BERT LANCE

I don't know of anything illegal or even unethical that Bert Lance has ever done.

The pioneers get all the arrows.

I did not want to be a source of diversion from the Mondale-Ferraro ticket. It appears no matter what I did or tried to do, that would not be the case. I came to the conclusion that it was in the best interest of all to stand aside.

I devised the Bert Lance Toe Test then - you go out on the front porch of the house, turn 'The Washington Post' over with your big toe, and if your name's above the fold, you know you're not going to have a good day.

I don't see I'll ever arrive at the point where I'll say, 'Lance old boy, you've arrived at success.' There's no question about it. Once you get to the point where you've arrived at a station called success, you get complacent and lethargic. Those goals you set keep changing. But it's not a ruthless sort of thing.

I've always believed that if you had a fellow who works 150 percent of the time, he's going to beat a fellow who works something less than that.

All these years, they've been giving lip service to saying that we are a party that is inclusive instead of exclusive. We've said the Democratic Party has a great big umbrella, and everybody can be comfortable under that umbrella. If they didn't mean it, then it ought to be pulled apart.

I don't know how smart I am. I just try to be what I am. I hope I'm modest. I think that's a desirable trait.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Jesse Jackson is not anti-Semitic, but in politics, you always get in trouble when you try to be cute.

Tell the President [Jimmy Carter] not to appoint [Paul A.] Volcker [as Federal Reserve Chairman.] If he appoints Volcker, he will be mortgaging his re-election to the Federal Reserve.

Tell the President [Jimmy Carter] not to appoint [Paul A.] Volcker [as Federal Reserve Chairman.] If he appoints Volcker, he will be mortgaging his re-election to the Federal Reserve.

The pioneers get all the arrows.

What you need to be concerned about is the rate of inflation and the direction of interest rates. If they are both going in the wrong direction in 1980, you're not going to be re-elected.

I devised the Bert Lance Toe Test then - you go out on the front porch of the house, turn 'The Washington Post' over with your big toe, and if your name's above the fold, you know you're not going to have a good day.

Some people just decide they won't vote for you, but it doesn't have to be all negative.

Folks are serious about three things: Their religion, their family and, most of all, their money.

If you have a situation where you need help, it doesn't make any difference where it comes from.

I'm a futures man.

I did not want to be a source of diversion from the Mondale-Ferraro ticket. It appears no matter what I did or tried to do, that would not be the case. I came to the conclusion that it was in the best interest of all to stand aside.

Jesse Jackson is not anti-Semitic, but in politics, you always get in trouble when you try to be cute.

I've always believed that if you had a fellow who works 150 percent of the time, he's going to beat a fellow who works something less than that.

I don't know how smart I am. I just try to be what I am. I hope I'm modest. I think that's a desirable trait.

If the house is on fire, and the fireman shows up, you don't question his color or credentials. You don't send him back to the firehouse and say, 'Send somebody else.'

I happen to truly believe this: Success is a journey and not a destination.

Country banks are more flexible in their lending policies than their city brethren are.

In politics, they don't want anything that deters whatever their goal is. When people get in the way of that, that's when people get hurt - and sometimes destroyed.

The press aren't willing to wait for whatever the truth is - the truth never catches up with the lie... Destroying people ought not to be a competitive business.

I guess it is ironical that I have a chance to say to Jesse Jackson, 'You need to be mature. You need to be positive. You need to be bigger than the folks who are trying to tear you down.'

It's never easy to say you're sorry.

In politics, you have to understand that there are some cases where you'll never be able to get votes.

I don't see I'll ever arrive at the point where I'll say, 'Lance old boy, you've arrived at success.' There's no question about it. Once you get to the point where you've arrived at a station called success, you get complacent and lethargic. Those goals you set keep changing. But it's not a ruthless sort of thing.

All these years, they've been giving lip service to saying that we are a party that is inclusive instead of exclusive. We've said the Democratic Party has a great big umbrella, and everybody can be comfortable under that umbrella. If they didn't mean it, then it ought to be pulled apart.

I've always tried to set some kind of goal. I want to be better than anybody in the banking business, and when I ran the Highway Department in Georgia, I wanted it to be the best in the country. And of course, I have a high sense of public service.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.