Quotes from Bill Clinton

this guy ever had an unselfish thought, as my mama would say, it would die of loneliness.

The soldiers closest to the door on each side flip their flashbangs into the apartment and quickly turn away from the threshold. A second later, the stun grenades detonate, producing a concussive blast of 180 decibels and a searing, blinding light. For five seconds, the occupants will be blind, deaf, and unbalanced.

have any thoughts here?" She looks surprised that I'm asking. "You want to know what I'd do?" "Yes, Liz. You went to one of those

He likes to wear bow ties so we'll all know how intelligent he is. Personally, I've seen Post-it notes with more depth.

If this guy ever had an unselfish thought, as my mama would say, it would die of loneliness.

Our democracy cannot survive its current downward drift into tribalism, extremism, and seething resentment. Today it's "us versus them" in America. Politics is little more than blood sport.

That boy's so dumb he couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the directions were on the bottom.

The first two times you heard me speak, I sounded like a fool. I made about as much sense as a top hat on a mule. I wasn't sure a third attempt would do me any better, So I decided that I'd put my thoughts down in a letter.

As a result, our willingness to believe the worst about everyone outside our own bubble is growing, and our ability to solve problems and seize opportunities is shrinking.

We have to do better. We have honest differences. We need vigorous debates. Healthy skepticism is good. It saves us from being too naive or too cynical. But it is impossible to preserve democracy when the well of trust runs completely dry.

I look at Danny and Carolyn, the only other people in the room. It's time for me to go, alone and off the record. For years I've been constantly going, but never alone and never off the record. The Secret Service takes every step with me, and at least one aide is almost always there, even when I'm on vacation. A record is kept of where I am every hour.

You remember when we first took this route?" I ask, recalling our postelection tour before I took the oath of office. "Like it was yesterday," says Carolyn. "I'll never forget it," Danny says. "We were so full of…hope, I guess. We were so sure we'd make the world a better place." Carolyn says, "Maybe you were. I was scared to death.

Everyone eligible to vote should be able to do so without unnecessary inconvenience

You can think whatever you want, Mr. Speaker, but you should show respect—if not for me then for all the other people who dedicate their lives to stopping terrorism and keeping our country safe. We aren't perfect, and we never will be. But we will never stop doing our best.

state and national legislative districts should be drawn by nonpartisan bodies to more fully represent the diversity of opinion and interests that is one of the greatest assets of our nation.

Nobody does anything for nothing.

Scholars call this false equivalency. It means that when you find a mountain to expose in one person or party, you have to pick a molehill on the other side and make it into a mountain to avoid being accused of bias.

We know we have to face hard truths and take strong steps, but we have not done so; instead, we have drifted. And that drifting has eroded our resources, fractured our economy, and shaken our confidence.

That tells us something, at least. They weren't true believers, not radicals. This wasn't ISIS or Al Qaeda or any of their cancerous branches. They were mercenaries for hire.

Savagery in the quest for power is older than the Bible, but some of my opponents really hate my guts. They don't just want to run me out of office. They won't be satisfied unless I'm sent to prison, drawn and quartered, and erased from the history books. Hell, if they had their way, they'd probably burn down my house in North Carolina and spit on my wife's grave.

The idea that power was an end in itself, rather than a means to provide the security and opportunity necessary for the pursuit of happiness, seemed to him stupid and self-defeating. (about Senator Fulbright)

In the corner of the room, the triumvirate of my top aides sits in observation: the chief of staff, Carolyn Brock; Danny Akers, my oldest friend and White House counsel; and Jenny Brickman, my deputy chief of staff and senior political adviser. All of them stoic, stone-faced, worried. Not one of them wanted me to do this. It was their unanimous conclusion that I was making the biggest mistake of my presidency.

Sun Tzu said, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

I put the car in Park and kill the ignition. When I do so, I feel the tidal-wave rush, as I knew I would—the shakes, the post-adrenaline, post-traumatic physical reaction.