Were Quotes

So many people around me would say they cared for the wrong reasons. A lot of people were pulling from me, taking from me and not giving.

Culinary tradition is not always based on fact. Sometimes it's based on history, on habits that come out of a time when kitchens were fueled by charcoal.

If there were no bad people, there would be no good lawyers.

There were times when I've not wanted to be in my own skin, and that's a very scary feeling.

Nothing fortifies scepticism more than the fact that there are some who are not sceptics; if all were so, they would be wrong.

In treatment, all of the negative things I did were stripped away and I had to start processing my feelings.

At one time, I was very angry. I even treated fashion like a kind of crusade: you were either with us or against us, that kind of feeling. Now I know we need ideas, not kicking down a door.

The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away.

I am a big 'Ellen' fan. I have been one for quite a long time now. I used to do the local news talk shows with her in San Francisco, when we were both still kids.

I never said all Democrats were saloonkeepers. What I said was that all saloonkeepers are Democrats.

When I was in high school I got involved in the fringe theater scene in Chicago, and I met some openly gay people. I could see that it got better, that they were happy and loved and supported. I saw with my own eyes that it got better.

Some years ago I became president of Columbia University and learned within 24 hours to be ready to speak at the drop of a hat, and I learned something more, the trustees were expected to be ready to speak at the passing of the hat.

The winners in life treat their body as if it were a magnificent spacecraft that gives them the finest transportation and endurance for their lives.

Your battles inspired me - not the obvious material battles but those that were fought and won behind your forehead.

If you think about stuff that happened when you were young, it stays with you forever.

I know there were many good policemen who died doing their duty. Some of the cops were even friends of ours. But a cop can go both ways.

What is a normal childhood? We weren't rich, we were pretty middle-class. My dad survived from job to job; with him taking care of so many relatives, he couldn't save any money.

Bands today have to learn their craft by putting the hard work in that we did when we were young performers.

I don't feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them. There were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.

Were there peace and justice in the Middle East, the Arabs would no more need their tinhorn dictators than they would their corpulent princes.

If the world were good for nothing else, it is a fine subject for speculation.

This man used to go to school with his dog. Then they were separated. His dog graduated!

Just as in earthly life lovers long for the moment when they are able to breathe forth their love for each other, to let their souls blend in a soft whisper, so the mystic longs for the moment when in prayer he can, as it were, creep into God.

Nothing is built on stone; all is built on sand, but we must build as if the sand were stone.

I grew up in New Hampshire. My closest neighbor was a mile away. The deer and the raccoons were my friends. So I would spend time walking through the woods, looking for the most beautiful tropical thing that can survive the winter in the woods in New Hampshire.

Mom and Dad were married 64 years. And if you wondered what their secret was, you could have asked the local florist - because every day Dad gave Mom a rose, which he put on her bedside table. That's how she found out what happened on the day my father died - she went looking for him because that morning, there was no rose.

You know, when Republicans were in charge, we doubled the debt. But, now, our concern is the Democrats are in charge and they're tripling the debt. So, really, our concern is that we want smaller government.

I can mention many moments that were unforgettable and revelatory. But the most single revelatory three minutes was the first time I put on scuba gear and dived on a coral reef. It's just the unbelievable fact that you can move in three dimensions.

When I was growing up, there were two things that were unpopular in my house. One was me, and the other was my guitar.

I have been in meetings where a head of state will say, 'I like your tie,' to a man... or, 'I like your country because the weather's good,' or whatever. So for me, the pins in some ways were openers.