Steve Forbes Quotations

Obviously, things can get derailed, particularly if, which looks more and more likely, you get a blow-up between Israel and Iran. I think that's a very real probability now. But barring some real blow-up, the U.S. economy will grow, after a slow first quarter, about 3, 3.5 percent this year, far better than it was in 2011.

There is something fundamentally unfair about a government that takes away so much of people's money, power, and personal control while telling them that life will be better as a result.

We must guard against the overreaching hand of big government trying to take away our freedom. And we must always protect the environment in a manner consistent with our values

One thing on psychology, which we've always known, is that every investor says they're long-term - and they are until the market takes a hit.

The rise of China as a new power is another great challenge for the US. Our failure to properly handle Germany and Japan earlier in the 20th century cost us and the world dearly. We must not make this same mistake with China.

Today, the US spends less on defense as a percentage of our economy than we did at any time since he Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. For the world's only superpower, that is an invitation to very serious trouble.

The phenomenon of home schooling is a wonderful example of the American can-do attitude. Growing numbers of parents have become disenchanted with government-run public schools. Many parents have simply taken matters into their own hands, literally.

You don't change minds in Washington with sweet reason. You do it to the white light of public opinion

The real cure for what ails our health care system today is less government and more freedom.

As our federal government has grown too large and too powerful, the real loss has been the freedom of people to govern their own lives and participate fully in the American dream.

A promise made should be a promise kept.

And it would be fair. Everyone will pay the same tax and it will eliminate tax cheaters and corporate shenanigans.

Over time, there's a very close correlation between what happens to the dollar and what happens to the price of oil. When the dollar gets week, the price of oil, which, as you know, and other commodities are denominated in dollars, they go up. We saw it in the '70s, when the dollar was savagely weakened.

There's plenty of juice to keep this economy going.

No more turning a blind eye to Chinese spies in our nuclear labs. No more keeping silent about Chinese slave labor camps.

If a man breaks a pledge, the public ought to know it.

People are not going to reelect Barack Obama. But will the new president govern as a real conservative? We're going to have to apply the heat to make sure.

I think the idea of trying to demonize Governor Romney's going to backfire. Their attempts so far have failed pretty outstandingly and I think at the end of the day, people are going to say, 'what was Obama's record?' Governor Romney's got pro-growth Reaganesque proposals on the table.

Our failure to properly deal with Germany and Japan early cost the world dearly later on. We dare not make the same mistake with China.

The Chinese government is quickly losing its ideological legitimacy, maintain its rule with force, but cannot draw strength from the ideology of Marx and Mao.

What the Republican establishment hoped would be a runaway did not happen, ... They wanted to shut down the race.

Make no mistake. This fight has just begun.

New Hampshire is unique in that all the presidential candidates come here because of your first-in-the-nation status. If we can get New Hampshire on board, all the candidates will be asked about this concept repeatedly. If we leave Washington to its own devices, nothing will happen.

New Hampshire has a unique opportunity to start this citizens' effort that we don't have to take it anymore,

He's got to realize that it's a long shot, a huge long shot, so why not go with something that will distinguish you. You can wrap the mantle of Kennedy around you. He was a tax-cutter.

He introduced things like different-color cars and annual model changes, and it's taken Ford 70 years to get back close to GM. I'm like Sloan. I see what the new world needs and wants, and I'm offering it. Dole's still making black cars. But he doesn't have to.

We're obviously covering more issues than I had an opportunity to do in 1996,

We must encourage American businesses and farmers by weeding out the excessive red tape that Washington has been creating over the past decade. Regulations act as a hidden tax, and if we are not careful, they can begin to suffocate small businesses, destroy jobs, and choke off economic growth.

kill it, drive a stake through it's heart and hope it never rises again.

I think when those hearings are held or completed, public opinion will be such that he will be removed from office with full bipartisan support.

I think that's why the Federal Reserve has to say explicitly it will provide sufficient liquidity to get this economy moving again, ... The Fed has been behind the curve.

I think the White House knows once those hearings start, he's doomed.

The American administration is making a major mistake, trying to pressure the Chinese. I wish we'd back off.

We have had an exceptional response to this year's conference and I look forward to discussing some important business issues with all of the delegates during the three day event,

The prosperity we're enjoying today -- those foundations were laid by Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. Let's not forget that.

We should take this beast, kill it, drive a stake through its heart ... get rid of it and start over.

Why is this list growing? The global economy has been growing the last two years at rates not seen since World War II, fuelled by a commodities boom with a whiff of inflation.

Why is the list growing? The answer is an obvious one - the global economy is growing.

You can't do it with an occasional speech, you've got to do it every day.

You go wherever there are groups of activists willing to work. I have visited this state several times this year.

You get huge changes in the last seven to 10 days as people really focus. I come from the business sector, where competition is a daily fact of life.

Consider this, for starters. Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, which has defined the character of the nation, is all of 268 words. The Declaration of Independence runs about 1,300 words. The Constitution, which has served us for more than two centuries, comes to some 5,000 words. The Holy Bible has 773,000 words. The federal income tax code and all of its attendant rules and regulations: 9 million words and rising.

Don't phase in the cuts over five years, ... Help people now.

Cutting rates works. It means more businesses and more jobs are created and the economy moves ahead.

Especially after what we've had in Washington for seven years, I think people want to get to know their candidates, ... They don't want surprises after the election.

Is he afraid that the American people will find out what he really stands for, or that he has no vision at all?

So on the budget, we should get real. We should not act like cowardly lions. We should get our courage back again.

One critical difference is time. We entered the race very late in 1996 so there wasn't the time to get across my broad-based message or get the groups together that we are now. That's why we are strong in all of the early states - strong here, strong in Iowa. That's why we are going to go the distance,

Actually, I'm surprised somebody didn't see the opportunity sooner,

You should be allowed to leave this world unmolested by the IRS,

This is a free country, as is the United States, and certain people want to protest because they have a different view of how to alleviate poverty,

They never seem to be on the offense. Their spin machine is a little rusty.

This is the real message to send to the Washington power brokers. Thanks to you they have finally met their match and they're going to get their ultimate comeuppance in the race in the weeks ahead as we the people take back the power.

At least you'd have something going in there instead of being one of 12 faces on a stage and trying to figure out how to make yourself stand out. Even if you don't make it, you will have a following and will be seen as someone with a serious issue who did something serious for his state.

As my father once said when he lost a governor's race in New Jersey: 'We were nosed out by a landslide,'

A company would have to be a fool to buy (Sanders) and then change it into something else,

It's as if you went to a doctor and the doctor said,

It's one thing to waste our money, to raise our taxes, to burden us with regulations, because we can turn those things around. But it's quite another matter to take the sons and daughters of America and put them in harm's way without thinking the whole thing through.

It's THE question now for every President's legacy. Are Americans better off than they were four years ago? Well, new information about America's wealth under President Bush ... You won't hear it anywhere else but on right here on Forbes on FOX.

It is very telling in the case of George Bush that he uses a front organization financed illegally by soft money and corporate money to do attack ads on me. If he has criticisms, he ought to be forward about it and do it himself,

It's sitting doing nothing, ... We can use it to cut prices.

Tax-cutter John F. Kennedy was right: A rising tide does indeed lift all boats. From 2005 to 2015 the flat tax would generate $56 billion more in net government income tax revenue than the current tax code, according to Fiscal Associates, whose forecasts are based on the method, in increasing use today, of dynamic analysis.

I like his rational for why I'm not in the White House. I'll take it. It's better than some I've gotten.

I have no regrets, and you shouldn't either,

If you have money but no issues, that equals mush. No message, no victory.

In terms of personal experience in world affairs, I'll match mine against any other candidate's,

If you were doing comic strips you would have the dark cloud above his head, constantly raining. If the morning has a little bit of fog, he'll say fog is descending on America. If the sun is out, he'll say that we're going to get overly sunburned. If it rains, he'll say there are floods coming; if it doesn't rain, he'll predict drought. And the fact of the matter is, in terms of the American economy right now, it's in a very strong position.

He's surrendered the fight to the IRS, ... I intend to fight and win on that issue.

By simply hitting on the issues, I think people will note the contrast between the substance of what I'm saying and the lack of it from another quarter,

I chose 17 percent because, with the generous exemptions, it allows people to meet their basic needs, but also produces a healthy revenue stream,

The flat tax is a tax cut. Any way you slice it, your tax bill will be reduced under the plan... Under the flat tax, 65 million returns, or 42 percent of all returns, would owe no tax by the year 2010. That's right. We'll say it again: Millions of lower-income people will not have to pay any tax.

The essence of the American dream is the understanding that we are here on this earth and in this land for a higher purpose: to discover-and develop to the fullest-our God-given potential. Anything that stands in the way of the dream, we must fight. Anything that enhances the dream, we must support.

The independent analysis of the flat tax also predicts that the flat tax will lead to nearly 3.5 million new jobs by 2011 that otherwise would not exist.

The words, 'penalty,' 'restrict' and 'violate' appeared more times in President Clinton's health care reform bill than in his crime bill.

Start by scrapping the tax code. Don't fiddle with it. Junk it. Throw it out. Bury it. Replace it with a pro-growth, pro-family tax cut that lowers tax rates to 17% across the board and expands exemptions for individuals and children so that a family of four would pay no taxes on the first $36,000 of income.

Mr. Greenspan did a very good job in the early 1990's. But recently he's fallen prey to this crazy theory that prosperity causes inflation. So they're trying to slow the economy down by raising interest rates. It's like a doctor saying you're in great health, so we have to make you sick a little bit. It's a bizarre theory. It's going to hurt our economy.

As more money flowed through Washington and as Washington's power to regulate our lives grew, opportunities and temptations for graft, influence peddling and cutting corners grew exponentially. Power breeds corruption.

Contrary to the cliche', genuinely nice guys most often finish first or very near it.

Duarte is a moderate when it comes to civilian control of the military and curbing death squads. On economics, the man is almost a Marxist.

It can't help but knock things down.

What you do as president has consequences.

There's no human censorship at kiosks.

The flat tax would be so simple, you could fill it out on a post card. A post card that would say, in effect, having a wonderful time; glad most of my money is here.

The most laughable White House criticism is that tax cuts are a 'free lunch.' The American people's work created that money. Only in Washington could there be a belief that letting people keep more of what they create is a giveaway.

The tax code is a monstrosity and there's only one thing to do with it. Scrap it, kill it, drive a stake through its heart, bury it and hope it never rises again to terrorize the American people.

You make more money selling advice than following it. It's one of the things we count on in the magazine business -- along with the short memory of our readers.

The politicians say 'we' can't afford a tax cut. Maybe we can't afford the politicians.

The Declaration of Independence, the words that launched our nation -- 1,300 words. The Bible, the word of God -- 773,000 words. The Tax Code, the words of politicians -- 7,000,000 words -- and growing!

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