Top 1652 Quotes & Sayings by George W. Bush - Page 24

The U.S. liberated Iraq from a tyrant. I think the Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude, and I believe most Iraqis express that. I mean, the people understand that we've endured great sacrifice to help them. That's the problem here in America. They wonder whether or not there is a gratitude level that's significant enough in Iraq.

I really don't want to in the press, genuinely don't want to be in the press.

I'm comfortable with time. Time will change.

If you take all the food aid, America is by far the most generous country. If you take the direct aid, we're very generous. But when you add on our private contributions - see, our tax system encourages private citizens to donate to organisations that, for example, help the folks in Africa. And when you take the combined effort of US taxpayers' money plus US citizens' donations, we're very generous. And we'll do more.

I am comfortable that the principles that I articulated were never compromised.

Foreign fighters are travelling into Iraq to make it a front line in the war on terror. And I would rather defeat them there than face them in our own country.

What ends up happening is people form images and the image they form is, in some ways, what they want it to be. The idea of trying to correct the image is something I'm not interested in doing.

Hopefully I'm not a grumpy old guy sitting in the corner, yelling at people and demanding things.

I've got a dad who jumps out of an airplane.

The world must understand that it is the time to come together to address the root cause of the problem, and the problem is you have a state within a state. You had people launch attacks on a sovereign nation without the consent of the government in the country in which they are lodged.

I'm playing golf. I ride my mountain bike. A lot. I think it's very important for me and other people my age to continue to exercise.

I made friends during my presidency.

I hope I'm as graceful and gracious as [my parents] are. It's hard for me to project how I'm gonna be if I make it to 86.

The Iraqis needed to know that we weren't going to leave them alone. No matter how difficult it was, the United States would help them realize the universal desire to be free. Now of course, if you didn't believe in the universality of freedom, then of course, you wouldn't act. I care how they live and I believe a free Iraq will be transformative.

I'm also combining my love of outdoors with my desire to help others.

Having purpose. I had purpose during my presidency, and I've got purpose after my presidency.

I view my time in politics as a chapter, not my life.

I'm uncomfortable trying to rush change of perception, except to the extent that I'm going to write a book.

I'm absolutely confident that the actions we took in Iraq are influencing reformers and freedom lovers in the greater Middle East. And I believe that you're going to see the rise of democracy in many countries in the broader Middle East, which will lay the foundation for peace.

[My father] taught me (at least he showed me) a dignified way to be a former president is that once you're off the stage, you're off the stage.

The administration took care of a source of instability in Iraq. Envision a world in which Saddam Hussein was rushing for a nuclear weapon to compete against Iran. My decision to remove Saddam Hussein was the correct decision in my judgment. We didn't find the weapons we thought we would find or the weapons everybody thought he had. But he was a significant source of instability.

It was much easier for me to endure the belittling than it was to watch my dad get belittled.

1992 was the worst year of my life, to watch my dad lose. It was a painful experience. Yet when I became president, it was so much easier to be president.

I'm forever a former president and I understand that, but at this point in my post-presidency, I don't want to be involved with politics.

I think all presidents should take the long view of history.

I don't think it's good for America to have a former president undermine a current president.

I teamed up with the PGA of America to help promote a weekend of golf that raises scholarship money for kids who lost a parent or whose parent was severely wounded in combat.

Golf teaches you honesty. It teaches you discipline. It gives you a strong appreciation of nature. And personal responsibility, something that lacks in our society at times. I mean, it's only your fault, you can't blame anyone else when you shank it. Or pick the wrong club.

I feel a special kinship for our military. Because, unfortunately, I became a wartime president. And committed our military in the defense of our country to difficult assignments. I tell people all the time, I don't miss much about being president; I do miss looking in the eyes of people who volunteered to serve. And so not only do I feel a kinship, I feel an obligation and a duty to help.

For me, I learned from my father that when it's over, it's over.

In the past when money was given from government to government, there was no accountability, especially the World Bank loans. Nobody was held accountable for the misuse of World Bank loans. That is why it is important to channel some of the money through civil society groups.

These aren't joyous times when we have war in Iraq. These are challenging times, and they're difficult times, and they're straining the psyche of our country. I understand that.

I think you ought to be open-minded as to where life takes you.

The cornerstone of our policy in that part of the world is to help democracies. Lebanon's a democracy. We want the Siniora government to succeed.

One thing you had to learn [after the presidency] was that you no longer had the sense of responsibility that became ingrained in your system.

I don't want to interfere with my successor's presidency.

The interesting thing about golf is that the presidency requires focus and discipline, and golf requires focus and discipline. It was a way to make sure that parts of my life were focused and disciplined.

I hope that's what the taxpayers of Great Britain expect, is expect us to, when we make investments in countries, that they work. And they don't work if a nation doesn't invest in its people.

My advice to seniors - and I consider myself one - is to first and foremost take care of your body. Secondly, find something where you could say, "I'm helping somebody else." And it may be just helping raise a grandkid. Or teaching a child to read - one child to read.

If I look back to when I was 20 and somebody said you'd be president, I would have said no way.

If you are young child and you've lost mother and dad to AIDS and rich nations sit on the sidelines not caring, you will become a frustrated person and a hopeless person.

I ended up being the 43rd president of the United States. It was an awesome experience, and I'm glad I did it.

We passed law that encouraged consumption through different purchasing habits like, you know, hybrid vehicles. You buy hybrid, you get a tax credit. We've encouraged the spread of ethanol as an alternative to crude oil. We have asked for Congress to pass regulatory relief so we can build more refineries to increase the supply of gasoline, hopefully taking the pressure off of price. And so the strategy is to recognize that dependency upon crude oil, in a global market, affects us economically here at home. And, therefore, we need to diversify away as quickly as possible.

As Gerhard Schröder said in the Oval Office, a democratic Iraq is important not only to Germany, but to Europe, and he's right.

Golf is something I love. It's been a part of my family's history.

I've written a book that hopefully will give people a sense of what [presidency] was like. I hope my friends read it and say, "Now I understand." I hope my detractors read it and say, "Well, I better understand."

Perceptions change with time and you can't rush it, in my judgment.

I'm comfortable with how I lived my life as the president.

As I look back over my life, I've been an active person - obviously I was self-absorbed for a period of time.

I'm just beginning to live the next chapter of my life. In other words, politics - being governor and president - is not the end of my life. It's a chapter.

I'm a content person and I'm content knowing that I gave it my all when I was president.

I served. And now it's time for the new man to serve. I have zero desire to be in the limelight.

In terms of what people think about me, the truth of the matter is, I guess I care to a certain extent, but not enough to try to go out in the public and plead for some kind of new understanding of me.

I didn't try to be something I wasn't.

I was popular at some times and not so popular at other times. But what mattered was trying to solve problems and deal with circumstances. Some of which I was able to anticipate. Some of which caught us totally by surprise.

When you're writing about something that happened, it helps you transition to the present. Ironically enough, by focusing on your presidency, it helps you realize that you're no longer the president. By reliving moments, it helps you stay focused on the moment.

I could have easily not run for president, and people would have come up and said, "Oh, man, you would have been a great president." Or even a lousy president. But I never would have known had I not chosen to run. Part of life is seizing the moment.

A number of people walk up to me and say, "You're much taller than I thought."

What mattered to me was that I didn't compromise my soul in order to try to achieve a kind of popularity. The only thing you can do is just live your life.

When you're writing about something that happened, it helps you transition to the present.