Mitt Romney Quotations | Page 5

Illegal immigrants should be required to return to their home country.

Giving tuition breaks to the children of illegal immigrants needs to stop.

I think we can all agree this is a very important election [2016]. We don't want to see Hillary Clinton become the president of the United States.

I get speaker's fees from time to time, but not very much.

I think the best answer is as little as possible.

I've been as consistent as human beings can be.

The right way to deal with healthcare reform is not to have a one-size-fits-all plan that's imposed on all the states, but recognizing the differences between different states' populations, states should be able to craft their own plans to get all their citizens insured, and to make sure that preexisting conditions are covered.

He's a wealthy man, a very wealthy man. If you have a half a million-dollar purchase from Tiffany's, you're not a middle-class American.

Corporations are people, my friend ... of course they are. Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to the people. Where do you think it goes? Whose pockets? Whose pockets? People's pockets. Human beings, my friend.

I believe very firmly in the principle of free agency - people making their own decisions and doing what they think is right.

Syria is Iran's only ally in the Arab world. It's their route to the sea.

The embassy in Cairo put out a statement after their grounds had been breached. ... An apology for America's values is never the right course. ... The statement that came from the administration was - was a statement which is akin to apology and I think was a - a severe miscalculation.

I'll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry's come back.

My wife drives a couple of Cadillacs.

Well you'd see a very dramatic change in the perspective of small businesses, entrepreneurs, middle-size businesses, and perhaps even some large multinationals. They'd say, you know what, America looks like a good place to invest again, a good place to take risk, a good place to hire again.

There were a couple of times I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip

Federal funding for cities who consider themselves sanctuary cities should be reduced.

The United States needs to be made more appealing to legal immigrants.

I never really called myself pro-choice.

Let me put it very plainly: If we Republicans choose Donald Trump as our nominee, the prospects for a safe and prosperous future are greatly diminished.

I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years we should sustain and support it.

I think it's unconstitutional on the 10th Amendment front.

I think the minimum wage ought to keep pace with inflation.

I believe that the faith heritage of this country is actually a very important part of America's culture.

There's no question raising the minimum wage excessively causes a loss of jobs.

I'm not trying to return to Reagan-Bush.

It was not my desire to go off and serve in Vietnam.

I believe the tax on capital gains should be zero.

Deadly assault weapons have no place in Massachusetts.

I think the great majority of Republicans, mainstream Republicans from across the country, don't want to see Donald Trump as president of the United States either. They're concerned they'd see a recession and I think they are also concerned we'd see a more dangerous world.

I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country.

Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to people.

Frankly, I was born with a silver spoon.

Bottom line is President Obama has said that it is a top priority of the United States of America to ensure that Iran never achieves a nuclear.

Ending illegal immigration only strengthens legal immigration.

I'm not saying anything one way or the other about the two ballot issues. I am not speaking about the particular ballot issues. Those are up to the people of Ohio. But I certainly support the efforts of the governor to reign in the scale of government. I am not terribly familiar with the two ballot initiatives. But I am certainly supportive of the Republican Party's efforts here.

I fully support Governor Kasich's-I think it's called 'Question 2' in Ohio. Fully support that. In fact, on my website as far back as April I laid out I supported 'Question 2.' ... I support it 110%.

If you want to serve the country, you recognize it's rough and tumble. And it's nothing like serving your country in the military.

Don't try to stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit the bottom.

You look at that Democratic debate, I had to laugh at what I saw Barack Obama do. I mean in one week he went from saying he's going to sit down, you know, for tea, with our enemies, but then he's going to bomb our allies. I mean he's gone from Jane Fonda to Dr. Strangelove in one week.

Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom.

If I'm the godfather of [Obamacare], then it gives me the right to kill it.

This president [Barack Obama] has done something I find very hard to understand. Ever since FDR, we`ve had the capacity to be engaged in two conflicts at once, and he`s saying, No, we`re going to cut that back to only one conflict.

I'm learning to say 'y'all' and I like grits. Strange things are happening to me.

I've been a hunter pretty much all my life.

We have made progress from where we were when President Obama took office, when the economy - our economy had just contracted almost by nine percent.

I don't believe that bureaucrats in Washington should tell someone whether they can use contraceptives or not. And I don't believe employers should tell someone whether they could have contraceptive care of not. Every woman in America should have access to contraceptives.

I always enjoy listening to Rush Limbaugh. I often agree with him. Sometimes I disagree with him.

We conservatives don't have a corner on saying 'no'. We're just the ones who say it when it's the right thing to say.

A nuclear Iran is a - a dramatic and - and devastating potential threat to the world and to America. And - and all our efforts should be focused on making that our first priority or keeping them from having that nuclear capacity our first priority.

Washington has to become an ally of business, not the opposition of business.

I want our legal system to work better. I want it to be streamlined. I want it to be clearer. You shouldn't have to hire a lawyer to figure out how to get into the USA legally.

It seems that the first victim of an Obama campaign is the truth. It seems that the first victim of an Obama campaign is the truth.

I think that we should give visas to people - green cards, rather, to people who graduate with skills that we need. People around the world with accredited degrees in science and math get a green card stapled to their diploma, come to the U.S. of A. We should make sure our legal system works.

What we have, what we wish we had - ambitions fulfilled, ambitions disappointed, investments won, investments lost, elections won, elections lost - these things may occupy our attention, but they do not define us.

America is not better off than it was $1.8 trillion dollars ago.

I care about 100 percent of the American people. I want 100 percent of the American people to have a bright and prosperous future.

I'm not running, I'm not planning on running, and I've got nothing new on that story.

I would explain to my children very simply that the defense of liberty is a cause that exacts a very high price in the history of humankind.

And a special thank you to the citizens of Massachusetts: You are paying all the taxes, creating all the jobs, raising all the children. This government is yours. Thank you for letting me serve you. I love this job.

I respect Senator McCain a great deal and believe he has many - many good ideas and suggestions that I would certainly want to avail myself of if I were in a setting that - that required the input of other leaders. Senator McCain would be one of those that I'd want to hear from.

My dad had been born in Mexico and his family had to leave during the Mexican revolution.

I don't see how a young American can vote for, well, can vote for a Democrat.

I think Mitt Romney has demonstrated repeatedly he has a penchant for - for secrecy, doesn't seem to have any interest in actually showing the American people his - his finances, decision - important decisions about his investments, refuses to come clean on his time at Bain Capital and when he was really there, and, you know, be held accountable for the outsourcing of jobs and the off-shoring of jobs and shipping jobs overseas.

We need to make sure and that we can continue to move forward in creating jobs and getting the economy turned around. The best way to do that is to make sure that we can get Congress to adopt the American Jobs Act.

Republicans prefer straight talk to politically correct talk!

Our example - and commitment - to freedom has changed the world. But along with the genius of our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution, and our Bill of Rights, is the equal genius of our economic system. Our Founding Fathers endeavored to create a moral and just society like no other in history, and out of that grew a moral and just economic system the likes of which the world had never seen. Our freedom, what it means to be an American, has been defined and sustained by the liberating power of the free enterprise system.

As a result of [my campaign's] discussions and other interactions with gay and lesbian voters across the state, I am more convinced than ever that as we seek to establish full equality for America's gay and lesbian citizens, I will provide more effective leadership than Ted Kennedy.

I think people recognize that I'm not a partisan Republican that I'm someone who is moderate, and that my views are progressive .

I think people want to see change, want to see something new and Hillary Clinton is just not that person.

We will achieve North America energy independence by 2020, by taking full advantage of our oil, our gas, our coal, our renewables and our nuclear power. Abundant, inexpensive, domestic energy will not only create energy jobs, it will bring back manufacturing jobs.

Not as closely as some of the most ardent fans. But I have some great friends that are NASCAR team owners.

Barack Obama is facing a financial emergency on a grander scale. Yet his approach has been to engage in one of the biggest peacetime spending binges in American history.

A leader has the capacity of vision, the ability to see where things are headed before people in general see those things.

Choosing education is a very good decision, not only good for the student, but also for our country. The United States was the first nation in history to recognize that public education for every citizen, regardless of class or station, was vital to its future . . .

Like other presidents before him, Barack Obama inherited a recession. But unlike them, he has made it worse, not better.

I'm not concerned about the very poor, we have a safety net there, if we need to repair, I'll fix it. I'm not concerned about the very rich, they're doing just fine. I'm concerned about the very heart of America, the 90-95 percent of Americans who are struggling, and I'll continue to take that message across the country.

I pray. Prayer is a time to connect with the divine, but also time, I'm sure, to concentrate one's thoughts, to meditate, and to imagine what might be.

We cannot continue to have an excellence gap with the rest of the world and intend to remain the [economic superpower] and [military superpower] of the planet. That's just not going to happen. We're in a position where unless we take action, we'll end up being the [France] of the 21st century: a lot of talk, but not a lot of strength behind it in terms of economic capability.

I frankly can't wait, because the idea of Bill Clinton back in the White House with nothing to do is something I just can't imagine, I can't imagine the American people can imagine....

It's false advertising to call Mrs. Obama the First Lady. First Woman, maybe, but certainly not a lady. Ann Romney is an actual lady.

I want to help small businesses grow and thrive. I know how to make that happen. I spent my life in the private sector. I know why jobs come and why they go.

I am convinced that unless America changes course, we will become the France of the 21st Century - still a great nation, but no longer the leader of the world.

I believe the family is the foundation of America -- and that we must fight to protect and strengthen it. I believe in the sanctity of human life. I believe that people and their elected representatives should make our laws, not unelected judges.

The one by L. Ron Hubbard...I'm not in favor of his religion by any means, but he wrote a book called Battlefield Earth that was a very fun science fiction book.

In France, for instance, I'm told that marriage is now frequently contracted in seven-year terms where either party may move on when their term is up. How shallow and how different from the Europe of the past.

It's not appropriate to joke about the Ku Klux Klan.

Look, I was an independent during the time of Reagan - Bush . I'm not trying to take us back to Reagan-Bush.

We [American nation] can now, by virtue of new technology, actually get all the energy we need in North America without having to go to the - the Arabs or the Venezuelans or anyone else. That's why my policy starts with a very robust policy to get all that energy in North America, become energy-secure.

Hugo Chavez has tried to steal an inspiring phrase 'Patria o muerte, venceremos.' It does not belong to him. It belongs to a free Cuba.

This nation is the hope of the earth.

I happen to believe that if we want to replace a lifetime politician like Barack Obama, who had no experience leading anything, we've got to nominate a leader if we're going to replace someone who is not a leader.

These American values, this great moral heritage, is shared and lived in my religion as it is in yours. I was taught in my home to honor God and love my neighbor. I saw my father march with Martin Luther King.

I've said time and again, I'm a pro-life candidate, I'll be a pro-life president.

I'm not going to apologize for being successful.

And I hear from time to time people say, hey, wait a second, we have civil liberties we have to worry about. But don't forget the most important civil liberty I expect from my government is my right to be kept alive, and that's what we're going to have to do.

For me, politics is not a career. For me, my career was being in business and starting a business and making it successful. My life's passion has been my family, my faith and my country.

Dependency is death to initiative, to risk-taking and opportunity.

You know, circumstances can change, but I'm just not going to let my head go there,

I've seen a lot of government try to solve problems, and it didn't work. And my view is that the right course for America is to have someone who understands how the economy works who will passionately get America back on track.