Presidential quotes
746 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Explore further
Browse quotes that often appear alongside presidential — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"I would say it's more important who the treasury secretary is than who the vice president is. If you want to have a debate here, I'd like a debate between potential treasury secretaries than the vice presidential debate."
"Our most dangerous tendency is to expect too much of government, and at the same time do for it too little. . . . We must strive for normalcy to reach stability."
"I hold that in this country there must be complete severance of Church and State; that public moneys shall not be used for the purpose of advancing any particular creed; and therefore that the public schools shall be nonsectarian and no public moneys appropriated for sectarian schools."
"No President has ever enjoyed himself as much as I?"
"Delay is preferable to error."
"Great innovations should not be forced on slender majorities."
"Because liberalism typically doesn't sell in American presidential politics, liberal candidates tend to run as culturally conservative centrists."
"Trust the people -- that is the crucial lesson of history."
"They [The Soviet Union] are the focus of evil in the modern world."
"If it takes a bloodbath now let's get it over with."
"Governments don't control things. A government can't control the economy without controlling people."
"It is the Soviet Union that runs against the tide of human history by denying human freedom and human dignity to its citizens."
"Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars."
"When liberals' presidential nominees consistently fail to carry Kansas, liberals do not rush to read a book titled "What's the Matter With Liberals' Nominees?" No, the book they turned into a bestseller is titled "What's the Matter With Kansas?" Notice a pattern here?"
"The 2004 Election marks the first time in modern political history that Republican voter turnout matched Democratic turnout in a presidential election year."
"I will insist that the Hebrews have done more to civilize man than any other nation."
"Just as I went into politics because Joe died, if anything happened to me tomorrow, my brother Bobby would run for my seat in the Senate. And if Bobby died, Teddy would take over for him."
"The fact is, with every friendship you make, and every bond of trust you establish, you are shaping the image of America projected to the rest of the world. That is so important. So when you study abroad, you're actually helping to make America stronger."
"Fellow countrymen: At this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first...The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself; and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured."
"If you're a guest [at my $113 million house], you'll be able to call up on screens throughout the house almost any image you like - presidential portraits, reproductions of High Renaissance paintings, pictures of sunsets, airplanes, skiers in the Andes, a rare French stamp, the Beatles in 1965."
