John McCain Quotes

There will be times … when our safety will not be directly threatened, but our interests and values are …. In such cases, we should not be afraid to act.

Donald Trump, like most Americans, like most Republicans, believe in protecting America's core national interests.

Why do people like America? They say, well, you have the largest military in the world. Because you have more people, et cetera. They like America for what we stand for. And one of the things, and I feel proud to be, what this president's for, the last seven years, is we have once again aligned our basic fundamental beliefs and principles with our conduct. And it matters. It matters in terms of our security. It matters in terms of our ability to influence the world. It matters in our ability to succeed.

The greatest thing that we can do for the world is be America.

Since the end of the Cold War, America has been grasping left and right for an identity.

The balance of private good and general welfare is at the bottom of civilized morals; but the morals of the Heroic Age are founded on individuality, and on nothing else.

It didn't occur to me to go into something that didn't have an ethical return for me.

Right action tends to be defined in terms of general individual rights and standards that have been critically examined and agreed upon by the whole society.

When the commander-in-chief sends Americans to fight and die, it should be only to protect our vital national interests, not for his own personal, political gain.

I don't believe America will justifiably make an unprovoked attack on another nation. It would not be consistent with what we have been as a nation or what we should be as a nation.

Foreign policy - dealing as it does with the most charged political subjects of all, the safety and dignity of the nation - will always be political terrain particularly vulnerable to distortion and demagoguery.

Our foreign policy has been inspired by two simple principles: the determination to place France's interests above all others, and the conviction that France has no greater interest than that of peace.

That is where American foreign policy begins—with the interest, the aspirations, and the values of the American people.

It is important that we get our people back, but your greater responsibility is to protect the honor and dignity of our country and its foreign policy interests.

You cannot let America’s destiny be determined by a bunch of foreign journalists.

A nations loses its soul and spirit if it cannot act to protect its most basic interests and values.

We [the French] have to keep defending our vital interests …, we can say no, alone, to anything that may be unacceptable.

No one can think intelligently on the many complicated problems of American foreign policy unless he decides first what he considers the real purpose and object of that policy…. Fundamentally, I believe the ultimate purpose of our foreign policy must be to protect the liberty of the people of the United States.

Our preachers talk glibly of "introducing the Christian spirit into international relations. Do they realize what that involves? Do they realize that the introduction of the Christian spirit into international relations is impossible without the willingness of all nations to sacrifice their national interests for the sake of international interests of greater importance? …. Are they prepared to go to their government with that demand, or to fight the next election on that basis? If not, let them talk no more of introducing the Christian spirit into international relations.

In the aftermath of September 11, it has been made clear to us that our foreign policy can no longer afford to narrowly focus on short-term benefits. For our nation's long-term security, we must be active in promoting American values abroad through our foreign policy.

Lots of countries, like Israel, live with terrorism every day, and it doesn't impact their integrity. The big threat to America is the way we react to terrorism by throwing away what everybody values about our country - a commitment to human rights. America is a great nation because we are a good nation.

As a mature and responsible nation, one of India's foreign policy interests is to evolve a regional architecture based on the twin principles of shared security and shared prosperity.

Personal interests have no importance compared to national interests.

Ultimately, when you have to deal with a whole country, priorities change.

We are committed to a world in which we keep America safe, but we recognize that our power doesn't just flow from our extraordinary military but also flows from the strength in our ideals and our principles and our values.