Theodore Roosevelt Quotes

To secure the ground we gain, and gain what more we can, is, I think, the wisest course

We just can’t be the party of NO. We have to be the party of solutions.

I'm a firm believer that if you put together a good product that is just good policy, that is embraced by both sides so that it is seen as politically advantageous to the Republicans or Democrats, that even in this very polarized partisan world that you can advance legislation. I have to believe that, or I wouldn't want to get up every morning.

Our story, Maryland's story, is the story of better choices and better results.

I don't think just scaring people is enough. That worked during the freeze days to a major extent, but we really didn't achieve that much even at that time. You have to have more, you have to give people hope and a vision of a better world.

The Washington establishment think Republicans win elections by you don't stand for anything, you keep your head down, you don't rock the boat. You know what? Every time we do that, we get clobbered in the polls.

There can be no wise politics without thought beforehand.

Criticism is always easier than constructive solutions.

It's easy to imagine ways the future can be ugly and depressing. It's harder, but more worthwhile, to imagine plausible ways we can make it better.

One of the things that I think you see sometimes in politics is a certain degree of caution. It's usually advised by consultants who don't want to see you march to the end of a limb.

In our music, in our everyday life, there are so many negative things. Why not have something positive and stamp it with blackness?

Wanting a more positive environment isn't enough. You need to do something, and it doesn't require a great deal of effort or some huge change in the way you approach things at work.

Sometimes you have to create a vision, a path for a vision. It may not be apparent, and you may have to forge it yourself. And that will be the way to move your life forward.

I like to complain and do nothing to make things better.

No legislator ever got in trouble for voting against a bill that passed or for a bill that didn’t pass.

We are not trying to limit debate, but we want the platform to support the President's [George W. Bush] position on everything possible, especially a high profile issue like abortion.

You are either part of the solution or part of the problem.

Critics never build anything.

I am a Republican. But I am not running on the Republican platform. I'm running on my own platform. I stand for the Republicanism of Abraham Lincoln.

In our talk a few days ago, you indicated that my candidacy for Congress on the Republican ticket would depend on my compliance with certain minimum requirements. Desirable and comfortable as a party nomination may be, I cannot sacrifice principle for the sake of party nomination or anything else. During my time in the House I ... voted according to my best judgement, and in a manner which I believed represented the wishes of the people of my district. The platform of the Republican party ... makes no appeal to the hope of the people whom I represent.

Referring to the 1960 Republican convention where the national ticket was determined well in advance:] The party itself was hyping the conflict to create interest in what otherwise might have been a very dull convention.

The Republicans make a pastime of trashing the 1st Amendment while the Democrats pastime is trashing the 2nd Amendment.

Here’s the role of the Republican Platform: Nobody reads it. I have been a Republican for 28 years and I have never read it.

The only people who aren’t criticized are those who do nothing, and I would hate to see the agency [CIA] get in that state.

I think the Democratic Party has to learn how to be a party of opposition.