Great Throughts Treasury

This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.

Richard Nixon, fully Richard Milhous Nixon

American 37th President of the United States, the only president to resign the office, also held offices as U.S. Representative, Senator and 36th Vice President

"If an individual wants to be a leader and isn’t controversial, that means he never stood for anything."

"In dealing with the environment we must learn now how to master nature but how to master ourselves, our institutions, and our technology."

"The media are far more powerful than the President in creating public awareness and shaping public opinion, for the simple reason that the media always have the last word."

"I seek the Presidency not because it offers me a change to be somebody but because it offers a chance to do something."

"[The antiwar movement is] a wild orgasm of anarchists sweeping across the country like a prairie fire."

"A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits."

"1 in 10 chance perhaps, but save Chile! worth spending; not concerned; no involvement of embassy; $10,000,00 available, more if necessary; full-time job "

"A man who has never lost himself in a cause bigger than himself has missed one of life's mountaintop experiences. Only in losing himself does he find himself. Only then does he discover all the latent strengths he never knew he had and which otherwise would have remained dormant."

"A public man must never forget that he loses his usefulness when he as an individual, rather than his policy, becomes the issue."

"A person can be expected to act responsibly only if he has responsibility. This is human nature. So let us encourage individuals at home and nations abroad to do more for themselves, to decide more for themselves. Let us locate responsibility in more places."

"All lasting change is incremented, based on unfolding traditions and developing institutions. Revolutionary upheavals may change how the world looks but seldom changes the way the world works. Lasting historical change comes not through tidal waves but through the irresistible creeping tide."

"Always give your best, never get discouraged, never be petty; always remember, others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself."

"Always remember others may hate you but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself."

"A riot is a spontaneous outburst. A war is subject to advance planning."

"Any change is resisted because bureaucrats have a vested interest in the chaos in which they exist."

"Americans admire a people who can scratch a desert and produce a garden. The Israelis have shown qualities that Americans identify with: guts, patriotism, idealism, a passion for freedom. I have seen it. I know. I believe that."

"Any nation that decides the only way to achieve peace is through peaceful means is a nation that will soon be a piece of another nation."

"Archie's Guys. Archie is sitting here with his hippie son-in-law, married to the screwball daughter. The son-in-law apparently goes both ways. This guy. He's obviously queer "

"Any culture which can put a man on the Moon is capable of gathering all the nations of the earth in peace, justice and concord."

"As long as I'm sitting in the chair, there's not going to be any Jew appointed to that court. [No Jew] can be right on the criminal-law issue."

"Baseball is great because anything can happen through the ninth inning."

"Because of what you have done the heavens have become a part of man's world. And as you talk to us from the Sea of Tranquillity, it inspires us to redouble our efforts to bring peace and Tranquillity to Earth. For one priceless moment, in the whole history of man, all the people on this Earth are truly one. One in their pride in what you have done. One in our prayers that you will return safely to Earth. [To Neil Armstrong after he landed successfully on the Moon.]"

"Because of the realities of human nature, perfect peace is achieved in two places only: in the grave and at the typewriter."

"As this long and difficult war ends, I would like to address a few special words to ... the American people: Your steadfastness in supporting our insistence on peace with honor has made peace with honor possible (On the Vietnam War)."

"Before we become too arrogant with the most deadly of the seven deadly sins, the sin of pride, let us remember that the two great wars of this century, wars which cost twenty million dead, were fought between Christian nations praying to the same God."

"Castro couldn't even go to the bathroom unless the Soviet Union put the nickel in the toilet."

"But it's not just the ratty part of town. The upper class in San Francisco is that way. The Bohemian Grove, which I attend from time to time "

"Certainly in the next 50 years we shall see a woman president, perhaps sooner than you think. A woman can and should be able to do any political job that a man can do."

"Defeat doesn't finish a man -- quit does. A man is not finished when he's defeated. He's finished when he quits."

"Don't get the impression that you arouse my anger. You see, one can only be angry with those he respects."

"Each moment in history is a fleeting time, precious and unique. But some stand out as moments of beginning, in which courses are set that shape decades or centuries. This can be such a moment. Forces now are converging that make possible, for the first time, the hope that many of man's deepest aspirations can at last be realized. The spiraling pace of change allows us to contemplate, within our own lifetime, advances that once would have taken centuries."

"Do you want to make a point or do you want to make a change? Do you want to get something off your chest, or do you want to get something done?"

"Federal and state laws (should) be changed to no longer make it a crime to possess marijuana for private use."

"Economic power is not the same as strength of national character. Our country may be rich in goods, but we are poor in spirit."

"Finishing second in the Olympics gets you silver. Finishing second in politics gets you oblivion."

"For the first time, because the people of the world want peace, and the leaders of the world are afraid of war, the times are on the side of peace."

"For its part, Government will listen. We will strive to listen in new ways - to the voices of quiet anguish, to voices that speak without words, the voices of the heart, to the injured voices, and the anxious voices, and the voices that have despaired of being heard."

"From this day forward, let each of us make a solemn commitment in his own heart: to bear his responsibility, to do his part, to live his ideals--so that together, we can see the dawn of a new age of progress for America, and together, as we celebrate our 200th anniversary as a nation, we can do so proud in the fulfillment of our promise to ourselves and to the world."

"For years politicians have promised the moon, I'm the first one to be able to deliver it."

"Government enterprise is the most inefficient and costly way of producing jobs."

"He has been called a mediocre man; but this is unwarranted flattery. He was a politician of monumental littleness."

"History is a pathetic junkyard of broken treaties."

"I believe one of America's most priceless assets is the idealism which motivates the young people of America. My generation has invested all that it has, not only its love but its hope and faith, in yours."

"I am not a crook."

"I believe in the battle - whether it's the battle of a campaign or the battle of this office, which is a continuing battle."

"I brought myself down. I impeached myself by resigning."

"I call it the Madman Theory, Bob. I want the North Vietnamese to believe I've reached the point where I might do anything to stop the war. We'll just slip the word to them that, for God's sake, you know Nixon is obsessed about Communism. We can't restrain him when he's angry "

"I can see clearly now ... that I was wrong in not acting more decisively and more forthrightly in dealing with Watergate."

"I can take it... The tougher it gets, the cooler I get."

"I don't give a shit what happens. I want you all to stonewall it, let them plead the Fifth Amendment, cover up or anything else, if it'll save it, save this plan. That's the whole point. We're going to protect our people if we can."