George W. Bush

America has never been an empire. We may be the only great power in history that had the chance, and refused – preferring greatness to power and justice to glory.

The peaceful transfer of authority is rare in history, yet common in our country. With a simple oath, we affirm old traditions and make new beginnings.

For too long, many nations, including my own, tolerated, even excused, oppression in the Middle East in the name of stability. Oppression became common, but stability never arrived. We must take a different approach. We must help the reformers of the Middle East as they work for freedom, and strive to build a community of peaceful, democratic nations.

By heritage and by choice, the United States of America will make that stand.

I respect every soldier, from every country, who serves beside us in the hard work of history. America is grateful, and America will not forget.

I've often thought that the process of aging could be slowed down if it had to go through Congress.

I have opinions of my own -- strong opinions -- but I don't always agree with them.

....it is better to succeed with success than failure.

Most of our imports come from other countries.

I think we agree, the past is over.

... if you find a person that you've never seen before getting in a crop duster that doesn't belong to you -- report it.

Chew before you swallow.

Grief and tragedy and hatred are only for a time. Goodness, remembrance and love have no end.

We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail.

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.

Don't confuse being 'soft' with seeing the other guy's point of view.

You know what's interesting about Washington? It's the kind of place where second-guessing has become second nature.

I believe that freedom is the deepest need of every human soul.

Whether we bring our enemies to justice, or justice to our enemies, justice will be done.

History is moving, and it will tend toward hope, or tend toward tragedy.

Our security is assured by our perseverance and by our sure belief in the success of liberty.

America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country.

It's a time of sorrow and sadness when we lose a loss of life.

The agenda of the roadblock is the philosophy of the stop sign.

America does not need a permission slip to defend ourselves.

If America shows weakness and uncertainty, the world will drift toward tragedy. That will not happen on my watch.

Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done.

As Americans, we want peace -- we work and sacrifice for peace. But there can be no peace if our security depends on the will and whims of a ruthless and aggressive dictator. I'm not willing to stake one American life on trusting Saddam Hussein.

Every nation in every region now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.

I believe that God has planted in every human heart the desire to live in freedom. And even when that desire is crushed by tyranny for decades, it will rise again.

They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program.

American foreign policy must be more than the management of crisis. It must have a great and guiding goal: to turn this time of American influence into generations of democratic peace.

The case for trade is not just monetary, but moral. Economic freedom creates habits of liberty. And habits of liberty create expectations of democracy.

America has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens.

We know that dictators are quick to choose aggression, while free nations strive to resolve differences in peace. We know that oppressive governments support terror, while free governments fight the terrorists in their midst. We know that free peoples embrace progress and life, instead of becoming the recruits for murderous ideologies.

The advance of liberty is the path to both a safer and better world.

See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda.

America will never run... And we will always be grateful that liberty has found such brave defenders.

The desire for freedom resides in every human heart. And that desire cannot be contained forever by prison walls, or martial laws, or secret police. Over time, and across the Earth, freedom will find a way.

In the defense of our nation, a president must be a clear-eyed realist. There are limits to the smiles and scowls of diplomacy. Armies and missiles are not stopped by stiff notes of condemnation. They are held in check by strength and purpose and the promise of swift punishment.

We have learned that terrorist attacks are not caused by the use of strength; they are invited by the perception of weakness. And the surest way to avoid attacks on our own people is to engage the enemy where he lives and plans. We are fighting that enemy in Iraq and Afghanistan today so that we do not meet him again on our own streets, in our own cities.

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.