Bill Clinton Quotes

189 Sourced Quotes

It depends upon what the meaning of the word 'is' means. If 'is' means is, and never has been, that's one thing. If it means, there is none, that was a completely true statement.

Bill Clinton
The last time I checked, the Constitution said, 'of the people, by the people and for the people.' That's what the Declaration of Independence says.

Bill Clinton
Now, I don't have all the answers, but I do know the old ways don't work. Trickledown economics has sure failed. And big bureaucracies, both private and public, they've failed too. That's why we need a new approach to government, a government that offers more empowerment and less entitlement. More choices for young people in the schools they attend- in the public schools they attend. And more choices for the elderly and for people with disabilities and the long-term care they receive. A government that is leaner, not meaner; a government that expands opportunity, not bureaucracy; a government that understands that jobs must come from growth in a vibrant and vital system of free enterprise.

Bill Clinton
And I think America, if we're ever going to truly defeat terror without changing the character of our own country or compromising the future of our children, has got to not only say, "Okay, I want to shoulder my responsibilities, I want to create my share of opportunities" but we have to find a way to define the future in terms of a humanity that goes beyond our country, that goes beyond any particular race, that goes beyond any particular religion.

Bill Clinton
I am grateful that they have worked together to make it safer and stronger to build a world with more partners and fewer enemies. I'm grateful for the relationship of respect and partnership she and the president have enjoyed. And the signal that sends to the rest of the world, that democracy does not have a — have to be a blood sport, it can be an honorable enterprise that advances the public interest.

Bill Clinton
Because Israel believes, when it comes right down to it America is the only big country that cares whether they live or die. That's why I can say, give up the West Bank, because the Israelis knew that if the Iraqi or the Iranian army came across the Jordan river, I would personally grab a rifle, get in a ditch, and fight and die, and I would.

Bill Clinton
The road to tyranny, we must never forget, begins with the destruction of the truth.

Bill Clinton
We are fortunate to be alive at this moment in history.

Bill Clinton
Indeed, I did have a relationship with Miss Lewinsky that was not appropriate. In fact, it was wrong. It constituted a critical lapse in judgment and a personal failure on my part for which I am solely and completely responsible. But I told the grand jury today and I say to you now that at no time did I ask anyone to lie, to hide or destroy evidence or to take any other unlawful action.

Bill Clinton
Simply put, unsustainable debt is helping to keep too many poor countries and poor people in poverty.

Bill Clinton
Let me tell you what the facts are. Now, we had a hard time getting those facts into these debates, because they're so inconvenient for the other side. And I admire that about the Republicans: The evidence does not faze them. … They are not bothered at all by the facts. And you've got to kind of give it to them. … They know what they're for.

Bill Clinton
I have met all the most gifted people in our generation and you're the best.

Bill Clinton
You should have disagreements with your leaders and your colleagues, but if it becomes immediately a question of questioning people's motives, and if immediately you decide that somebody who sees a whole new situation differently than you must be a bad person and somehow twisted inside, we are not going to get very far in forming a more perfect union.

Bill Clinton
It is dangerously destabilizing to have half the world on the cutting edge of technology while the other half struggles on the bare edge of survival.

Bill Clinton
In our hearts and in our laws, we must treat all our people with fairness and dignity, regardless of their race, religion, gender or sexual orientation....

Bill Clinton
The price of doing the same old thing is far higher than the price of change.

Bill Clinton
What are the needs of the world? What can I do that won't be done if I don't do it?

Bill Clinton
[Asked if he thought he did enough to get Bin Laden] "No, because I didn't get him. But at least I tried. That's the difference [between] me and some, including all the right-wingers who are attacking me now. They ridiculed me for trying. They had eight months to try. They did not try. I tried."

Bill Clinton
Shakespeare wrote, Einstein thought, Ataturk built.

Bill Clinton
All America loses when any person is denied or forced out of a job because of sexual orientation. Being gay, the last time I thought about it, seemed to have nothing to do with the ability to read a balance book, fix a broken bone, or change a spark plug.

Bill Clinton
I don't believe you can find any evidence of the fact that I have changed government policy solely because of a contribution.

Bill Clinton
NASA even sent Chuck Berry's music on a space probe searching for intelligent life in outer space. Well, now, if they're out there, they're duck walking

Bill Clinton
The simple fact is that we must not-and we will not-surrender our borders to those who wish to exploit our history of compassion and justice.

Bill Clinton
To realize the full possibilities of this economy, we must reach beyond our own borders, to shape the revolution that is tearing down barriers and building new networks among nations and individuals, and economies and cultures: globalization. It's the central reality of our time.

Bill Clinton
We can't be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans...

Bill Clinton
The world has always been more impressed by the power of our [America's] example than by the example of our power.

Bill Clinton
When we make college more affordable, we make the American dream more achievable.

Bill Clinton
I think that most small amounts of marijuana have been decriminalized in some places, and should be. We really need a re-examination of our entire policy on imprisonment...Our imprisonment policies are counterproductive.

Bill Clinton
You know, I have repeatedly defended President Bush against the left on Iraq, even though I think he should have waited until the U. N. inspections were over. I don't believe he went in there for oil. We didn't go in there for imperialist or financial reasons. We went in there because he bought the Wolfowitz-Cheney analysis that the Iraqis would be better off, we could shake up the authoritarian Arab regimes in the Middle East, and our leverage to make peace between the Palestinians and Israelis would be increased.

Bill Clinton
In today's knowledge-based economy, what you earn depends on what you learn. Jobs in the information technology sector, for example, pay 85 percent more than the private sector average.

Bill Clinton