Top 245 Quotes & Sayings by Mike Huckabee

Politics has become unbelievably and unfortunately way too much about how much money is involved rather than what kind of ideas are involved.

The biggest gap there is in America is not economic; the gap is spiritual and cultural.

Fear is a very explosive emotion, but it has a short life span. It's the sprint. The marathon is hope.

The fact is, my friends, most Americans don't want more government. They want less government.

How could I get up there and say, 'People, we've got to do better,' when I was the poster child for everything that was wrong? I've always believed leaders don't ask others to do what they're unwilling to do.

It's when ordinary people rise above the expectations and seize the opportunity that milestones truly are reached.

I wish we would all remember that being American is not just about the freedom we have; it is about those who gave it to us.

Things that have happened with Enron and companies like that, where they've squandered their employees' pension funds, I think it has brought a new level of anxiety. People don't feel like they can trust their employer.

The Bible, however, was not created to be amended and altered with each passing culture.

If I had quietly retired as governor in 2007 and went into banking or something of that nature, I would have been, at most, a footnote in the story and probably never mentioned.

Well, for me the pro-life issue has been something I've been very passionate about since the '70s, and I have been very involved in the pro-life community since long before politics.

I was a timid little guy when I was a kid. I used humor as a defense; I became the class clown. But deep inside, I felt real vulnerable.

The best way is to say that as a Christian for me the essence of Christian faith is that you treat others as if you wish to be treated.

I did every diet: Atkins. Cabbage-soup diet. Dean Ornish. But I couldn't live the rest of my life like a rabbit.

I continue to do something I've done since I was 18, and that is read a chapter of Proverbs every day as part of my daily devotion. I still maintain that.

I think that whether someone is a Christian or not, the idea that a human life has dignity and intrinsic worth should be clear enough.

Prayer reminds me it's not just about me. It's about all the people with whom I share this planet, and all of whom God has created, and all of whom he cares just as much about as he cares about me.

A political race today, even a primary, is $150 million. The whole political system has become obscene in terms of the absurd amount of money that is required to compete. Just put it on ESPN and call it a sporting event.

Americans different in some maybe thoughts or emphasis still have the same ideas. They want a government that lets them be free, that leaves them alone, that doesn't interrupt and interfere with every aspect of their life, that lets them go to work and keep more of what they've worked hard to have.

Doesn't matter whether it's a teen girl who's pregnant, hasn't told her parents, or an elderly couple dealing with one of them being diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Those are real people to me. Those are the people I dealt with every single day.

A Republican in my state of Arkansas feels about as out of place as Michael Vick at the West Minister dog show.

So when we're really addressing issues like poverty, you can't do that without addressing the real driver of some of those, which is stable homes, families. So that's why to me those issues are important. They're not frivolous. They're critical economic issues.

Ronald Reagan said, 'Trust, but verify.' President Obama is 'trust, but vilify.' He trusts our enemies and vilifies everyone who disagrees with him.

I've had the privilege of working with Bono for the past few years in the One Campaign to fight AIDS and hunger and disease around the world. Bono is an Irishman and a great humanitarian. And I remember him telling me of his admiration for America.

One of the reasons that Social Security is in so much trouble is that the only funding stream comes from people who get a wage. The people who get wages is declining dramatically. Most of the income in this country is made by people at the top who get dividends and - and capital gains.

The health care system is really designed to reward you for being unhealthy. If you are a healthy person and work hard to be healthy, there are no benefits.

We ask why there is violence in our schools, but we have systematically removed God from our schools.

Arkansas is a state where politics is retail.

I support workplace clean air. But a federal ban on smoking would mean that you couldn't smoke in your own home. I don't care what people do in their home.

Christian conservatives care about their families eating. They're concerned about energy independence. They're concerned about functional government.

Barack Obama seems intent on enrolling more people on food stamps. Mitt Romney's focus is going to be on generating more jobs that will make food-stamps unnecessary for them.

No one is more important to the future of our state than our teachers.

I'm a strong advocate for music. I think guitars are wonderful.

Do you realize that if we could increase just by 50 percent the number of adults who have a college degree, it would add $5 billion to the economy and it would result in a net income to the state of Arkansas of $340 million a year?

One thing governors feel, Democrats and Republicans alike, is that we have a health care system that, if you're on Medicaid, you have unlimited access to health care, at unlimited levels, at no cost. No wonder it's running away.

I love my kids; I'm very close to all three of them.

Now, have I ever been tempted to break into a Krispy Kreme doughnut store in the middle of the night? Oh, yeah. God help us if I had a minibar stocked with cheesecake and chicken-fried steak.

I think at the heart of the pro-life movement is the idea that all people are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights starting with life.

I have a little pocket Bible that I have with me all the time in my briefcase, and so usually in the mornings, sometimes on the campaign bus or plane, I always try to catch some time to do that regularly.

For me, running for office is never about trying to destroy an opponent, be it Democratic or Republican. It really ought to be about how can we solve some problems that we're facing.

If consumers make better choices, the marketplace will change.

Divorce is one of the key predictors of poverty for a child growing up in a home that's broken.

All of my children are ideologically and politically in sync with me, they all have authentic Christian faith. It's something I'm very grateful for.

Inside every human being there are treasures to unlock.

Jesus said, 'Blessed are the peacemakers.' And I think a lot of people don't understand that there's a difference between a peace lover and a peacemaker. Everybody loves peace, but wearing jewelry around your neck and saying 'I love peace' doesn't bring it.

Prayer's important, not just as some kind of a metaphysical exercise, but I think it's a way to refresh one's own mind and motive. If you're praying, you're really looking beyond your own personal thoughts and the pressures that are around you.

I want to say with the utmost of sincerity, not as a Republican, but as an American, that I have great respect for Senator Obama's historic achievement to become his party's nominee, not because of his color, but with indifference to it.

I'm not against gifts that entertain, but I really believe that some of the most valuable gifts that we can give are the things that help us to develop a skill and be entertaining.

Families out there know that if they get in trouble and they've spent up a bunch of money and they've borrowed and they are up to hock to their necks, the thing they've got to do is start paying off what they owe and cut back their spending.

I treat my wife very differently than I treat my chums and my pals. I wouldn't worry about calling them on Valentine's Day, opening the door for them, or making sure they were OK.

I think people forget that bipartisanship is really the burden of the victor, not the loser.

I've always suggested if you can't stand the sight of your own blood, don't run for office.

You know, in my hometown of Hope, Arkansas, the three sacred heroes were Jesus, Elvis, and FDR, not necessarily in that order.

Pray a little more, work a little harder, save, wait, be patient and, most of all, live within our means. That's the American way. It's not spending ourselves into prosperity or taxing ourselves into prosperity.

I would describe myself as a 'total conservative, a conscientious one.'

The most important thing about global warming is this. Whether humans are responsible for the bulk of climate change is going to be left to the scientists, but it's all of our responsibility to leave this planet in better shape for the future generations than we found it.

A leader is the one who can outline the broad vision and the direction, and say here's where we are going to go, here's why we need to go there, and here's how we are going to get there. A manager is the one who actually gets up under the hood and tunes the carburetor.

Regardless of Bill Clinton's politics or personal life, he grew up in obscurity and was elected to the presidency - twice. Don't take that away from him, because then you take it away from every other kid in America sitting out there in a school bus with a big dream.

The military is not a social experiment. The purpose of the military is kill people and break things. It's not to transform the culture by trying out some ideas that some people think would make us a different country and more diverse. The purpose is to protect America.

I've said that, that I've felt like as Christians and particularly even as Republicans, we needed to address issues that touched the broader perspective, and that included disease, hunger, poverty, homelessness, the environment.