George H. W. Bush Quotes

My first act as president is a prayer. I ask you to bow your heads: Heavenly Father, we bow our heads and thank You for Your love. Accept our thanks for the peace that yields this day and the shared faith that makes its continuance likely. Make us strong to do Your work, willing to head and hear Your will, and write on our hearts these words: 'Use power to help people." For we know that we are given power, not to advance our own purposes, nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power, and it is to serve people. Help us to remember it Lord, Amen.

Never answer a hypothetical question. It gets you beyond where you want to be.

At the front end, to stop people from illegally entering our country, not at the back end, by reimbursing states after it has failed to enforce the border. [I] would allocate additional resources to enforcing the border, so states such as Texas and California would not have the huge expenses they currently do.

I don't like dynasty and legacy. But I think there's a period in the U.S. history where Bushes have been in the forefront.

We know what works. Freedom Works. We know what's right. Freedom is right.

We asked for God's help; and now, in this shining outcome, in this magnificent triumph of good over evil, we should thank God.

We have had triumphs, we have made mistakes, we have had sex.

The thing I miss about Air Force One is they don't lose my luggage.

Atheists are not Americans.

We also share a profound desire for a lasting peace in the Middle East. My Administration is dedicated to achieving this goal, one which will guarantee Israel security. At the same time, we will do our utmost to defend and protect Israel, for unless Israel is strong and secure, then peace will always be beyond our grasp. We were with Israel at the beginning, 41 years ago. We are with Israel today. And we will be with Israel in the future. No one should doubt this basic committment.

We can realise a lasting peace and transform the East-West relationship to one of enduring co-operation.

I think in defeat you grope for things that are happy, and it's hard.

Every American expects and deserves clean air, and then we act on that belief, then we will set an example for the rest of the world to follow.

Our stewardship of the Earth is brief. We owe it to those who follow to keep that in perspective, to be responsible passengers along the way.

When I need a little advice about Saddam Hussein, I turn to country music.

A new breeze is blowing--and a nation refreshed by freedom stands ready to push on: there is new ground to be broken, and new action to be taken.

No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered as patriots. This is one nation under God.

Service is never a simple act; it's about sacrifice for others and about accomplishment for ourselves, about reaching out, one person to another, about all our choices gathered together as a country to reach across all our divides.

No president can easily commit our sons and daughters to war.

We are a nation of communities... a brilliant diversity spread like stars, like a thousand points of light in a broad and peaceful sky.

I can't ever remember sitting around and saying, 'gosh let's hurry up and get these debates going, that'll win it for me.' Nope.

The American way of life is not negotiable.

We don't want an America that is closed to the world. What we want is a world that is open to America.

Education is not complete unless we teach our children not only how to read and write but the difference between right and wrong.

If the American people knew what we have done, they would string us up from the lamp posts.

America's freedom is the example to which the world expires.

We cannot hope only to leave our children a bigger car, a bigger bank account. We must hope to give them a sense of what it means to be a loyal friend, a loving parent, a citizen who leaves his home, his neighborhood and town better than he found it.

I believe we should make use of what we know. We know that the future of the Earth must not be compromised.

I'm not what you call your basic intellectual.

Every loss of life is terrible.

It's not whether people like you but whether they share the bright dreams...and understand the heartbeat of the country.

It's too much show business and too much prompting, too much artificiality, and not really debates. They're rehearsed appearances.

I have survivor's curiosity, I guess.

I have just repeated word for word the oath taken by George Washington 200 years ago, and the Bible on which I placed my hand is the Bible on which he placed his. It is right that the memory of Washington be with us today, not only because this is our Bicentennial Inauguration, but because Washington remains the Father of our Country.

We have ...drawn a line in the sand.

We know what works: freedom works. We know what's right: freedom is right. We know how to secure a more and just and prosperous life for man on earth: through free markets, free speech, free elections and the exercise of free will unhampered by the state.

I believe with all my heart that one cannot be America's president without a belief in God, without the strength that your faith gives you.

The liberation of Kuwait has begun. In conjunction with the forces of our coalition partners, the United States has moved under the code name Operation Desert Storm to enforce the mandates of the United Nations Security Council.

If I were to give advice to young people, high-achieving young people for example, I’d have to say, don’t neglect your family. Politics is important, sitting at the head table is glamorous. Traveling around the world, trying to do something for world peace was wonderful. But family and friends and faith are what really matter in life. And I know that. I see it so clearly now.

Ageing's alright, better than the alternative, which is not being here.

Many schools include a service project as part of their curriculum, and many corporations have in-house projects for their employees or give them time off to do volunteer work.

Let's forgive the Nazi war criminals.

I'll be glad to reply to or dodge your questions, depending on what I think will help our election most.

Real improvement in our schools is not simply a matter of spending more, it is a matter of expecting more.

Power can be very addictive, and it can be corrosive. And it's important for the media to call to account people who abuse their power, whether it be here or elsewhere.

You cannot be President of the United States if you don't have faith. Remember Lincoln, going to his knees in times of trial in the Civil War and all that stuff.

The world also remains a hopeful place. Calls for democracy and human rights are being reborn everywhere, and these calls are an expression of support for the values enshrined in the United Nations Charter. They encourage our hopes for a more stable, more peaceful, more prosperous world.

We're going to keep trying to strengthen the American family, to make them more like the Waltons and less like the Simpsons.