September 11 Quotations

September 11 is one of our worst days but it brought out the best in us. It unified us as a country and showed our charitable instincts and reminded us of what we stood for and stand for.

Those whose lives were lost on September 11 will remain in our thoughts and prayers forever.

When you look at where the Democratic field is going relative to foreign policy, they are increasingly moving away from a policy of pre-emptive self-defense that the president has adopted since September 11.

We emerged from the events of September 11 more steadfast in our beliefs, more courageous in our actions and more determined to protect our values than ever before.

September 11 impressed upon us that life is a precious gift. Every life has a purpose. And I think we all have a duty to devote at least a small portion of our daily lives to ensuring that neither America nor the world ever forgets September 11.

September 11, 2001, revealed heroism in ordinary people who might have gone through their lives never called upon to demonstrate the extent of their courage.

But through world wars and a Great Depression, through painful social upheaval and a Cold War, and now through the attacks of September 11, 2001, our Nation has indeed survived.

The shock caused by the September 11 events has also lead to a thorough reflection on the existing disparity between rich and poor countries, on the misery of populations of the South.

There was a golden retriever who saved countless lives on September 11 by going back in to find people. His companion was in a wheelchair. He got him out and kept going back in to save others.

While it may be true that the UAE has been an ally since the September 11, 2001, attacks, the American people know it has also harbored and aided some of the al Qaeda agents who were involved in that attack.

What we learned on September 11 is that the unthinkable is now thinkable in the world

What happened on September 11 compels us to focus on who we are as Americans, what we stand for, what really matters in our lives - family, friends, faith and freedom.

Certainly, the murder of civilians for political statement did not just begin on September 11, 2001.

The terrorist attacks of September 11th and the courageous actions of our armed forces in Afghanistan and Iraq remind us that friends of tyranny and enemies of freedom still exist

The atmosphere is different in Congress after September 11. Terrorism is no longer an abstract issue, but a real, tangible threat.

Since September 11, 2001, the powerful coalition of nations, led by the United States, has seen many successes against al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. It is imperative that we remain united and steadfast in the quest to defeat terrorism around the world.

As the third anniversary of the September 11th attacks draws near we must ensure our nation is prepared to handle the continued threat of violence and terrorism on our country.

September 11 stands on its own as a terrible tragedy.

What happened on September 11th is at least, theoretically, small stuff compared to what can happen.

Initially, the horrific images of September 11th triggered an enormous wave of solidarity.

And so every one of us in the FBI, I don't care if it's a file clerk someplace or an agent there or a computer specialist, understands that our main mission is to protect the public from another September 11, another terrorist attack.

On September 11, 2001, we thought we were going to be attacked many, many times between then and now. We haven't been. I believe we had a president who made the right decision at the right time... to put us on offense against terrorists.

On September 11, the murders of World Trade Center employees and visitors took the lives of numerous nationalities, ethnic groups and religious followers.

After September 11th, nations from across the globe offered their generous assistance to the people of New York. And whenever our friends around the world need our assistance, New York is there.

I think what has happened, actually, is that September 11 has given a spur, a renewed urgency, to dialogue between the great faiths.

After September 11, the European governments have completely failed. They are incapable of seeing beyond their own national scope of interests.

After we were hit on September 11, 2001, we were in a state of national shock. Less than six weeks later, on October 26 2001, the U.S.A. Patriot Act was passed by a Congress that had little chance to debate it; many said that they scarcely had time to read it.

On September 11 last year international terrorism entered a new dimension.

The public's evaluation of the job George W. Bush is doing as president changed dramatically as a result of the horrific attacks of September 11 and his response in leading the country on a campaign against terrorism.

So I think, if September 11 taught us anything, it taught us that we're vulnerable, and vulnerable in ways that we didn't fully understand.

After September 11, when the United States took action to overthrow the Taliban, our interests and Iran's aligned, and we were able to coordinate quietly but effectively.

It is important to stress: Africa is also a victim of the September 11 attacks.

Legislation passed in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 enhanced our intelligence capabilities and strengthened our national defense, but until now our nation's immigration policies have not adapted to the needs of a post-September 11th world.

Whether we knew many who died on September 11 or personally knew none, we all lost something on that day. Innocence. Security. A trust that our homeland would always be safe.

The September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon prompted a fundamental shift in the American government's approach to Islamic terrorism.

On September 11 2001, America felt its vulnerability even to threats that gather on the other side of the Earth. We resolved then, and we are resolved today, to confront every threat from any source that could bring sudden terror and suffering to America.

If the events of September 11, 2001, have proven anything, it's that the terrorists can attack us, but they can't take away what makes us American - our freedom, our liberty, our civil rights. No, only Attorney General John Ashcroft can do that.

But since September 11, we have made every effort to try to work closely with state and local law enforcement.

I haven't had that good a time in ages. Since September 11, really. I just felt so happy, it was like the sun came out of the clouds for me. I love Italy.

Perhaps at a later point important developments will be traced back to September 11. But for now we do not know which of the many scenarios will actually hold in the future.

The Europeans must finally understand the incredible shock triggered by the attacks of September 11.

The scenarios of biological or chemical warfare painted in detail by the American media during the months after September 11 only betray the inability of the government to determine the magnitude of the danger.

I cannot imagine a context that would some day, in some manner, make the monstrous crime of September 11 an understandable or comprehensible political act

Prior to September 11, we thought the world beyond our shores was one world of risk and the world in our continent was another world of risk

For twenty years, Islamic Jihadists have been attacking American interests around the world and we did not take them seriously until September 11th, 2001.

Freedom itself was attacked this morning by a faceless coward, and freedom will be defended.

The attacks of September 11, 2001, were spectacular, riveting, grim, costly and searing. The shock that they caused reverberated throughout the world. What happened in New York and Washington and Pennsylvania ended the lives of thousands of people and changed the lives of many more. But they did not change the world.

My favourite poem is the one that starts 'Thirty days hath September' because it actually tells you something.

September 11 was terrible but, if one goes back over the history of the IRA, what happened to the Americans wasn't that terrible.

I must have been one of the least surprised people on earth on September 11. I felt very braced for that. I knew something like that was going to come.

Any attempts at humor immediately after September 11th were deemed tasteless.

But the point is to get a whole new generation of people and people in general more re-engaged in news, and this has happened a lot since September 11th of course.

We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbour them.

The values of Islam are expressed by Muslims clearly. September 11 changed the world, and put Muslims on the spotlight.

In retrospect, the Millennium marked only a moment in time. It was the events of September 11 that marked a turning point in history, where we confront the dangers of the future and assess the choices facing humankind.

September 11th was a moment when America had the sympathy of the world.

There were no weapons of mass destruction and Saddam Hussein was not involved in the September 11th attack.

Nobody understood The Reoccurring Dream, but after September 11, when we were coerced to do a national duty and go out and shop, surely people could begin to see what I was getting at.

Although September 11 was horrible, it didn't threaten the survival of the human race, like nuclear weapons do.

Since September 11, it seems to me that never in our lifetime, except possibly in the early stages of World War II, has it been clearer that we have as a source of strength, a source of direction, a source of inspiration - our story.

After September 11th, freedom of speech in America has become a topic that's touchier than a Vatican summer camp.

Fox News has learned some United States investigators believe that there are Israelis again very much engaged in spying in and on the United States, who may have known things they didn't tell us before September 11, 2001.

What do I tell the pilots to do?

For me and my family personally, September 11 was a reminder that life is fleeting, impermanent, and uncertain. Therefore, we must make use of every moment and nurture it with affection, tenderness, beauty, creativity, and laughter.

We have no intention of ignoring or appeasing history's latest gang of fanatics trying to murder their way to power.

No, we did not do this, and we are not with you.

Ellen Barkin, your upcoming TV show ‘The New Normal’ premiers on September 11th. September 11th, that sounds about right. Every clip I’ve seen feels like I’m watching a third tower collapse.

Is it likely that an aircraft carrier or a cruise missile is going to find a person?

I never got a lot done using a broomstick. You've got to have something that's lethal.

What separates us from the animals, what separates us from the chaos, is our ability to mourn people we’ve never met.

In the aftermath of September 11, and as the 9/11 Commission report so aptly demonstrates, it is clear that our intelligence system is not working the way that it should.

There will be no going back to the era before September 11th, 2001, to false comfort in a dangerous world.

I... you know, I... look, after 9/11, I vowed to protect this country.

What's the sense of sending $2 million missiles to hit a $10 tent that's empty?

We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the September 11th.

In time, perhaps, we will mark the memory of September 11th in stone and metal, something we can show children, as yet unborn, to help them understand what happened on this minute and on this day. But for those of us who lived through these events, the only marker we’ll ever need is the tick of a clock at the 46th minute of the eighth hour of the 11th day.

... for those of us who lived through these events, the only marker we'll ever need is the tick of a clock at the 46th minute of the eighth hour of the 11th day.

These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat.But they have failed; our country is strong.

War has been waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder. This nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger. This conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others. It will end in a way, and at an hour, of our choosing.

Our enemies have made the mistake that America's enemies always make. They saw liberty and thought they saw weakness. And now, they see defeat.

Since its enactment in the weeks following the September 11 terrorist attacks, the tools in the Patriot Act have been used by law enforcement to stop more than 400 terrorist threats to our families and communities.

After September 11, it became unpatriotic to question any homeland-security or defense spending, and that let things get out of control.

It is impossible to fully comprehend the evil that would have conjured up such a cowardly and depraved assault upon thousands of innocent people.

The world changed on September 11, 2001.

Look at what Bush has done. The economy took an incredible hit after September 11. That was a huge shock to the economy. And we've recovered a lot quicker than we thought, thanks to Bush and his economic policy.

France is deeply upset to learn of the monstrous attacks that have just struck the United States.... In these terrible circumstances, all French people stand by the American people. We express our friendship and solidarity in this tragedy.

I am about to die. It is September 11, and every cell in my body is acutely aware of my looming demise. The certainty of it. The inevitability. Not years from now, not weeks nor days. Moments.

As for September 11, let us not too easily grant the Americans possession of that date on the calendar. Like May 1 or July 14 or December 25, September 11 may seem full of significance to some people, while to other people it is just another day.

The whole world has changed after September 11th.

I too remember September 11th. I remember immediately putting into place security procedures all throughout our company that did business in 170 countries where we thought corporate interests would be attacked next. To take our country back, to keep our nation safe, we have to begin by beating Hillary Clinton.

Irrespective of the conflict with America it is a human duty to show sympathy with the American people, and be with them at these horrifying and awesome events which are bound to awaken human conscience.

The terrorism danger to the United States is even worse than September 11th, when 19 hijackers murdered almost 3,000 Americans.

Nothing can justify crimes such as those of September 11, but we can think of the United States as an innocent victim only if we adopt the convenient path of ignoring the record of its actions and those of its allies, which are, after all, hardly a secret.

September 11 shocked many Americans into an awareness that they had better pay much closer attention to what the US government does in the world and how it is perceived. Many issues have been opened for discussion that were not on the agenda before. That's all to the good.

Like every American, I will never forget where I was on the morning of September 11, 2001. As a member of Congress from Indiana, that day my duties took me to Capitol Hill and to sights and sounds I will never forget.

There have been a lot of events that have made me really look at the real world, like September 11th. There are so many things that just make you realize that you're not going to live forever and that you have to enjoy every day.

15 of the 19 [September 11th] hijackers were from Saudi Arabia.

We now have capabilities in science and technology that raise the very realistic possibility that a small group of terrorists could kill not only thousands of people, as they did on September 11th, but hundreds of thousands of people. And that has changed the dimension of the threat we face.

Five years have come, and five years have gone, and still we stand together as one. We come back to this place to remember the heartbreaking anniversary - and each person who died here - those known and unknown to us, whose absence is always with us.

As the representatives of the people we are here to declare that our resolve has not been weakened by these horrific and cowardly acts.