Top 100 Gerald R. Ford Quotes

#1. A coalition of groups is waging a massive propaganda campaign against the president of the United States. an all-out attack. Their aim is total victory for themselves and total defeat for him.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #4019
#2. I am a Ford, not a Lincoln. My addresses will never be as eloquent as Mr. Lincoln's. But I will do my very best to equal his brevity and his plain speaking.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #40879
#3. I am the first to admit that I am no great orator or no person that got where I have gotten by any William Jennings Bryan technique.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #45200
#4. Today, America can regain the sense of pride that existed before Vietnam. These events, tragic as they are, portend neither the end of the world nor of America's leadership in the world.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #49906
#5. We must proceed with our own energy development. Exploitation of domestic petroleum and natural gas potentialities, along with nuclear, solar, geothermal, and non-fossil fuels is vital. We will never again permit any foreign nation to have Uncle Sam over a barrel of oil.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #53154
#6. Government exists to create and preserve conditions in which people can translate their ideas into practical reality. In the best of times, much is lost in translation. But we try.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #60135
#7. I have had a lot of adversaries in my political life, but no enemies that I can remember.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #60801
#8. I would like to deny all allegations by Bob Hope that during my last game of golf, I hit an eagle, a birdie, an elk and a moose.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #67214
#9. The political lesson of Watergate is this: Never again must America allow an arrogant, elite guard of political adolescents to by-pass the regular party organization and dictate the terms of a national election.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #105257
#10. It is good to be back in the Peoples House. But this cannot be a real homecoming. Under the Constitution, I now belong to the executive branch. The Supreme Court has even ruled that I am the executive branchhead, heart, and hand.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #107386
#11. Obviously, it's a great privilege and pleasure to be here at the Yale Law School Sesquicentennial Convocation. And I defy anyone to say that and chew gum at the same time.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #117315
#12. Our Nation has a diverse and extremely rich cultural heritage. It is a source of pride and strength to millions of Americans who look to the arts for inspiration, communication and the opportunity for creative self-expression.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #143297
#13. I cannot imagine any other country in the world where the opposition would seek, and the chief executive would allow, the dissemination of his most private and personal conversations with his staff, which, to be honest, do not exactly confer sainthood on anyone concerned.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #145188
#14. My commitment to the security and future of Israel is based upon basic morality as well as enlightened self-interest. Our role in supporting Israel honors our own heritage.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #200760
#15. In all my public and private acts as your president, I expect to follow my instincts of openness and candor with full confidence that honesty is always the best policy in the end.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #209563
#16. As President, I am determined to offer leadership to overcome our current economic problems. My goal is for jobs for all who want to work and economic opportunity for all who want to achieve.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #220606
#17. America needed recovery, not revenge. The hate had to be drained and the healing begun.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #257964
#18. I love sports. Whenever I can, I always watch the Detroit Tigers on the radio.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #284923
#19. All of us who served in one war or another know very well that all wars are the glory and the agony of the young.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #289168
#20. I was dumbfounded by the stupidity of the Watergate break-in.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #293687
#21. In baseball when they say you're out, you're out. It's the same way in politics.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #389579
#22. For millions of men and women, the church has been the hospital for the soul, the school for the mind and the safe depository for moral ideas.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #391441
#23. All my children have spoken for themselves since they first learned to speak, and not always with my advance approval, and I expect that to continue in the future.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #419524
#24. So much of what passes for public life consists of little more than candidates without ideas, hiring consultants without conviction, to stage campaigns without content. The result, increasingly, is elections without voters.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #455421
#25. I strongly support the feeding of children.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #459138
#26. I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots, so I ask you to confirm me with your prayers.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #472946
#27. Tell the truth, work hard, and come to dinner on time.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #497225
#28. I had pro offers from the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers, who were pretty hard up for linemen in those days. If I had gone into professional football the name Jerry Ford might have been a household word today.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #512298
#29. Richard Nixon was just offered $2 million by Schick to do a television commercial - for Gillette.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #538508
#30. An American tragedy in which we all have played a part.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #571738
#31. It feels like getting a back massage from the Grim Reaper: one must get comfortable with the most horrifying things in the world.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #576091
#32. We came from many roots, and we have many branches.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #644331
#33. In a democracy, the public has a right to know not only what the government decides, but why and by what process.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #680498
#34. I have taken special interest in these accounts [of UFOs].. I think there may be substance to some of these reports ... I think we owe it to the people to establish credibility regarding UFOs and to produce the greatest possible enlightenment on this subject.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #682243
#35. We have too long treated the natural world as an adversary rather than as a life-sustaining gift from the Almighty. If man has the genius to build, which he has, he must also have the ability and the responsibility to preserve.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #700300
#36. I recognize the need for technology that enriches life while preserving our natural environment. My goal is to stimulate productivity, but use technology to redeem, not to destroy our environment.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #705323
#37. The pat on the back, the arm around the shoulder, the praise for what was done right and the sympathetic nod for what wasn't are as much a part of golf as life itself.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #736339
#38. As a man of the Congress, let me reaffirm my conviction that the collective wisdom of our two great legislative bodies, while not infallible, will in the end serve the people faithfully and very, very well.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #776401
#39. I think they ought to be treated equally. Period.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #822116
#40. We ... declared our independence 200 years ago, and we are not about to lose it now to paper shufflers and computers.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #831336
#41. Theirs is an American tragedy in which we all have played a part. It could go on and on, or someone must write "The End" to it. I have concluded that only I can do that. And if I can, I must.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #870324
#42. I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our government, but civilization itself.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #897325
#43. Ronald Reagan was an excellent leader of our nation during challenging times at home and abroad.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #900322
#44. There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration ... The United States does notconcede that those countries are under the domination of the Soviet Union.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #967151
#45. The three-martini lunch is the epitome of American efficiency. Where else can you get an earful, a bellyful and a snootful at the same time?

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1017584
#46. For nearly two hundred years, our nation has derived its strength from the diversity of its people and of their beliefs. That strength has been greatly enhanced by [the Islamic] religious heritage.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1021599
#47. There are no adequate substitutes for father, mother, and children bound together in a loving commitment to nurture and protect. No government, no matter how well-intentioned, can take the place of the family in the scheme of things.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1022241
#48. America's leadership is essential. America's resources are vast. America's opportunities are unprecedented.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1037891
#49. My goal is for a cooperative world at peace, using its resources to build, not to destroy.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1056025
#50. Even though this is late in an election year, there is no way we can go forward except together and no way anybody can win except by serving the people's urgent needs. We cannot stand still or slip backwards. We must go forward now together.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1058905
#51. Music education opens doors that help children pass from school into the world around them - a world of work, culture, intellectual activity, and human involvement. The future of our nation depends on providing our children with a complete education that includes music.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1065989
#52. I've had a lot of experience with people smarter than I am.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1069385
#53. An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1069800
#54. It's the quality of the ordinary, the straight, the square, that accounts for the great stability and success of our nation. It's a quality to be proud of. But it's a quality that many people seem to have neglected.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1075826
#55. I had a life-long ambition to be a professional baseball player, but nobody would sign me.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1114323
#56. A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1146658
#57. To me, the Presidency and the Vice-Presidency were not prizes to be won, but a duty to be done.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1163861
#58. Humor can help you to disagree without being disagreeable. The key in democracy is not necessarily that we agree, but that we participate ... Despite all the heavy problems- domestic and international- there is humor. Humor transcends partisanship.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1163934
#59. The American dream does not come to those who fall asleep.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1189201
#60. Things are the way they are now, more than they ever have been before.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1209120
#61. This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1214312
#62. Mr. President, putting it bluntly, wouldn't we just be continuing a bloodbath that already exists in Cambodia if we voted the 222 million in aid?

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1233364
#63. I do believe, with all my heart and mind and spirit, that I, not as President but as a humble servant of God, will receive justice without mercy if I fail to show mercy.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1242037
#64. The old question still remains: Can a free people restrain crime without sacrificing fundamental liberties and a heritage of compassion?

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1271035
#65. My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over. Our constitution works.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1306922
#66. Conservatism has always meant more to me than simply sticking up for private property & free enterprise. It has also meant defending our heritage & preserving our values.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1313297
#67. As I rejected amnesty, so I reject revenge. I ask all Americans who ever asked for goodness and mercy in their lives, who ever sought forgiveness for their trespasses, to join in rehabilitating all the casualties of the tragic conflict of the past.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1332495
#68. One of the enduring truths of the nation's capital is that bureaucrats survive.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1343478
#69. Never be satisfied with less than your very best effort. If you strive for the top and miss, you'll still 'beat the pack.'

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1358994
#70. There is no undertaking more challenging, no responsibility more awesome, than that of being a mother.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1368037
#71. I watch a lot of baseball on the radio.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1375884
#72. It's discouraging how hard it is for a President to slice away large chunks of a $305 billion budget.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1396499
#73. Real assistance is to help people to help themselves. We can't do everything for everybody, but there is room for all who try to make it.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1429176
#74. I have always felt that the real purpose of government is to enhance the lives of people and that a leader can best do that by restraining government in most cases instead of enlarging it at every opportunity.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1436562
#75. Let us put an end to self-inflicted wounds. Let us remember that our national unity is a most priceless asset. Let us deny our adversaries the satisfaction of using Vietnam to pit Americans against Americans.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1480990
#76. It's more like it is now than it ever has been.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1500458
#77. A great nation cannot abandon its responsibilities. Responsibilities abandoned today return as more acute crises tomorrow.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1503221
#78. We are bound together by the most powerful of all ties, our fervent love for freedom and independence, which knows no homeland but the human heart.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1507135
#79. Personal excellence can be achieved by a visionary goal, through planning, dedicated execution, and total follow-through.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1511125
#80. The Federal role in overcoming barriers to needed health care should emphasize health care financing programs-such as Medicare and Medicaid.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1516120
#81. There is an old saying, The harder you try the luckier you get. I kind of like that definition of luck.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1561957
#82. He was one of the few political leaders I have ever met whose public speeches revealed more than his private conversations. [On Ronald Reagan]

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1566054
#83. I just don't think we should go hellfire damnation around the globe freeing people, unless it is directly related to our own national security.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1597884
#84. If Lincoln were alive today he'd be turning over in his grave.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1603329
#85. I would hope that understanding and reconciliation are not limited to the 19th hole alone.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1636789
#86. If I went back to college again, I'd concentrate on two areas learning to write and to speak before an audience. Nothing in life is more important than the ability to communicate effectively.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1649551
#87. I can assure you the National Federation is an organization of Republican women whose power, prestige, perception, and purpose will never be underestimated by anyone.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1704119
#88. The length of one's days matters less than the love of one's family and friends.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1717810
#89. Teddy Roosevelt ... once said, 'Speak softly and carry a big stick.' Jimmy Carter wants to speak loudly and carry a fly swatter.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1721040
#90. The spirit of seeking understanding through personal contact with people of other nations and other cultures deserves the respect and support of all.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1723818
#91. I don't know what the future may hold for me-or for any of us. But I want you to know that I am a man who likes having critics who are not enemies.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1725231
#92. I do believe that the buck stops here, that I cannot rely upon public opinion polls to tell me what is right.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1732236
#93. I am a Ford, not a Lincoln.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1759895
#94. Ronald Regan doesn't dye his hair - he's just prematurely orange.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1776143
#95. Let America symbolize humanity's struggle to conquer nature and master technology. The time has now come for our Government to facilitate the individual's control over his or her future-and of the future of America.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1802668
#96. History and experience tell us that moral progress comes not in comfortable and complacent times, but out of trial and confusion.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1826180
#97. Our great Republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here, the people rule.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1826307
#98. I am determined to seek self-sufficiency in energy as an urgent national priority. My goal is to make America independent of foreign energy sources by 1985.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1860661
#99. We must introduce a new balance in the relationship between the individual and the government
a balance that favors greater individual freedom and self-reliance.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1861056
#100. I remain convinced that pardoning Nixon was the right thing to do.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Quotes #1861297

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