Paul O'Neill Quotations

This meeting was like many of the meetings that I would go to over the course of two years. The only way I can describe it is that, well, the president is like a blind man in a roomful of deaf people. There is no discernible connection.

I used some vivid language that, if I could take it back, I'd take it back. It's not my intention to be personally critical of the President or of anyone else.

I'm not willing to say I want to return to private life because I'm too old to begin telling lies now.

Our intention is to give people, however you might stylize it, a tax cut or a pay raise.

We are pleased with the quarter's results. Despite low aluminum prices - which are down 14 percent since the beginning of 1998 -- we have maintained strong earnings.

We are pleased with the quarter's results, ... Despite low aluminum prices - which are down 14 percent since the beginning of 1998 -- we have maintained strong earnings.

Yes, it's true we are going through dislocations because of a correction related to the boom that ended in the summer of 200, but the foundations of the American economy are very deep and very solid, ... And we are going to be great.

If we're going to have a tax reduction ... I don't know why we wouldn't want it now, ... It won't hurt. We'll get ready for the next round of expansion in our economy.

Harvey said that people are going to certify, and if they falsely certify, it's going to be fraud, and they're going to go to jail, and we think that's the right step,

nail on the wall the clear requirement for corporate accountability.

This report shows that if we follow the current law, including the revenue raising components ... then there is a prospect down the road that we cannot meet the obligations that you have made by law to the American people,

with a view to ensuring that investors in all mortgage-backed securities are provided with the information that they should have.

With our economy slowing, now is the time to boost consumer confidence with quick congressional action,

to assure ourselves that their problems were not going to get translated into larger problems for the U.S. and the world capital markets.

We are very pleased with our earnings performance for the first half of the year, since we have been able to more than offset a 16 percent drop in aluminum prices on the (London Metals Exchange) since the beginning of 1998, ... We look forward to the addition of Alumax in the next quarter and have been hard at work with Alumax employees to make the acquisition very beneficial to Alcoa customers and shareholders.

a sign of the growing strength of the anti-terror coalition.

The U.S. economy has the potential to grow at 3 or 3.5 percent real growth for the indefinite future,

If you look at the market as a forecaster of the future, the markets are now above where they were when we re-opened the markets on September the 17th,

In our history we have seen times when there is a disconnect between the stock market and the fundamental productive power of our economy, ... The reality is that our economy remains solid, and our recovery is well under way.

I think ... our economy will rebound into reasonable rates of growth as we move into next year, ... So I am optimistic.

But he just sat back in his chair, ... His attitude was, 'I said this during the campaign, and whatever I said in the campaign must be right.'

I didn't think this was worthy of me running across the street and telling the president. I don't go across the street and tell the president every time somebody calls me.

The company had a duty to inform its shareholders and its employees about things that were going on inside the company. That's not a federal government responsibility.