EDMUND S. MUSKIE

There's always a way to talk.

There are only two kinds of politics. They are not radical or reactionary, or conservative and liberal, or even Democratic and Republican. There are only the politics of fear and the politics of trust.

The press tends to reflect what's important to the country.

This is a country where loose talk is encouraged by the Constitution.

Can we afford clean water? Can we afford rivers and lakes and streams and oceans which continue to make possible life on this planet? Can we afford life itself? Those questions were never asked as we destroyed the waters of our nation, and they deserve no answers as we finally move to restore and renew them. These questions answer themselves.

I wish to make a unanimous-consent request, the necessity of which I find incredible. I ask unanimous consent to use hand calculators on the Senate floor.... I understand that the rules are so ancient that the ability to use these calculators except by unanimous consent seems to be in doubt.

In the heat of our campaigns, we have all become accustomed to a little anger and exaggeration. Yet, on the whole, our political process has served us well.

By God, you can't fight a war unless the people support it.

High quality water is more than the dream of the conservationists, more than a political slogan; high quality water, in the right quantity at the right place at the right time, is essential to health, recreation, and economic growth.

It's funny. Of all the jobs I've been ambitious for, this is one that never crossed my mind.

Looking at yourself through the media is like looking at one of those rippled mirrors in an amusement park.

It's funny. Of all the jobs I've been ambitious for, this is one that never crossed my mind.

In the heat of our campaigns, we have all become accustomed to a little anger and exaggeration. Yet, on the whole, our political process has served us well.

The press tends to reflect what's important to the country.

By God, you can't fight a war unless the people support it.

... in these elections of 1970, something has gone wrong. There has been name-calling and deception of almost unprecedented volume. Honorable men have been slandered. Faithful servants of the country have had their motives questioned and their patriotism doubted.... The danger from this assault is not that a few more Democrats might be defeated—the country can survive that. The true danger is that the American people will have been deprived of that public debate, that opportunity for fair judgment, which is the heartbeat of the democratic process. And that is something the country cannot afford.

I wish to make a unanimous-consent request, the necessity of which I find incredible. I ask unanimous consent to use hand calculators on the Senate floor.... I understand that the rules are so ancient that the ability to use these calculators except by unanimous consent seems to be in doubt.

There are only two kinds of politics. They are not radical or reactionary, or conservative and liberal, or even Democratic and Republican. There are only the politics of fear and the politics of trust.

There's always a way to talk.

This is a country where loose talk is encouraged by the Constitution.

I still believe with Adlai Stevenson that you can win elections by talking sense to the American people.

You have the God-given right to kick the government around. Don't hesitate to do so.

High quality water is more than the dream of the conservationists, more than a political slogan; high quality water, in the right quantity at the right place at the right time, is essential to health, recreation, and economic growth.

[I want] a one-armed scientist ... [Who would not qualify his advice with 'on the other hand...']

In Maine we have a saying that there's no point in speaking unless you can improve on silence.

Can we afford clean water? Can we afford rivers and lakes and streams and oceans which continue to make possible life on this planet? Can we afford life itself? Those questions were never asked as we destroyed the waters of our nation, and they deserve no answers as we finally move to restore and renew them. These questions answer themselves.

We have ignored this cancer for so long that the romance of environmental concern is already fading in the shadow of the grim realities of lakes, rivers and bays where all forms of life have been smothered by untreated wastes, and oceans which no longer provide us with food.