Rick Perry Quotes

America's greatness is not found in the size of its government. America's greatness resides in the hearts and the minds of the people.

But if you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason than they've been brought there by no fault of their own, I don't think you have a heart. We need to be educating these children, because they will become a drag on our society.

The Republican candidates are talking about ways to transition this program and it is a monstrous lie. It is a ponzi scheme to tell our kids that are 25 or 30 years old today, you're paying into a program that's going to be there. Anybody that's for the status quo with Social Security today is involved with a monstrous lie to our kids, and it's not right.

Who can be against progress, after all? But it's a fraudulent use of the word - because for the Progressive, progress is marked not be how free you are, but how much government can 'do' for you.

I would a whole lot rather had Carly Fiorina over there doing our negotiation than John Kerry. Maybe we would've gotten a deal where we didn't give everything away. But the issue for us is to have a Congress that stands up and says not only no, but "Hell no" to this money going to a [Iran] regime that is going to use it for terror...

Every barrel of oil that comes out of those sands in Canada is a barrel of oil that we don't have to buy from a foreign source.

When a criminal breaks into your home I'll let the liberals call the lawyer. I'm going to call Smith & Wesson.

Those jobs flee other states because of factors like excessive taxation, punitive regulation and frivolous lawsuits.

Frankly, getting Mexico economically headed in the right direction with good energy policy - Canada, the United States, and Mexico have more known energy reserves than Saudi Arabia and Russia. So developing those and I think you'll see a major movement of people back into Mexico when that occurs when these prices get back. You're going to see a substantial development of the energy business in Mexico and Canada, domestic as well.

George W. Bush did an incredible job in the presidency, defending us from freedom.

I think you need to have a tax system that basically is flat, fair and simple. And - that you can put on a post card. I mean, even Timothy Geithner could do this one and get it on time.

In America, the people are not subjects of government, the government is subject to the people.

Obama is a president, who I think is anti-jobs.

Our work is before us. It cannot be passed to future legislatures and must not be passed to future generations. May we boldly seize the moment with singular unity. And may we build a Texas of unlimited possibility.

It is time to let America be America again. To return freedom to the people. To stand on our founding principles and reject the cynical politics of the Nanny State.

We stand up and proudly proclaim that Washington is not our caretaker and we reject a state, in Margaret Thatcher's words, a state that takes too much from us to do too much for us.

Aggies have a really interesting way of admitting defeat. We've never been outscored. We just ran out of time.

How does the richest country in the history of the world fail to pay its bills?

I've always believed the mission is greater than the man.

Scouting ought to be about building character, not about sex. Period. Precious few parents enroll their boys in the Scouts to get a crash course in sexual orientation.

Page one of any economic plan to get America working is to give a pink slip to the current resident in the White House.

There's a real difference between venture capitalism and vulture capitalism. Venture capitalism we like. Vulture capitalism, no. And the fact of the matter is that he's going to have to face up to this at some time or another, and South Carolina is as good a place to draw that line in the sand as any.

Tell the trial lawyers to get out of your state and to quit costing businessmen and women.

As Americans, we don't see the role of government as guaranteeing outcomes, but allowing free men and women to flourish based on their own vision, their hard work and their personal responsibility.

If and when we get back to that solid, biblically and constitutionally based foundation in this country, America will be great - and America will be great again because we give people freedom, we dissolve power out of Washington.

I disagree with the concept that somehow or another we're going to pack up 10, to 12, to 15 million people and ship them back to the country of origin. That's not going to happen.

ISIS represents the worst threat to freedom since Communism!

Four semesters of organic chemistry made a pilot out of me.

It is through states that the American people get the job done every day, often in spite of a deeply flawed bureaucratic federal government.

What I learned growing up on the farm was a way of life that was centered on hard work, and on faith and on thrift. Those values have stuck with me my whole life.

We need men and women with Christian values who know in their souls that America was providentially created and that for the last 200-plus years, when we've gone to God in prayer and asked for guidance, wisdom and strength, God has answered.

I know the difference between venture capital[ism] and vulture capitalism. Venture capitalism is a good thing, comes in, gives that gap funding to help these companies get off and get started creating jobs, and work. But Mitt Romney and Bain Capital were involved with what I call vulture capitalism. And they walked into Gaffney and took over that photo album company for no other reason than to basically pick the bones clean. And those people lost their jobs.

Debates are set up for nothing more than to tear down the candidates. It's pretty hard to be able to sit and lay out your ideas and your concepts with a one-minute response.

But it wasn't until I graduated from Texas A & M University and joined the United States Air Force, flying C-130's all around the globe, that I truly appreciated the blessings of freedom.

Democracy functions best when we have an active citizenry.

We cannot afford four more years of this misguided socialist policies from President Obama and his administration.

Admit it America - 2008 was our national 'oops' moment!

The liberals think government exists to fix what's wrong with America. They find fault with our Constitution, our economic model and our core values. We disagree with the premise of their argument. We believe there's nothing wrong with America that an extra dose of freedom won't cure.

We must do right and risk the consequences.

The great lesson of history for us is that strength and resolve bring peace and order, and weakness and vacillation invite chaos and conflict.

Americans want government that is leaner, more efficient, and less intrusive into their personal lives.

Our view is that individuals and families can govern their lives better than bureaucrats.

I am also the product of a place called Paint Creek. Doesn't have a zip code. It's too small to be called a town along the rolling plains of Texas. We grew dryland cotton and wheat, and when I wasn't farming or attending Paint Creek Rural School, I was generally over at Troop 48 working on my Eagle Scout award.

It's time to believe again in the potential of private enterprise set free from the shackles of over-bearing federal government.

I'll work every day to try to make Washington, D.C., as inconsequential in your life as I can.

I mean, these are kids that are getting on rail cars, riding the top of rail cars all the way up through Mexico. I mean, the danger that they're put in, the sexual assaults that are occurring - I mean, all of this is a great consternation, I think, for any of us. But when they come here and then they're dumped on our cities and our counties and our state is expected to pick up the costs, there's a point in time where you say, 'Quit giving these individuals incentives to come up and then be resettled in the United States'. That's the real issue for me.

I stand before you as the governor of Texas but also stand before you the son of two tenant farmers. Ray Perry who came home after 35 bombing missions over Europe to work his little corner of land out there and Amelia who made sure that my sister Milla and I had everything that we needed, included hand sewing my clothes until I went off to college.

I know for a fact that Ted Cruz every day uses two checklists - to guide him through his personal and professional life - and that is the Bible and the U.S. Constitution.