Baker, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Bob Dole, George H.W. Bush, to the tune of "Taking Care of Business." And then the viewers saw themselves in a mirror emblazoned with the words "You are a witness. ~ Wafaa Bilal

I want to salute Reverend Moon, who is the founder of The Washington Times and also of Tiempos del Mundo. A lot of my friends in South America don't know about The Washington Times, but it is an independent voice. ~ George H. W. Bush

There's a second life involved. No matter what your position is on abortion or the death penalty, you shouldn't put a pregnant woman to death. ~ George H. W. Bush

I'm a conservative, but I'm not a nut about it. ~ George H. W. Bush

I can tell you this: If I'm ever in a position to call the shots, I'm not going to rush to send somebody else's kids into a war. ~ George H. W. Bush

Well, I think everybody is frustrated by the finances of the U.N. and the inability to solve problems of war and peace. ~ George H. W. Bush

You know I vowed when I became President not to talk about the loneliest toughest job in the world and I didn't. ~ George H. W. Bush

There are things we can do to give us a little more attention ... I've got to look more frantic. ~ George H. W. Bush

I don't like dynasty and legacy. But I think there's a period in the U.S. history where Bushes have been in the forefront. ~ George H. W. Bush

Let the shameful walls of exclusion finally come tumbling down, ~ George H. W. Bush

Ageing's alright, better than the alternative, which is not being here. ~ George H. W. Bush

It was just one year ago that the world saw this new, invigorated United Nations in action as this Council stood fast against aggression and stood for the sacred principles enshrined in the U.N. Charter. And now it's time to step forward again, make the internal reforms, accelerate the revitalization, accept the responsibilities necessary for a vigorous and effective United Nations. I want to assure the members of this Council and the Secretary-General, the United Nations can count on our full support in this task. ~ George H. W. Bush

We asked for God's help; and now, in this shining outcome, in this magnificent triumph of good over evil, we should thank God. ~ George H. W. Bush

The Cold War began with the division of Europe. It can only end when Europe is whole. ~ George H. W. Bush

You do not reform a world by ignoring it. ~ George H. W. Bush

I see in [George H. W.] Bush a striving to be Reagan-like in the sense of having a big vision, and eschewing small details. ~ David E. Hoffman

...My advice to young people might be as follows:

1. Don't get down when your life takes a bad turn. Out of adversity comes challenge and often success.
2. Don't blame others for your setbacks.
3. When things go well, always give credit to others.
4. Don't talk all the time. Listen to your friends and mentors and learn from them.
5. Don't brag about yourself. Let others point out your virtues, your strong points.
6. Give someone else a hand. When a friend is hurting, show that friend you care.
7. Nobody likes an overbearing big shot.
8. As you succeed, be kind to people. Thank those who help you along the way.
9. Don't be afraid to shed a tear when your heart is broken because a friend is hurting.
10. Say your prayers!! ~ George H.W. Bush

A new breeze is blowing, and a world refreshed by freedom seems reborn; for in man's heart, if not in fact, the day of the dictator is over. The totalitarian era is passing, its old ideas blown away like leaves from an ancient, lifeless tree. ~ George H. W. Bush

And I'm not a student of religion, but I don't find anything in what the principal teachings of Islam that put us in contradiction at all. In fact, the principles are the same as what-we have a diverse religious culture. But it's kindness, it's be good to your neighbor, it's love, and it's take care of children. It's all these things that-so there's no anti-Islam. ~ George H. W. Bush

The liberation of Kuwait has begun. In conjunction with the forces of our coalition partners, the United States has moved under the code name Operation Desert Storm to enforce the mandates of the United Nations Security Council. ~ George H. W. Bush

I think 9/11 guaranteed that national security is going to be in the forefront of every election. ~ George H. W. Bush

I have opinions of my own - strong opinions - but I don't always agree with them. ~ George H. W. Bush

We don't want an America that is closed to the world. What we want is a world that is open to America. ~ George H. W. Bush

Service is never a simple act; it's about sacrifice for others and about accomplishment for ourselves, about reaching out, one person to another, about all our choices gathered together as a country to reach across all our divides. ~ George H. W. Bush

There are truckloads of broccoli at this very minute descending on Washington. My family is divided. For the broccoli vote out there: Barbara loves broccoli. She has tried to make me eat it. She eats it all the time herself. So she can go out and meet the caravan of broccoli that's coming in. ~ George H. W. Bush

I, George Bush, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the decade beginning January 1, 1990, as the Decade of the Brain. I call upon all public officials and the people of the United States to observe that decade with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities. ~ George H. W. Bush

Freedom and the power to choose should not be the privilege of wealth. They are the birthright of every American. ~ George H. W. Bush

Every American expects and deserves clean air, and then we act on that belief, then we will set an example for the rest of the world to follow. ~ George H. W. Bush

We're going to keep trying to strengthen the American family. To make them more like The Waltons and less like The Simpsons. ~ George H. W. Bush

Both must make tangible, immediate steps toward this vision. ~ George H. W. Bush

I am not one who - who flamboyantly believes in throwing a lot of words around. ~ George H. W. Bush

Extending the ground war into an occupation of Iraq, would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. Had we gone the invasion route, the U.S. could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land. It would have been a dramatically different - and perhaps barren - outcome. ~ George H. W. Bush

Competence is the creed of the technocrat who makes sure the gears mesh but doesn't for a second understand the magic of the machine. ~ George H. W. Bush

We consider it vital that the community of nations be drawn together in an orderly, disciplined, rational way to review the history of our global environment, to assess the potential for future climate change, and to develop effective programs. ~ George H. W. Bush

It's amazing how many people beat you at golf now that you're no longer president. ~ George H. W. Bush

Learning is good in and of itself ... the mothers of the Jewish ghettoes of the east would pour honey on a book so the children would know that learning is sweet. And the parents who settled hungry Kansas would take their children in from the fields when a teacher came. ~ George H. W. Bush

I wouldn't answer the marijuana questions, You know why? Because I don't want some little kid doing what I tried. ~ George H. W. Bush

Old fashioned as it may seem to some, it is my duty to serve my country. (And) I didn't seek this job but I want to do it, and I will do my very best. ~ George H. W. Bush

The thing I miss about Air Force One is they don't lose my luggage. ~ George H. W. Bush

People must be free to work, to save, to own their own home, to take risks, to invest in each other and, in essence, to control their own lives. ~ George H. W. Bush

The atmosphere in Washington was different. President Reagan remained popular, despite having committed crimes far worse than those that had brought Nixon down: financing terrorism in Nicaragua, trading weapons for hostages with Iran, and turning women and girls into mangled corpses on the streets of Beirut. Reagan's collaborator Vice President George H. W. Bush looked likely to become the next president. Somehow - and Jasper could not figure out how this trick had been worked - people who challenged the president and caught him out cheating and lying were no longer heroes, as they had been in the seventies, but instead were considered disloyal and even anti-American. ~ Ken Follett

I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around
the world, this administration has been the worst in history ...
The overt reversal of America's basic values as expressed by
previous administrations, including those of George H.W. Bush
and Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon and others, has been the
most disturbing to me. ~ Jimmy Carter

I believe with all my heart that one cannot be America's president without a belief in God, without the strength that your faith gives you. ~ George H. W. Bush

And I want to be there for you if you get a bad bounce in life, and no doubt you will for the seas do indeed get rough. ~ George H.W. Bush

As president, I watched in wonder as Nelson Mandela had the remarkable capacity to forgive his jailers following 26 years of wrongful imprisonment - setting a powerful example of redemption and grace for us all. ~ George H. W. Bush

I just sit ther and do what I vowed I would never do - talk back to the television. ~ George H. W. Bush

The military was providing him (George H.W. Bush) with an education that was not available at Andover or Yale. ~ George W. Bush

As you know, in the 2000 campaign I articulated a point of view that we ought to have personal savings accounts for younger workers that would make sure those younger workers receive benefits equal to or greater than that which is expected, ... I still maintain the same position. ~ George H. W. Bush

It's too much show business and too much prompting, too much artificiality, and not really debates. They're rehearsed appearances. ~ George H. W. Bush

If the American people knew what we have done, they would string us up from the lamp posts. ~ George H. W. Bush

Draconian limits on economic growth and on the use of the automobile should not be necessary in order to give Americans clean air at levels they are willing to pay for, but it will require significant Federal, State, and local leadership and innovative approaches from government and industry. ~ George H. W. Bush

The problem with the French is that they have no word for entrepreneur. ~ George H. W. Bush

The American Dream means giving it your all, trying your hardest, accomplishing something. And then I'd add to that, giving something back. No definition of a successful life can do anything but include serving others. ~ George H. W. Bush

We have a right to expect a police force that protects our citizens and behaves in a responsible manner ... in the American conscience there is no room for bigotry and racism. ~ George H. W. Bush

Fluency in English is something that I'm often not accused of. ~ George H. W. Bush

The defense budget is more than a piggy bank for people who want to get busy beating swords into pork barrels. ~ George H. W. Bush

When Ronald Reagan chose George H.W. Bush in 1980, it was a clear signal that he was running an inclusive campaign; that he welcomed the moderate and even liberal wings of the GOP - there was a liberal wing back then - into his campaign. ~ Jeff Greenfield

By the grace of God, we won the Cold War. ~ George H. W. Bush

Out of these troubled times, our fifth objective- a new world order-can emerge ... We are now in sight of a United Nations that performs as envisioned by its founders. ~ George H. W. Bush

[On George H.W. Bush:] By 1990 I had learned that I had to defer to him in conversation and not to stint the praise. If that was what was necessary to secure Britain's interests and influence, I had no hesitation in eating a little humble pie. ~ Margaret Thatcher

I want a kinder, gentler nation. ~ George H. W. Bush