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.

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...

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

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

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

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.

What people can dream, people can do.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

One has a stronger hand when there's more people playing your same cards.

I got a lot of Ph.D.-types and smart people around me who come into the Oval Office and say, 'Mr. President, here's what's on my mind.' And I listen carefully to their advice. But having gathered the device, I decide, you know, I say, 'This is what we're going to do.'

Obviously, nu-que-lar power is, uh, a renewable source of energy, and the less demand there is for non-renewable sources of energy, like fossil fuels, the better it off it is for the American people.

I'm mindful in a free society that people can worship if they want to or not. You're equally an American if you choose to worship an almighty and if you choose not to.

Iraq is a very important part of securing the homeland, and its a very important part of helping change the Middle East into a part of the world that will not serve as a threat to the civilized world, to people like -- or to the developed world, to people like -- in the United States.

Forms of government matter, in my opinion. It matters how -- the nature of the government in which people live.

I don't particularly like it when people put words in my mouth, either, by the way, unless I say it.

Mr. Vice President, in all due respect, it is-I'm not sure 80 percent of the people get the death tax. I know this: 100 percent will get it if I'm the president.

Throughout our history, the words of the Declaration have inspired immigrants from around the world to set sail to our shores. These immigrants have helped transform 13 small colonies into a great and growing nation of more than 300 people.

The economy is growing, productivity is high, trade is up, people are working. It's not as good as we'd like, but -- and to the extent that we find weakness, we'll move.

The people in Louisiana must know that all across our country there's a lot of prayer -- prayer for those whose lives have been turned upside down. And I'm one of them.

You know, I'm the President during this period of time, but I think when the history of this period is written, people will realize a lot of the decisions that were made on Wall Street took place over a decade or so, before I arrived in President, during I arrived in President.

People say, well, do you ever hear any other voices other than, like, a few people? Of course I do.

One of the very difficult parts of the decision I made on the financial crisis was to use hardworking people's money to help prevent there to be a crisis.

I'm going to put people in my place, so when the history of this administration is written at least there's an authoritarian voice saying exactly what happened.

But the true threats to stability and peace are these nations that are not very transparent, that hide behind the-that don't let people in to take a look and see what they're up to. They're very kind of authoritarian regimes. The true threat is whether or not one of these people decide, peak of anger, try to hold us hostage, ourselves; the Israelis, for example, to whom we'll defend, offer our defenses; the South Koreans.

I suspect that had my dad not been president, he'd be asking the same questions: How'd your meeting go with so-and-so? . How did you feel when you stood up in front of the people for the State of the Union Address-state of the budget address, whatever you call it.

A lot of times in the rhetoric, people forget the facts. And the facts are that thousands of small businesses-Hispanically owned or otherwise-pay taxes at the highest marginal rate.

See, one of the interesting things in the Oval Office - I love to bring people into the Oval Office - right around the corner from here - and say, this is where I office, but I want you to know the office is always bigger than the person.

First, let me make it very clear, poor people aren't necessarily killers. Just because you happen to be not rich doesn't mean you're willing to kill.

Let me start off by saying that in 2000 I said, 'Vote for me. I'm an agent of change.' In 2004, I said, 'I'm not interested in change --I want to continue as president.' Every candidate has got to say 'change.' That's what the American people expect.

A lot of times in politics you have people look you in the eye and tell you what's not on their mind.

Oftentimes people ask me, 'Why is it that you're so focused on helping the hungry and diseased in strange parts of the world?'

Americans practice different faiths in churches, synagogues, mosques and temples. And many good people practice no faith at all.

There is a huge trust. I see it all the time when people come up to me and say, 'I don't want you to let me down again.' - Boston, Mass., Oct. 3, 2000

The Ambassador and the General were briefing me on the....the vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world. And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice.

We're going to have the best educated American people in the world. People that are really very weird can get into sensitive positions and have a tremendous impact on history.

[T]he people of Iraq have spoken to the world, and the world is hearing the voice of freedom from the center of the Middle East.

It used to be, people were afraid to talk about Social Security. Now, I think people should be afraid not to talk about Social Security and start coming up with some solutions.

I don't understand how poor people think.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

Freeing people from oppression and despair is eternally right.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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