I have a theory, too, that the best and only answer to a smear or to an honest misunderstanding of the facts is to tell the truth

I let the American people down.

Once you get into this great stream of history, you can't get out.

If I were to make public these tapes, containing blunt and candid remarks on many different subjects, the confidentiality of the office of the president would always be suspect.

To me, the most unhappy people in the world are the people ... in Palm Beach- Going to parties every night. Playing golf every afternoon, then bridge. [They have] no purpose.

I refuse to make a decision that somebody else can make. The first rule of leadership is to save yourself for the big decision. Don't allow your mind to become cluttered.

Success is not a harbor but a voyage with its own perils to the spirit ... The lesson that most of us on this voyage never learn, but can never quite forget, is that to win is sometimes to lose.