Am I embarrassed to speak for a less than perfect democracy? Not one bit. Find me a better one. Do I suppose there are societies which are free of sin? No, I don't. Do I think ours is, on balance, incomparably the most hopeful set of human relations the world has? Yes, I do.

It has proved politically wiser to set goals than to start programs.

Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.

The United States in the 1980s may be the first society in history in which children are distinctly worse off than adults.

At the heart of the deterioration of the fabric of the Negro society is the deterioration of the Negro family.

I have no doubt that there will continue to be bumps, some serious crises indeed in our relationship with China.... Neither membership in the WTO nor normalized trade relations with the United States will magically impose the rule of law on China or institute deep-seeded respect for human rights. But it certainly has potential to advance those purposes.

The atmosphere in which social legislation is considered is not a friend of truth.