Matt Damon Quotes

President Bush has proven he'll take a stand and fight for his programs and initiatives. It's the kind of leadership that makes things happen.

Few things infuse a member of Congress with more courage than self-imposed term limits or an imminent retirement. The issues they choose to focus on in their final months say a great deal about what are really the most important issues in the country.

The American people on the ground need a clearer, stronger, Lyndon B. Johnson-type voice from their president. Obama has that voice. It has to be used.

I will not stand idly when anyone gets in the way of the national interest and tries to block the national vision. From where I sit, I can tell you, a president is always as strong as she wants to be.

The real reform Japan needs is decisive politics when we face issues that need to be decided.

I always believed in burning up the government's political capital, not being Mr Safe Guy, you know?

A President is best judged by the enemies he makes when he has really hit his stride.

A country survives its legislation. That truth should not comfort the conservative nor depress the radical. For it means that public policy can enlarge its scope and increase its audacity, can try big experiments without trembling too much over the result. This nation could enter upon the most radical experiments and could afford to fail in them.

Nothing is harder in politics than to do something now that costs money and will not benefit us until several years from now.

You cannot lead this country by being [politically] safe.

Great presidents don't just fight good fights - they win them.

Obama really is a warrior in chief. He's not afraid to get the job done.

I'll be willing to do things that politicians won't do. Because I don't care who I upset.

In Donald Trump, you have a candidate who knows the difference between wanting something done and making it happen.

Our leadership in D.C. should be bold and determined.

I ran for the presidency, despite hopeless odds, to demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo.

One of the reasons I'm in this business is because I have absolute respect for the people who say, "You know what? I think I can make this a little better and I'm willing to get in and try." Because, I'll tell you, there are a hell of a lot of reasons to stay away from running for office today.

It's undeniable there's been remarkable progress for African-Americans in this country. They've been elected senators and governors and running major corporations. But obviously we still have a long way to go.

American national security and American economic interests, of course - every president, every secretary of state - that is the primary goal. As you are in this job and in the work, you begin to see, though, that in the long run, both American economic interests and American national security are better served when there are other decent countries in the world who are both your allies and even when your adversaries are acting more decently.

It is extreme arrogance for one to think he is the only one who can govern his country and nobody else can do it. We're all human. After 10, 15 years you get tired, you run out of steam and ideas, you have to give a chance to somebody else. And whether you yourself are inclined to stay on, all those around you are pushing you to stay on for what they will gain. One has to have the strength of character to say the time has come to move on...unless you are a king.

There's one difference between me and them: I know I'm not qualified. In my opinion, Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn't qualified to be governor of California. Ronald Reagan wasn't qualified to be governor, let alone president. I was a vice president of the Screen Actors Guild when he was its president. My duties consisted of attending meetings and voting. The only thing I remember is that Ronnie never had an original thought and that we had to tell him what to say. That's no way to run a union, let along a state or a country.

That should be considered long which can be decided but once.

I admire King Hussein his courage in leading his country for a long time.

The recent death of Gene McCarthy reminded me of a lesson I spent a long, long time unlearning, so now I have to re-learn it. It's about political courage and heroes, and when a country is desperate for leadership. There are times when regular politics will not do, and this is one of those times.

It doesn't actually make any difference whether the President is Republican or Democrat. The genius of the American ruling class is that it has been able to make the people think that they have had something to do with the electing of presidents for 200 years when they've had absolutely nothing to say about the candidates or the policies or the way the country is run.