Ted Turner Quotations | Page 2

Man should be judged by the deeds done to help his fellow man.

Make a way, find a way or get out of the way.

I've always tried to do the smartest and best thing.

If you treat people with dignity, respect and friendliness, you can turn enemies into friends. An enemy is nothing but a friend in disguise.

I see the whole field of environmentalis m and population as nothing more than the survival of the human species. I have wanted to have some bumper sticker made up saying 'Save the Humans'. At the bottom of it all, we are trying to save ourselves.

I'd rather be smart and poor than rich and dumb.

Once you decide to do something, and you're pretty sure you're right, then you gotta go ahead and do it. Because if you piddle around, somebody else will beat you to it.

I'm just a socialist at heart.

The next most dangerous thing [after nuclear proliferation] is probably... global warming, and then, right behind that are overpopulation -- we need to get serious about family planning-and trying to alleviate poverty, to get clean, renewable energy, probably with solar panels to the billion and a half people in the world who don't have access to electricity.

Christianity is a religion for losers.

If I had to predict, the way things are going, I'd say the chances are about 50-50 that humanity will be extinct or nearly extinct within 50 years. Weapons of mass destruction, disease, I mean this global warming is scaring the living daylights out of me.

I fantasize about everything; being a fireman, an Indian chief, climbing mountains. Anything is possible.

Every man sees a little of himself in Rhett Butler.

The U.N. had such lofty goals to eliminate poverty and stop war and cure diseases and help refugees - things that no one country could do.

I thought, between sports and news and television and friendship, that you could end the Cold War and, by God, we did.

Basically we are chimpanzees with about two percent more intelligence and a little less hair.

Christians are losers.

We're too many people; that's why we have global warming...on a voluntary basis, everybody in the world's got to pledge to themselves that one child is it.

I think we've already voted at the U.N., in the Security Council, to get rid of nuclear weapons. Let's get rid of them. Let's get rid of ours and then Iran will stop, I believe. And so everybody else will, because if everybody doesn't have them, then we're safe, at least safe from a nuclear attack.

The more good I do, the more money has come in. You have to learn to give. You're not born to give. You're born selfish.

Be sure to set your goals so high that you can't possibly accomplish them in one lifetime. That way you'll always have something ahead of you. I made the mistake of setting my goals too low, and now I'm having a hard time coming up with new ones.

Many times through the ages, like as not the chance appears, but because of indecision, man's fond hopes are drowned in tears.

When I got my statement in January, I was worth $2.2 billion. Then I got another statement in August that said I was worth $3.2 billion. So I figure it's only nine months' earnings, who cares?

If you think you're a second-class citizen, you are.

Do something. Either lead, follow or get out of the way.

Newspapers are technologically obsolete. In the days of instant electronic communications, its crazy to have to print these newspapers at a central plant and deliver them by truck. They're the biggest problem with our solid-waste disposal. And the news you get is a day old. You can get it off the Internet instantaneously for a fraction of the cost.

The chance for mistakes is about equal to the number of crew squared.

I wanted to better inform the world.

There's nothing wrong with being fired.

I like something with 'vice' in it.

Never set goals you can reach in your lifetime.

Struggling hard to achieve something is the most fun I get.

The worst sin, the ultimate sin for me, in anything, is to be bored.

Exposure to defeat is a very important thing. Anyone who doesn't look to get beaten is doing a disservice to himself.

I'm sure God, wherever he is, wants to see us get along with one another and love one another.

Hell, we spent $200 Billion to get a scared guy who needed a shave out of a fox-hole! And he may even die of prostate cancer before we even get a chance to try him, dammit!

I've got a virtually limitless supply of bullshit.

Where's the upside in opening your mouth?

I'm a millionaire, I guess, but I'm just a normal person and I like everybody, taxi drivers, whoever you are, to call me by my first name and talk to me on a man-to-man basis. I think the garbage collector is as important as the goddamned president.

If people get all the sex they can handle, they're so happy and content they just sit around and smile. I mean, you never feel aggressive just after you've gotten laid, right? Lots of sex for everybody, that's a solution to the world's problems.

There's a fine line between being colorful and being an asshole, and I hope I'm still just colorful.

I'm a human being, just like everybody else. I'm up some days and down others. Some days, I just refuse comment. If I'm feeling a little down, I won't say anything. But if I'm really up, I'll let it all hang out. I do have a slight propensity to put my foot in my mouth.

Jesus Christ would have been considered just another long-haired hippie freak if he hadn't been crucified. The folks weren't impressed with healing the sick, feeding the multitudes bread and fish or anything else, except maybe the walking on water. But when he got crucified, that gave him his big start.

I see what keeps people young: work!

To succeed you have to be innovative.

I believe in a reasonable amount of "right to bear arms". But private citizens of the United States are not allowed to own nuclear weapons. I always wanted a nuclear weapon, if I could have gotten one. I'm every other kind of power, but I'm not a nuclear power.

Music has a great power for bringing people together. With so many forces in this world acting to drive wedges between people, it's important to preserve those things that help us experience our common humanity.

Life is like a B-movie. You don't want to leave in the middle of it, but you don't want to see it again.

We must go through a natural revolution if we are to survive on earth. We need to change people's perceptions. If there's no environment, there's no human race. We are in a state of global denial.

What the Bible says is really true-it's better to give than to receive.

CNN anchor Gwen Scott claimed it is common knowledge that Turner sits in his office and smokes marijuana.

Every action or inaction has an impact-good or bad-upon our surroundings, and anything we do today will have an impact on the lives of our grandchildren.

The word impossible does not exist for me. I've got a lot of signal flags in my flag bag, but there is not a white one in there. I am going to keep fighting until the day I die - and might keep on fighting afterward ... depends on where I am.

There are too many people, that's why we have global warming. We have global warming because too many people are using too much stuff.

A total population of 250-300 million people, a 95% decline from present levels, would be ideal.

It was okay for people to write negative things about me just as long as they spelled my name right.

It's been a long time since anybody caught me saying something stupid.

If there is a God, he is not doing a good job of protecting the earth. He's kind of checked out.

The world and life have been mighty good to me. And I want to put something back.

There is no greater legacy that we can leave our children and grandchildren than a peaceful and safer world.

We'll be eight degrees hotter in ten -- not ten, but thirty or forty years, and basically none of the crops will grow. Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals.

The mind is just another muscle.

I don't measure success in numbers, but I consider my contributions of more than $1.3 billion to various causes over the years to be one of my proudest accomplishments and the best investment I've ever made. Those dollars have improved lives, saved species, fought disease, educated children, inspired change, challenged ideas and opened minds; at the time of my death, virtually all of my wealth will have gone to charity.

The happiest people are those who are contributing to society.

I'm no genius. I'm not at all; I just happen to look five or 10 years ahead and think things through...

Once again, victims of disaster have turned to the UN and the international community in their time of need, .. The world needs the UN's leadership in these times, and the UN needs the world's support. We are communicating with the UN and its agencies to learn where UN Foundation funds may be of greatest assistance to the UN's relief efforts.

Looking back, if I had to live my life over, there are things I would do differently, but the one thing I would not change is my charitable giving. I'm particularly thankful for my father's advice to set goals so high that they can't possibly be achieved during a lifetime and to give help where help is needed most. That inspiration keeps me energized and eager to keep working hard every day on giving back and making the world a better place for generations to come.

Over-population is the 'cause of drive-by shootings' and other social ills, but the root of the problem is Christianity, which posits that people are more important than sea otters and elephants.

The U.N. had such lofty goals to eliminate poverty and stop war and cure diseases and help refugees - things that no one country could do.