Dorothy Bush Koch Quotes

In 'Profiles in Courage,' my grandfather, John F. Kennedy, praised leadership that put country above party, elevated principles over petty politics and promoted progress before personal interests.

You need the commitment of people that aren't worried about that next election, who are going to do the right thing and worry about the next generation. It's called political courage. And I can tell you, with me, you don't have to ask whether I have political courage.

But on the big things, I'm not going to trim in order to win public opinion. Because I really don't want to serve in the Senate if I arrive there without permission to do the things I think need to be done.

Self-preservation shouldn't be the first instinct in politics. It should be doing the right thing for the country.

Even now, we make no apologies for the choice we made. The sacrifices we made were selfless. The options we offered were patriotic while the paths we chose were well thought out.

It is as hard and severe a thing to be a true politician as to be truly moral.

We may disagree on some things, but we can do so without being disagreeable.

I would like to be remembered as one who in the world's darkest hours kept a clean conscience and stood at the end for the ideals of American democracy.

Unfortunately we are politicians when we should be statesmen.

It will hurt your political career, but it will help your nation.

I get very very concerned when I hear people start characterizing their opponents as stupid. I still understand that because politics is a little rough and tumble at times, but I don’t buy it and when they start calling each other either crazy or evil. You and I, we don’t compromise with crazy people or evil people. And so, I don’t think that’s helpful. Generally speaking, just because someone disagrees with you doesn’t make them crazy or evil.

You've got to do what's right, or what you think is right. And you've got to make tough decisions. And you've got to be willing to take on your friends when you disagree with them.

We need a president who will choose to do what's best for the country, even when it doesn't personally benefit them.

You have to be able to interact with people whose politics you disagree with.

There is a way to disagree with someone, but it doesn't have to be threatening.

That's something that the world needs to learn today: that you can disagree and still be friends.

My guiding principle as president has been to try to do the right thing even when it's not politically convenient.

The Profile in Courage Award recognizes elected officials who choose to do what is right, not what is easy, so that we might learn from their example. Each time we give the award, we bear witness to the past for the sake of the future.

We've become the party that wants to appease everyone and no one. And I think the only way that the Democrats become viable again is if we have people who have moral clarity and courage to say what they need to say and fight for what they need to fight for.

On healthcare, climate change, nuclear disarmament, gun control and countless other issues, President Obama consistently made difficult choices and put the national interest over his own political interest to do what was right. All the while, he resisted the politics of cynicism in a system that too often encourages it.

Work hard to do what's right, keep our future generation in focus and the future of our country in focus.

I don't believe that using inflammatory rhetoric on either side of a debate is productive.

As a country, we still have a lot of work to do. We need to agree on some basic rules for civil discourse.

There are people out there who disagree with me politically, and understand the limits of that disagreement. It doesn't mean we disagree as people on basic human needs.

I think you can be conservative and fight for what you believe in without being mean-spirited or bash people or be ugly about it.