Quotes from George W. Bush

Americans do not yet have the distance of history," I said. "But our responsibility to history is already clear: to answer these attacks and rid the world of evil. War has been waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder. This nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger. This conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others. It will end in a way, and at an hour, of our choosing.

When I was young and irresponsible, I was young and irresponsible.

My father enjoyed working hard, and he liked to see the result of his efforts. The lessons his mother had instilled had taken hold: Do your best. Don't be arrogant. Never complain.

When you know you have unconditional love, there is no point in rebellion and no need to fear failure. I was free to follow my instincts, enjoy my life, and love my parents as much as they loved me.

When the Holy Father passed away in 2005, Laura, Dad, Bill Clinton, and I flew together to his funeral in Rome. It was the first time an American president had attended the funeral of a pope, let alone brought two of his predecessors.

I had watched Dad climb into the biggest arena and succeed. I wanted to find out if I had what it took to join him.

China's experience reminded me of the French and Russian revolutions. The pattern was the same: People seized control by promising to promote certain ideals. Once they had consolidated power, they abused it, casting aside their beliefs and brutalizing their fellow citizens. It was as if mankind had a sickness that it kept inflicting on itself.

I was concerned about the legality of the program, and so I asked lawyers—of which you got plenty of them in Washington—to determine whether or not I could do this legally. And they came back and said yes.

A great nation does not hide its history. It faces its flaws and corrects them.

Our country must abandon all the habits of racism because we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the same time.

From the day of our founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this earth has rights, and dignity, and matchless value because they bear the image of the Maker of heaven and earth. Across the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be a slave.

The grandest of these ideals is an unfolding American promise that everyone belongs, that everyone deserves a chance, that no insignificant person was ever born.