Bill Clinton - People Quotes

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Secretary-General Annan spoke for all of us... when he said that ethnic cleansers and mass murderers can find no refuge in the United Nations, no source of comfort or justification in its charter. We must do more to make these words real. Of course, we must approach this challenge with some considerable degree of humility. It is easy to say, "Never again," but much harder to make it so. Promising too much can be as cruel as caring too little. But difficulties, dangers, and costs are not an argument for doing nothing. When we are faced with deliberate, organized campaigns to murder whole peoples or expel them from their land, the care of victims is important but not enough. We should work to end the violence.

Bill Clinton
Even as people take pride in their national independence, we know we are becoming more and more interdependent.

Bill Clinton
I think it's very interesting that all the conservative Republicans who now say I didn't do enough claimed that I was too obsessed with Bin Laden. All of President Bush's neo-cons thought I was too obsessed with Bin Laden. They had no meetings on Bin Laden for nine months after I left office. All the right-wingers who now say I didn't do enough, said I did too much—same people.

Bill Clinton
All of us have to do a better job of teaching young people not to let themselves be defined by the words other people use against them.

Bill Clinton
I want to help communities put welfare recipients to work right now, without delay, repairing schools, making their neighborhoods clean and safe, making them shine again. There's lots of work to be done out there. Our cities can find ways to put people to work and bring dignity and strength back to these families.

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

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

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
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
Learning improves in school environments where there are comprehensive music and arts programs. They increase the ability of young people to do math. They increase the ability of young people to read. And most important of all, they're a lot of fun.

Bill Clinton
You know, there was a recent poll which said that young people in the generation of the students here felt it was far more likely that they would see a UFO than that they would draw Social Security... It's very important you understand this. Once you understand this, you realize this is not an episode from the X Files, and you're not more likely to see a UFO if you do certain specific things.

Bill Clinton
Government is not the problem, and government is not the solution. We, the American people, we are the solution.

Bill Clinton
I learned a lot from the stories my uncle, aunts, and grandparents told me: that no one is perfect but most people are good; that people can't be judged only by their worst or weakest moments; that harsh judgements make hypocrites of us all; that a lot of life is just showing up and hanging on; that laughter is often the best, and sometimes only response to pain.

Bill Clinton
Thanks to the leadership of Vice President Gore, we have a government for the Information Age, once again a government that is a progressive instrument of the common good, rooted in our oldest values of opportunity, responsibility and community, devoted to fiscal responsibility, determined to give our people the tools they need to make the most of their own lives in the 21st century, a 21st century government for 21st century America.

Bill Clinton
Being president is like running a cemetery; you've got a lot of people under you and nobody's listening.

Bill Clinton
[Iraq is] not Vietnam, we have a government that has a support of the majority of the people.

Bill Clinton
We have a moral obligation to make sure the people who are being required to work have the opportunity to work. We must make sure the jobs are there.

Bill Clinton
What we have to do now is not to forget these people and places when all the cameras are not there. I think that's the most important message I can say to the American people right now.

Bill Clinton
There are always going to be people who want to be president, and some days I'd like to give it to them.

Bill Clinton
Mr. President, you are not leading this Nation — you're just managing the Government. You don't see the people enough any more. Some of your Cabinet members don't seem loyal. There is not enough discipline among your disciples. Don't talk to us about politics or the mechanics of government, but about an understanding of our common good. Mr. President, we're in trouble. Talk to us about blood and sweat and tears. If you lead, Mr. President, we will follow.

Bill Clinton
Though our challenges are fearsome, so are our strengths. Americans have ever been a relentless, questioning, hopeful people.

Bill Clinton
Today, I want to talk about Social Security and how all of us can ensure that one of the greatest achievements of this century continues to serve our people well into the next.... For 60 years, Social Security has meant more than an ID number on a tax form; more than a monthly check in the mail. It reflects our deepest values - our respect fr our parents and our belief that all Americans deserve to retire with dignity.

Bill Clinton
Now, I have to go back to work on my State of the Union speech. And I worked on it until pretty late last night. I want to say one thing to the American people. I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time, never. These allegations are false, and I need to go back to work for the American people.

Bill Clinton
More than any other nation on Earth, America has constantly drawn strength and spirit from wave after wave of immigrants. In each generation, they have proved to be the most restless, the most adventurous, the most innovative, the most industrious of people. Bearing different memories, honoring different heritages, they have strengthened our economy, enriched our culture, renewed our promise of freedom and opportunity for all....

Bill Clinton
People like you always help the far-right, because you like to hurt people, and you like to talk about how bad people are and all their personal failings.

Bill Clinton
No one wants to get this matter behind us more than I do—except maybe all the rest of the American people.

Bill Clinton
It is time to heal America. And so we must say to every American: Look beyond the stereotypes that blind us. We need each other. All of us, we need each other. We don't have a person to waste. And yet for too long politicians have told the most of us that are doing all right that what's really wrong with America is the rest of us. Them. Them, the minorities. Them, the liberals. Them, the poor. Them, the homeless. Them, the people with disabilities. Them, the gays. We've gotten to where we've nearly "them"ed ourselves to death. Them and them and them. But this is America. There is no them; there's only us. One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty, and justice, for all.

Bill Clinton
I always get nervous when people start talking about legacies.

Bill Clinton
I do not believe that the politics of personal destruction is what the American people are interested in.

Bill Clinton
History has shown us, that you can't allow the mass extermination of people, and just sit by and watch it happen.
On the Bosnian war

Bill Clinton