Bill Clinton Quotations

We stopped thinking about what the world should do for Africa and we started thinking about what we could do with Africans.

When we give what we can and give it with joy, we don't just renew the American tradition of giving, we also renew ourselves.

We can defend ourselves against Iraq. It would be quick and easy. But, it's worth waiting a little while because it's not a military threat.

We're going to have to make tough choices and we're going to have to make them together.

We have to find ways to continue to change consistent with our basic values and our common community and humanity.

We have never done this before. Never in the history of our republic have we ever financed a conflict, military conflict, by borrowing money from somewhere else.

When first graders shoot first graders, it's time for Congress to do what's right for America's families.

We were in a land where there was endless profit. There was no tomorrow ... and now we're suffering a hangover from that binge.

We have had the most unbelievable relationship over a very long period of time.

When you're a president, or prime minister of Canada.... your life is a constant battle between trying to pursue the agenda you (promised) to implement and trying to deal with all the incoming fire, the events of the day that you can't control,

Let us never demonize or give up on those who disagree with us. We don't want to become like the right-wing talk-show hosts, hammering our adversaries into cartoon characters and denying their humanity.

Let us, in short, do the work that is before us, so that when our time here is over, we will all watch the sun go down -- as we all must -- and say truly, we have prepared our children for the dawn.

some day Al Gore will be glad that we had lunch once a week.

Millions of ordinary people across the globe rallied to the immediate aid of communities devastated by the tsunami. Now our collective challenge is to finish the job, to leave behind safer, more peaceful and stronger communities.

Mine will be the most ethical administration in the history of the republic!

Meanwhile, every single day, there are 13 children who die from guns in this country.

One of the things we have to ask is: what could we do to give incentives for people to get jobs where they have to relocate, ... A lot of these people will be out of their homes a year or more.

One of things we have to ask is, what could we do to give incentives for people to get jobs where they have to relocate; a lot of these people will be out of their homes a year or more,

My concern is to listen to you . . . and learn the best way to spend this money we've got,

My days in this office are nearly through, but my days of service, I hope, are not.

My doctor ordered me to shut up, which will make every American happy.

No one who works hard every day should have trouble putting food on the table at night.

No I disagree with that. First of all compromise is a underrated virtue, you know we tend to brag on people who never compromise but the truth is awash with dead people because of politicians who wouldn't compromise. I think sometimes compromise is the greatest virtue.

Nothing could be worse than this torment, and I cannot rid myself of it. I have been here all summer in a place where everyone else's children seem to be in the military.

on my life's work, not my life story.

I would personally get in a ditch, grab a rifle, and fight and die.

If we don't do it, we will be spending far, far more than that to clean up the mess of this humanitarian tragedy. . . . This needs to be done and done now.

If we really wanted to do it right, we would have had lots of buses lined up to take them out,

...If we had a serious disciplined effort to apply on a large- scale, existing clean energy and energy conservation technologies - -we could meet and surpass the Kyoto targets easily in a way that would strengthen, not weaken, our economy.

If they had been in office instead of me, we would have had peace in the Middle East.

If this isn't good for my heart, I don't know what is.

I did not run for this job just to warm the seat. I desperately want to make a difference.

I am going to focus like a laser beam on this economy.

I am gratified by what we've achieved here, ... But I hope you leave here with a sense of humility and a sense of how much better we can do.

I am here because the Stones aren't term-limited and they're just as old as I am.

I am very disappointed in what seemingly is a system that allows me to be guilty until proven innocent, ... I have been internationally labeled and branded what -- an extortionist, whatever, a drunk driver...

But both of us came out of environments with a disproportionate number of poor people.

I had made a terrible personal mistake which I didn't try to correct until almost a year later and I had to live with it, and it caused enormous amount of pain to my family, to my administration, to the country.

I have apologized to the American people for what I did wrong, and most Americans think I paid a pretty heavy price.

I feel like the character in the novel Darkness at Noon .

I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky

I did not have sexual relationship with that woman!

fundamental military and social and police structure intact.

If a president of the United States ever lied to the American People, he should resign.

I don't think we should ever give up the right to unilaterally use our military, but I think we should bend over backward to build our world in which we are sharing responsibility and sharing benefits.

For too long we've been told about ""us"" and ""them."" Each and every election we see a new slate of arguments and ads telling us that ""they"" are the problem, not ""us."" But there can be no ""them"" in America. There's only us.

Globalization is not something we can hold off or turn off . . . it is the economic equivalent of a force of nature -- like wind or water.

If you are for smaller government, then our candidate is for you. We are for better government and smaller government.

If Thomas Jefferson were alive today, I would appoint him secretary of state, and then Al Gore and I would resign so he could become president.

If we act decisively now to improve our infrastructure, we can insure that air travel in the 21st century is the safest, most cost effective, most efficient in the world.

If someone asks you what you did with your life, there is not a better answer than to say I served as an officer in the U.S. Navy.

He won't break the stranglehold the special interests have on our elections and the lobbyists have on our government. But I will.

He looked up with a big smile, a wave and shook his head as if to say, 'Not this time, I'll pass.' But he did respond. It was kind of fun.

We can honor Dr. King's sacrifice. We can help his children fulfill their legacy. ... Every one of us are in a way the children of Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King.

. . . the purpose of government is to reign in the rights of the people.

We told you this would happen if the Democrats abandoned their faith.

We're now up over 50 percent of the schools (are wired for Internet access), from 3 percent, and over 80 percent of the classrooms, from 14 percent, since 1994.

With more than one million people on treatment in developing countries, we face a growing challenge to keep costs affordable as we reach out to millions more in need.

We are gaining ever more awe for the complexity, the beauty, the wonder of God's most divine and sacred gift.

Going to the chapel and we're gonna get married,

Former adversaries can come together to find common ground in a way that benefits all their people, to let go of the past and embrace the future, to forgive and to reconcile.

He's a really good man. I'm going to have to think about it because I respect him so much.

There are tens of thousands of these small NGOs across the globe that are changing lives in phenomenal ways everyday,

There are still people who view AIDS as something that affects only people who are different,

Keep in mind, I supported Kyoto. The countries that believe in targets today are essential to the very creation of a carbon-trading market.

John had a dream of black people as successful and smart and beautiful and heroic, a vision of keeping hope alive by showing black people as faces of hope. He never gave up. He never gave in. He once said 'At the end of the day, we're all just trying to give people hope.' I liked John Johnson. I thought he was a strong and wise, straight forward and kind man.

I think it's a mistake for them to try and blame us for it, though, because we actually have a clear and unbroken record of trying to clear up a lot of these corporate abuses. . . . There was corporate malfeasance both before he took office and after. The difference is I actually tried to do something about it, and their party stopped it.

I thought you were gonna win it all,

I think the first ruling was basically the right one,

I thought that my virtual obsession with him was well placed, and I was full of regret that I didn't get him.

I think it's very important that Americans understand... tax cuts are always popular, but about half of these tax cuts since 2001 have gone to people in my income group, the top 1 percent. I've gotten four tax cuts. They're responsible for this big structural deficit, and they're not going away, the deficits aren't.

I think we all ought to be questioning all the time and learning and growing. And I think that's what we need, but it's not my deal, I don't think.

I think that the country needs a debate that's not a screaming match. . . . And I think too many times we have these arguments on these talk shows where they're trying to get ratings by generating heat, when we ought to be trying to generate more light.

I think that the trend toward freedom is virtually irreversible . . . these folks are too young and too vigorous.

I think that we ought to say in this area that we do not intend to stop working until America is the safest big country in the world,

I think some of these people make honest mistakes.

I think that, in a larger sense, there are millions of people all across America that are the children of Martin and Coretta King, whose whole lives were shaped by their passion for people, opportunity and justice, and their commitment to nonviolent change and by not being discouraged in the face of repeated disappointment.

It is idiotic to contemplate a future that is anything other than one of cooperation between China and the U.S. for future prosperity. But on the other hand, it will be foolish not to prepare for the worst.

It is inconceivable that a relationship this large, various, complex and deep, would not occasionally have rough spots and disagreements.

I was writing my book, so I had the tournament on all the time, ... You guys did well in the tournament -- really, really well.

I want to thank Michelle for this very generous contribution to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, ... There are many people in the Gulf region who are in need and who will benefit from Michelle's extraordinary generosity. She's truly an inspiration on and off the course.

I will relinquish my office -- doing so with a heart filled with gratitude; gratitude to the American people for the chance to serve and to leave our country with more opportunity, stronger bonds of community and a more positive impact in the larger world, at the dawn of a new century and a whole new aspect of human affairs.

I think the White House should have said something about it sooner.

I think there should be an analysis of what happened. The time to do that is after some time passes.

I think Felt believed that there was a chance that this thing would be covered up,

I say try it. I'm up for anything.

Remember, we won this state the last two times. They just didn't count them the last time. We can win it again. Let's go for it three in a row.

Recovery is going to take years. Fifty thousand people are still living in tents. I hope you will think of them.

Our objectives are clear. Our forces are strong, and our cause is right.

That depends on what your definition of "is" is

That depends on what the meaning of 'is' is

Terror leaves bitter enemies. The poison stays long in the well. The purpose, after all, is not to achieve military victory, but to achieve a change in circumstances by terror, to make us afraid of today, afraid of tomorrow, afraid of each other. Therefore, it cannot win unless we become admitting accomplices, changing the way we think and feel and live.

I was thinking about how quickly it all passed and what an absolute joy it was -- even the bad days were good days.

I think he's got it. The Democrats need candidates whom people can relate to in a personal way, people who understand their lives and their concerns and share their values. And I think that's something Tim can do without even pretending.

I think he's trying to build goodwill, which is important. Maybe the last few years have bled enough poison out of the system where it will be possible.

I think he did a good thing, and I think it was unusual circumstances, ... Larry King Live.

It depends upon what the meaning of the word 'is' means

I think many people would be disappointed to learn that. But I think there is such a deep appreciation for the many contributions that President Clinton has made ... that there would also be a sense of proportion about it.

We need a new spirit of community, a sense that we are all in this together, or the American Dream will continue to wither. Our destiny is bound up with the destiny of every other American.

The advocates for either side are under enormous pressure, and, of course, they're being pretty snippy with each other from time to time.