Jesse Ventura Quotes

I love my country, not my government.

When I ran for governor of Minnesota, I only raised $300,000.

I wish they would pass a law where all Democrats and Republicans had to wear NASCAR racing suits, because if you look at the NASCAR drivers, it tells who their sponsors are. And if they do that, we could then become informed voters, because we would know who owns them.

Prostitution is criminal, and bad things happen because it's run illegally by dirt-bags who are criminals. If it's legal, then the girls could have health checks, unions, benefits, anything any other worker gets, and it would be far better.

Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people

Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers. It tells people to go out and stick their noses in other people's business.

When the Constitution gave us the right to bear arms, it also made us responsible for using them properly. It's not fair of us as citizens to lean more heavily on one side of that equation than on the other.

Students often approached me about state-paid tuition while I was out campaigning. After I explained to them that if the state pays their tuition now, they will pay higher taxes to pay other people's tuition for the rest of their lives, most of them ended up agreeing with me.

If you tell the truth, you don't need a long memory.

A vote is "wasted" when someone fails to vote their conscience.

A hero must be honorable, must have honor.

And you can't have honor if you're a liar. There is no honor in lying.

If you don't vote, then you may be leaving the decisions up to someone dumber than you.

There is much more to being a patriot and a citizen than reciting the pledge or raising a flag.

Republicans are not a political party. It's a mental condition.

I would rather be uncomfortable with the truth than to be lied to in comfort. That's just my nature.

Personally as a rider, I find the helmet distracts me.

I can't hear as well and I can't see as well. I also believe loud pipes save lives and my pipes straight through with no baffles in them.

I asked Dalai Lama the most important question that I think you could ask - if he had ever seen Caddyshack.

Industrial hemp is a very useful plant. I challenged the attorney general to get rid of the criminal stigma associated with hemp so we can look at it in terms of how it might be useful.

Government is at its worst when you have apathy from its citizens.

The prohibition of drugs causes crime. You don't have to legalize, just decriminalize it.

My father used to always say to me that, you know, if a guy goes out to steal a loaf of bread to feed his family, they'll give him 10 years, but a guy can do white-collar crime and steal the money of thousands and he'll get probation and a slap on the wrist.

Patriotism is voluntary. It is a feeling of loyalty and allegiance that is the result of knowledge and belief. A patriot shows their their patriotism through their actions, by their choice.

Disabled people need more invested in their education, housing, job training, transportation, assistive technology, and independent-living facilities. Governments earn back this investment - and more - by making people with disabilities economically productive citizens.

I speak my mind. If it offends some people, well, there's not much I can do about that. But I'm going to be honest. I'm going to continue to speak my mind, and that's who I am.

Our military doesn't defend our American people. Our military is the strong-arm muscle of corporations.

I don't support abortion. I could never participate in one. But I think it would be a mistake to make them illegal again.

If you stand for peace in the USA, you're lucky to be alive.

I also believe that government has no business telling us how we should live our lives. I think our lifestyle choices should be left up to us. What we do in our private lives is none of the government's business. That position rules out the Republican Party for me.

If you start studying history closer, you'll find that most all wars are based on false flag operations to get people - to convince the people that they're under attack in some way so that they will support the wars.

I decided to run for governor because I got mad... I want to make government more directly accountable to the people.

Government works less efficiently when it begins to grow out of control and takes on more and more of the responsibilities that belong to the citizens.

I follow the teachings of Major General Smedley Darlington Butler, United States Marine Corps. He won two Congressional Medals of Honor, and he wrote the highly controversial antiwar book 'War is a Racket.'

I believe to go along to get along is unpatriotic. I believe that agreeing with your government on everything they do is unpatriotic. I believe a patriot stands up and holds your government's feet to the fire. Because if you do that, you will get good government.

[the downfall of our political system is the] buying and selling of politicians...bribery. In the private sector, you're arrested for it. In the public sector, it's the norm.

Wrestling is ballet with violence.

When you drink fluoridated water, you're drinking liquid Prozac. You drink enough of it, even though it's a small amount, drink it for decades and decades and what does Prozac do to you? It dumbs you down; it makes you docile.

As governor, there isn't a lot I can do beyond that to crack down on crime. Law enforcement is really a local issue. It's the cops' job to tighten down on criminals.

The war on drugs is identical to the prohibition of alcohol: all you're doing is making criminals rich and powerful.

How many elderly people you see have to leave the house they've had their whole life because their fixed income and their property taxes keep rising every year and they can't afford to stay there. And nobody gives a crap about it, and they're booted out, they have to leave their homes.

Congratulations, you have a sense of humor. And to those who didn't: Go stick your head in the mud.

We call our country home of the brave and land of the free, but it's not. We give a false portrayal of freedom. We're not free - if we were, we'd allow people their freedom.

Democrats are so spineless, so afraid to go against the tide... but dissension is the greatest form of patriotism.

There's no question that we need tougher drunk-driving laws for repeat offenders. We need to take a lesson from European countries where driving isn't a right but a privilege.

I love fat people. Every fat person says it's not their fault, that they have gland trouble. You know which gland? The saliva gland.

How come life in prison doesn't mean life? Until it does, we're not ready to do away with the death penalty. Stop thinking in terms of "punishment" for a minute and think in terms of safeguarding innocent people from incorrigible murderers.

I think that when Americans go to vote, states should not list what party the candidates are affiliated with. That would require voters to actually think and get to know a candidate instead of voting for their favorite gang. 'Oh, this guy is a Republican, so he must be good.'

In February 2003, I signed a three-year contract with MSNBC to host a talk show. Having recently decided not to run again for governor of Minnesota, I was still a pretty hot commodity. The show was originally scheduled for an hour, four nights a week.

For every day the government is shut down, it should be that we don't have to pay income tax that day because they're not working.

I live by the golden rule: Treat others as you'd want them to treat you.