George W. Bush People Quotations

I believe the most solemn duty of the American president is to protect the American people. If America shows uncertainty and weakness in this decade, the world will drift toward tragedy. This will not happen on my watch.

You can fool some of the people all the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on.

I sent American troops to Iraq to make its people free, not to make them American. Iraqis will write their own history and find their own way.

I can hear you, the rest of the world can hear you and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.

Use power to help people. For 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.

I told you I'm not going to criticize my successor. I'll just tell you that there are people at Gitmo that will kill American people at a drop of a hat and I don't believe that persuasion isn't going to work. Therapy isn't going to cause terrorists to change their mind.

The United States of America will never be intimidated by thugs and assassins. The killers will fail, and the Iraqi people will live in freedom.

Government does not create wealth. The major role for the government is to create an environment where people take risks to expand the job rate in the United States.

I have a different vision of leadership. A leadership is someone who brings people together.

People forget... that we structured it so that the government, or the people, would be repaid with a really good rate of return. And as it turns out, that aspect of TARP, that's what happened.

America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our people.

People make suggestions on what to say all the time. I'll give you an example; I don't read what's handed to me. People say, 'Here, here's your speech, or here's an idea for a speech.' They're changed. Trust me.

I understand everybody in this country doesn't agree with the decisions I've made. And I made some tough decisions. But people know where I stand.

As these milestones approach, we can expect there to be increasing violence from the terrorists, ... They can't stand elections. The thought of people voting is anathema to them.

I've reminded the prime minister-the American people, Mr. Prime Minister, over the past months that it was not always a given that the United States and America would have a close relationship.

I like to tell people when the final history is written on Iraq, it will look like just a comma because there is -- my point is, there's a strong will for democracy.

If people want to get to know me better, they've got to know my parents and the values my parents instilled in me, and the fact that I was raised in West Texas, in the middle of the desert, a long way away from anywhere, hardly. There's a certain set of values you learn in that experience.

People have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room.

Washington is a town where there's all kinds of allegations. You've heard much of the allegations. And if people have got solid information, please come forward with it. And that would be people inside the information who are the so-called anonymous sources, or people outside the information - outside the administration.

People make suggestions on what to say all the time... Trust me.

I care what 51 percent of the people think about me.

In the long term, we've got to defeat an ideology of hate with an ideology of hope. There's a reason why people like (al-Qaida leader Osama) bin Laden are able to recruit suiciders, because if you don't have hope, you're attracted to an ideology which says, it's OK to kill people and kill yourself.

It is a ridiculous notion to assert that because the United States is on the offense, more people want to hurt us. We are on the offense because people do want to hurt us.

If most of the breaks go to wealthy people it's because most of the people who pay taxes are wealthy.

So on behalf of a well-oiled unit of people who came together to serve something greater than themselves, congratulations.

The Senate needs to leave enough money in the proposed budget to not only reduce all marginal rates, but to eliminate the death tax, so that people who build up assets are able to transfer them from one generation to the next, regardless of a person's race.

There are some monuments where the land is so widespread, they just encompass as much as possible. And the integral part of the - the precious part, so to speak - I guess all land is precious, but the part that the people uniformly would not want to spoil, will not be despoiled. But there are parts of the monument lands where we can explore without affecting the overall environment.

I want to make it clear to people that the idea of putting subliminable messages into ads is ridiculous.

This is what I'm good at. I like meeting people, my fellow citizens, I like interfacing with them.

That's Washington. That's the place where you find people getting ready to jump out of the foxholes before the first shot is fired.

There's not going to be enough people in the system to take advantage of people like me.

When your economy is kind of ooching along, it's important to let people have more of their own money.

We want more people owning things in this country. (Applause.) Let me put it to you bluntly: In a changing world, we want more people to have control over your own life.

I think it's important to bring somebody from outside the system, the judicial system, somebody that hasn't been on the bench and, therefore, there's not a lot of opinions for people to look at.

What people can dream, people can do.

There's also consumer debt, the credit card debt that burdens many of the working families in America. Yes, we talk about national debt, and we're paying a lot down. But you're fixing to hear me tell you part of the remedy for people who have got a lot of credit card debt is to make sure people get some of their own money back.

”Islam, as practiced by the vast majority of people, is a peaceful religion.”

We will not permit the triumph of violence in the affairs of men; free people will set the course of history.

People shouldn't read into venue locations someone's heart.

These people are trying to shake the will of the Iraqi citizens, and they want us to leave...I think the world would be better off if we did leave...

I've made it clear, Madam President, that the war against terrorism is not a war against Muslims, nor is it a war against Arabs. It's a war against evil people who conduct crimes against innocent people.

People are innocent till proven otherwise. All people are.

Free people will set the course of history.

The same folks that are bombing innocent people in Iraq were the ones who attacked us in America on September the 11th.

We don't talk about sources and methods. Don't talk about ongoing intelligence operations. I know there's speculation. But it's important for the American people to understand that I will use my powers to protect us, and I will do so under the law, and that's important for our citizens to understand.

I am a person who looks long-term, and I recognize the path we need to take. There will be moments when people are unhappy and disgruntled with some decision-making. Nonetheless, what matters most is to reach the destination. And my job as President is to see clearly where I want to go and be steadfast in my resolve to realize that vision

As a president, my job is not to promote a religion, my job is to call people to serve our country.

I always jest to people, the Oval Office is the kind of place where people stand outside, they're getting ready to come in and tell me what for, and they walk in and get overwhelmed in the atmosphere, and they say, man, you're looking pretty.

I don't think you should support the death penalty to seek revenge. I don't think that's right. I think the reason to support the death penalty is because it saves other people's lives.

Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East.... The biblical prophecies are being fulfilled.... This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people's enemies before a New Age begins.

German people are essentially pacifists. Many still remember the experience of World War II. And they may not have seen Saddam Hussein as evil a person as a lot of other people have.

I don't mind people trying to pick apart my policies, and that's fine and that's fair game. But, you know, I don't think we're serving our nation well by allowing the discourse to become so uncivil that people use words that they shouldn't be using.

People love America. Sometimes they don't like the decisions made by America, but I don't think you want a president who tries to become popular and does the wrong thing.

The United States of America stands for the ability for people to worship freely, the ability for people to vote and to express their opinion freely is something we hold dear.

The American people have got a touchstone: Which party voted for the tools necessary to protect America and which party didn't? And that's what I'm trying to get people to focus on.

We are not at war with the Afghani people, and we are not at war with Islam, which most Americans respect as a religion of peace.

I suspect people are going to vote for Max Burns because they know him as local boy who's got - share their values.

If you look at my policies they're all aimed at empowering people to make their own decisions.

We face an enemy that is brutal. There is no negotiation with these people. You can't try to talk reason into these totalitarians.

Libraries promote the sharing of knowledge, connecting people of all ages with valuable information resources. These dynamic and modern institutions, and the librarians who staff them, add immeasurably to our quality of life.

The stakes are geopolitical in nature and I believe that democracies are - people want to live in free societies, democracies are the best way to do that, and that if people see democracies in the neighborhood, they'll demand the same thing.

I was always at about 70/30. About 70 percent of the people of my district appreciated me, and about 30 percent had quite another view of me.

This is an impressive crowd: the Have's and Have-more's. Some people call you the elites. I call you my base.

I think the platform ought to be pro-life. It is the basis of the Republican Party. People have got to understand that abortion is not a contraceptive.

I come from the school of thought that says when people have more money in their pocket during economic times, it increases demand or investment. Small businesses begin to grow, and jobs are added.

Now that I've got the will of the people at my back, I'm going to start enforcing the one-question rule. That was three questions.

[T]he course of this nation does not depend on the decisions of others. Whatever action is required, whenever action is necessary, I will defend the freedom and security of the American people.

I frankly felt like the reception we received on the way in from the airport was very warm and hospitable. And I want to thank the Canadian people who came out to wave -- with all five fingers -- for their hospitality.

I talked to my little brother, Jeb -- I haven't told this to many people. But he's the governor of -- I shouldn't call him my little brother -- my brother, Jeb, the great Governor of Texas.

Unfairly but truthfully, our party has been tagged as being against things. Anti-immigrant, for example. And were not a party of anti-immigrants. Quite the opposite. Were a party that welcomes people.

I do not agree with this notion that somehow if I go to try to attract votes and to lead people toward a better tomorrow somehow I get subscribed to some-some doctrine gets subscribed to me.

There is but one just use of power and it is to serve people.

Iraqis are sick of foreign people coming in their country and trying to destabilize their country.

I glance at the headlines just to kind of get a flavor for what's moving. I rarely read the stories, and get briefed by people who are probably read the news themselves.

I wouldn't join the International Criminal Court. This is a body based in The Hague where unaccountable judges, prosecutors, could pull our troops, our diplomats up for trial. And I wouldn't join. And I understand that in certain capitals of, around the world that that wasn't a popular move. But it's the right move not to join a foreign court that could, where our people could be prosecuted.

The American people are proud to welcome your majesty back to the United States, a nation you've come to know very well. After all you've dined with 10 U.S. presidents. You've helped our nation celebrate its bicentennial in 17 -in 1976

[Saddam] built up a massive war machine while neglecting the basic needs of his own people.

So I don't worry about, and people shouldn't worry about a draft I think we're in good shape, I really do. And, if not, we'll - I'll address the nation. But I don't see any need to right now.

God is not on the side of any nation, yet we know He is on the side of justice. Our finest moments [as a nation] have come when we faithfully served the cause of justice for our own citizens, and for the people of other lands.

Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world; it is God's gift to humanity.

We will keep a commitment to pluralism and not discriminate for or against Methodist or Mormons or Muslims or good people with no faith at all.

We're now interested in finding those who may attack America and arrest them before they do. We've had over nearly a thousand people have been detained in America and questioned about their motives and their intentions.

As I mentioned we have arrested or detained over 1,000 people here in America to determine to find out what they know.

There's a lot of people in the Middle East who are desirous to get into the Mitchell process. And - but first things first. The - these terrorist acts and, you know, the responses have got to end in order for us to get the framework - the groundwork - not framework, the groundwork to discuss a framework for peace, to lay the - all right.

The budget caps were busted, mightily so. And we are reviewing with people like Judd Gregg from New Hampshire and others some budgetary reform measures that will reinstate - you know, possibly reinstate budgetary discipline. But the caps no longer - the caps, I guess they're there. But they didn't mean much.

I've changed my style somewhat, as you know. I'm less - I pontificate less, although it may be hard to tell it from this show. And I'm more interacting with people.

People sometimes have to correct my English. I knew I had a problem when Arnold Schwarzenegger started doing it.

I'd like to be a president [known] as somebody who liberated 50 million people and helped achieve peace.

The advance of human freedom - the great achievement of our time, and the great hope of every time - now depends on us. Our nation - this generation - will lift a dark threat of violence from our people and our future. We will rally the world to this cause by our efforts, by our courage. We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail.

The do-not-call registry is still being challenged in court. Yet, the conclusions of the American people, the legislative branch, and the executive branch are beyond question.

I don't watch the nightly newscasts on TV . . . nor do I watch the endless hours of people giving their opinion about things. I don't read the editorial pages; I don't read the columnists. It can be a frustrating experience to pay attention to somebody's false opinion.

I firmly believe the death tax is good for people from all walks of life all throughout our society.

Freeing people from oppression and despair is eternally right.

I think it's very important for people who are serving (in office) to make sure there's a separation of church and state.

It should make people nervous when non-transparent regimes, that have announced that they've got nuclear warheads, fire missiles. This is not the way you conduct business in the world. This is not the way that peaceful nations conduct their affairs.

Most people in America understand that the rich people hire good accountants and figure out how not to necessarily pay all the taxes that they should be paying.

America is a nation of prayer. It's impossible to tell the story of our nation without telling the story of people who pray.

We are a people united by our love for freedom, even when we differ in our personal beliefs. In America, we are free to profess any faith we choose, or no faith at all.

People should be allowed to express their opinion. But, Americans need to know I'll be making up my mind based upon the latest intelligence and how best to protect our own country, plus our friends and allies.

Compassionate conservatism [is] most importantly, making sure that government is not the answer to people's problems.