James Forrestal Quotes

It does not seem to me to be sufficiently recognized everywhere among the officials that the existence or non-existence of our people and Empire is at stake.

Our common country is in great peril, demanding the loftiest views, and boldest action to bring it speedy relief. Once relieved, its form of government is saved to the world; its beloved history, and cherished memories, are vindicated; and its happy future fully assured, and rendered inconceivably grand.

Many other countries in this world are in a difficult situation, and all the Thai people are probably worried about the fate of Thailand: whether the country would survive or not.

The present danger which this country faces is at least as great as the danger which we faced during the war with Germany and Japan. Briefly stated, it is the very real danger that this country, as we know it, may cease to exist.

Ladies and gentlemen, I wish I had better news for you but we are facing a storm that most of us have feared. This is a threat that we've never faced before.

The actions that we take on the counterterrorism front, again, are to take actions against individuals where we believe that the intelligence base is so strong and the nature of the threat is so grave and serious, as well as imminent, that we have no recourse except to take this action that may involve a lethal strike.

What has happened to America's survival instincts?

The state of Israel must, from time to time, prove clearly that it is strong, and able and willing to use force, in a devastating and highly effective way. If it does not prove this, it will be swallowed up, and perhaps wiped off the face of the earth.

There are certain emergencies of nations, in which expedients, that in the ordinary state of things ought to be forborne, become essential to the public weal.

Mr. President, If you don’t do something and do it right away, I don’t know what is going to happen to this country.

If the country is ever attacked as it was on 9/11, we all respond with a sense of urgency.

Political void should never be allowed to happen at a time of national crisis.

(to Foaly) Captain Short's life is in danger, so push the button before I climb that tower and push it with your face!

We need to be on a war footing. We need to understand that our nation is in grave danger.

Every man must be made to realize that further retreat is impossible. He must realize with his mind and heart that this is a matter of life and death of the Soviet state, of the life and death of the people of our country...the Nazi troops must be stopped now, before it is too late.

We are confronted with the possibility of a war of such destruction that the whole existence of our nation and of the whole world is at stake. And yet, people know it - people read it in the newspapers, people read that at the first attack, a hundred million Americans might be killed. And yet, they talk about it as if they were talking about something being wrong with the carburetor of their car, perhaps.

If our country is to survive and prosper, we must summon the courage to condemn and reject the liberal agenda, and we had better do it soon.

If you were lost for America, there is nobody who could keep the army and the revolution [going] for six months.

Our way of getting an army able to fight the German army is to declare war on Germany just as if we had such an army, and then trust to the appalling resultant peril and disaster to drive us into wholesale enlistment.

I have left orders to be awakened at any time during national emergency, even if I'm in a cabinet meeting.

Future historians will find it ironic that we had so many debates about climate change when something else was about to smash us.

The future is a choice between Utopia and oblivion.

I feel an obligation to those people who are willing to go lay their lives on the line. These are the same people that when we call on them, and we 100 percent agree as a country ... in our lifetime there's gonna be an event take place ... just like when 9/11 happened, everybody wanted to bring them to justice. When we called on the troops, they went in.

We now have a national security consideration, public health issues, we have an epidemic of heroine overdoses in all places in this country because of the ease of bringing heroine in. We have to secure the border.

This quake, tsunami and the nuclear accident are the biggest crises for Japan [in decades] ... We will continue to handle it in a state of maximum alert.