James Carville Quotations

When you become famous, being famous becomes your profession.

I think Ralph Nader is the biggest liar in American politics when he said it didn't matter who was president.

Sometimes the right thing gets done for the wrong reason and sometimes, unfortunately, the wrong thing gets done for the right reason.

But I'd rather not predict. I'd rather affect.

The teachings of the Church line up more with the Democratic Party than the Republican Party.

I think that America will not trust a party to defend America that isn't willing to defend itself.

Ideologies aren't all that important. What's important is psychology.

No one will ever accuse James Carville of taking himself seriously.

I was against gay marriage until I realized I didn't have to get one.

We should not run away from religious teachings. We should run to them.

Every day Catholics prove that you can be a good Catholic and a good Democrat and have a different position from the Church on abortion.

You have to have sharp elbows if you want to change something.

You know there's nothing a Hill Democrat would rather do than criticize another Democrat. It is their favorite activity. Then they can read about how honorable they are in an Op-Ed piece, how bipartisan.

If you didn't have some sense of idealism, then what is there to sustain you?

If you want to be angry at Gore, be angry at him for not fighting harder in Florida.

The only thing I'm running for is the state line.

I think the Democratic Party has the chronic problem of appearing to be weak, of not standing and fighting for what it believes in, not fighting for its own.

If we think about it, in terms of racial and ethnic strife or things, if we don't forgive, we'll just stay the same. If we don't forgive people, we can never make any progress.

He's got to show these right-wingers that he's got backbone.

He's got to show these right wingers that he's got a backbone, you know. It's why the Wall Street Journal editorial page is watching you. Show 'em that you're tough.

He's got to show the right-wingers that he's got backbone. Go ahead, the Wall Street Journal editorial page is watching. Show them you're tough.

He's kind of like a boxer. He's ready to get back in the ring.

Maybe it comes back stronger. No one forgot how to play the saxophone or how to cook or write. Or have a good time. That's all still there. Calamities and disasters are part of New Orleans' history. This too shall pass.

The American people are going to be ready for an era of realism. Theyve seen the consequences of having too many big ideas.

Who is going to complain if traffic is tied up when you've got a city underwater? ... The mayor personally called me up and said he was behind this 100 percent.

You don't even need to be able to run to take part in this,

We are in the midst of one of the biggest stories of our time. Every day brings countless more tragic and heartbreaking stories out of the ravaged Gulf Coast.

The real trick with any 61-year-old dealing with any 16-year-old is to get them to listen to a word you say. I'm remarkably unsuccessful with my own.

This show will be another opportunity for me to engage in the back-and-forth debates on sports that, until now, Luke and I have limited to the stadium.

Bob's probably got a lot going on in his life.

Bob is really getting a bum rap on this one. ... Bob is really a sweet old man who is kind of having a really tough day. I don't think he meant any harm or ill will towards anybody. I think he is just miss-understood.

I used to think if there was reincarnation, I wanted to come back as the president or the pope or a .400 baseball hitter. But now I want to come back as the bond market. You can intimidate everybody.

Thanks, Heidi. What a babe. He rocked my world.

Drag a $100 bill through a trailer camp and there's no telling what you will find.

Anybody who can't understand what football means to us doesn't understand what the heck goes on down there.

As a result of that forgiveness, I will never criticize or attack any of your past actions or remarks concerning matters of race relations or civil rights. Remember senator, we all make errors. Committing errors is not a tragedy, but failing to learn from them is a great one.

You say you've learned. I believe you. That settles it.

All you need to be able to do is write a check.

There's a 30% chance that Gore loses the popular vote and wins the electoral vote.

At a gut level, we know something's wrong. Instead of arguing about it, let's figure out what to do.

It's action-oriented, ... I hope Alan Webb can keep up with me.

It makes sense, because if he appears with Gore, it just sucks all the air out of everything; it's all people want to talk about. . . . Gore is in a tight, tight, tight race, and he's got to make his case himself.

It's unbelievable what LSU football does to the psychology of the state. If they play well on the 24th, it'll go a long, long way toward building back the morale of the people.

It was kind of like having a dream: You're riding a wagon down a hill and all of a sudden you're in a swimming pool, asking, 'How'd I get here?'

They look beautiful to me. But I'm hardly an art critic.

I ran races a long time ago. I won't be going for time. My philosophy is to start slow and taper.

Gee, this is something different here. There used to be a swing set there.

Am I surprised that Joe Klein [pseudonymous author of Primary Colors which he denied writing] lied? No, because in my opinion reporters lie all the time.

The country feels like it's entitled to abuse this state and forget about us, and we are sick of it.

They seem to be getting it together. How much damage will the picture of people spending four or five days on rooftops do That depends on how well it goes from here on out.

It's hard to think that you're a political consultant - not many people are going to get a crack at a thing like this.

As with mosquitoes, horseflies, and most bloodsucking parasites, Kenneth Starr was spawned in stagnant water.

Republicans now have their own network in Fox, so guys who don't like to answer questions, like Trent Lott, have a place to go to hit softballs.

The only politician in America I know with a man-date is Jim McGreevey.

Pennsylvania is Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between.

[Hollywood] hates America.

These are the people who don't believe in evolution or global warming. So, why would they believe default would hurt anything?

You don't need a guidebook to see New Orleans - just a good pair of shoes.

What does he stand for?

Sometimes a mind is like a mouth: you just got to shut it.

I didn’t just experiment with marijuana – if you know what I mean.

I've never seen a candidate - I've never seen a human being - who, with the most limited briefing, can understand the dimensions, the parameters, the nuances of everything of any kind of a policy or political problem.

There's a simple doctrine. Outside of a person's love the most sacred thing they can give is their labor. Labor is a very precious thing you have and any time you can combined labor and love you've really made a match.

Washington is a dirty diaper. It's time for a change.

This is not class warfare, this is generational warfare. This administration and old wealthy people have declared war on young people. That is the real war that is going on here. And that is the war we've got to talk about.

All the wrong people are against it, so it must be right.

Never underestimate people.

I used to think that if there was reincarnation, I wanted to come back as the president or the pope or as a .400 baseball hitter. But now I would like to come back as the bond market. You can intimidate everybody.

If you say three things, you don't say anything.

Don't get mad. Don't get even. Just get elected, then get even.

What's the real difference between Republicans and Democrats? Let me tell ya the real difference ... Republicans will always take on people in the interest of power and good democrats will never fear to take on the power in the interests of people.

Hurricane [Katrina] hit the Gulf Coast and destroyed much of the Gulf Coast - that was an act of God ... Now what happened to New Orleans, that was a complete failure of the federal government. Complete negligence by the feds.

You know, back in 2000 a Republican friend of mine warned me that if I voted for Al Gore and he won, the stock market would tank, we'd lose millions of jobs, and our military would be totally overstretched. You know what: I did vote for Al Gore, he did win, and I'll be damned if all those things didn't come true.

Winning an argument with your wife is like winning the war with Iraq. Once you win, you're in even more trouble.

What I'm suggesting is, stand for yourself, be for something and the hell with it. Because the hand-wringers and the editorialists and the sigh-and-pontificate crowd will be against you, whatever you do.

If Hillary gave up one of her balls and gave it to Obama, he'd have two.

Drag a $100 bill through a trailer camp and there's no telling what you will find.

The voter is basically dumb and lazy. The reason I became a Democratic operative instead of a Republican was because there were more Democrats that didn’t have a clue than there were Republicans.

Truth is relative. Truth is what you can make the voter believe is the truth. If you're smart enough, truth is what you make the voter think it is. That's why I'm a Democrat. I can make the Democratic voters think whatever I want them to.

Republicans want smaller government for the same reason crooks want fewer cops; it's easier to get away with murder.

You've asked for forgiveness. This letter is to inform you that, on the heels of a statement by my dear friend, Congressman John Lewis, a man I admire and respect as much as any living American, I do forgive you.