George Herbert Walker Bush Quotes (31 Quotes)



    A presidency can shape an era - and it can change our lives. A successful presidency can give meaning to an age.

    Study hard, and you might grow up to be President. But let's face it Even then, you'll never make as much money as your dog.

    Then we lost a child, there was that incident, a four year-old little girl. It had a profound effect on me and on Barbara. You know, ... when you lose a child some families go apart. There's a common wisdom that the loss of a loved one for parents divides them later on. People cite divorce statistics. In our case it was just the other way around. And our family has been close, close, close. And Barbara and I have been married for over 50 years, and I think that horrible incident drew us even closer together.

    I will never apologize for the United States of America I don't care what the facts are. Said after 'Vincennes' shot down an Iranian Airliner.


    It's family, and it's faith, and it's friends, and it's not the glamour of the Presidency, or the wonder of going to receive the Nobel Prize. All those are important, of course. But maybe it's just that I'm 71 years old now. It's family, and it's faith, and it's friends. I would tell them that. Don't forget that. In your brilliance, don't turn your back on your friends. Don't think you're entitled to something, you're smarter than the next guy.

    American business can out-think, out-work, out-perform any nation in the world. But we can't beat the competition if we don't get in the ball game.

    The Congress will push me to raise taxes and I'll say no, and they'll push, and I'll say no, and they'll push again. And I'll say to them, read my lips, no new taxes.

    As for me, tough duty though it may be, I continue to do my part for the commercial recreation industry. Fishing, boating, tennis, golf, running, hunting, and all of this. Horseshoes. It's tough duty. Somebody has to do it, and I'm going to keep on.


    This aggression will not stand. With these words, George Bush committed the United States to the liberation of the oil-rich Kingdom of Kuwait, after it had been occupied by the Republic of Iraq in August of 1990.

    If I were to give advice to young people, high-achieving young people for example, I'd have to say, don't neglect your family. Politics is important, sitting at the head table is glamorous. Traveling around the world, trying to do something for world peace was wonderful. But ... Family and friends and faith are what are really matters in life. And I know that. I see it so clearly now.


    My grandkids say, 'Reality Bites.' O. K., but it also challenges and rewards.... I believe our best days are yet to come.

    People must be free to work, to save, to own their own home, to take risks, to invest in each other and, in essence, to control their own lives.

    I take as my guide the hope of a saint in crucial things, unity in important things, diversity in all things, generosity.


    I think the major event that shaped my life was being a Naval aviator. I got my commission and wings at 18 years old, and then I went into combat at 19. And I think, as I look back on it, that whole experience probably shaped my life more than any incident, or any event.



    Real improvement in our schools is not simply a matter of spending more, it is a matter of expecting more.





    The only time I had any butterflies was when I stood up and backed toward the open door and looked down. Describing his sky diving experience, 1997

    I don't know that atheists should be considered citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.



    Abraham Lincoln truly inspired me. It wasn't just the freeing of the slaves, he kept the Union together. Some people even forget that today. What I think inspired me was the fact that in spite of being the President of the United States he retained a certain down-to-earth quality. He never got to be a big shot, and he cared about people.

    I remember when I was shot down in that war. I remember how terrified I was. And it made me feel close to my family, and to God, and to life, and I was scared.


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