110+ Richard M. Nixon Quotes On Education, Government And Richard Nixon

Richard M. Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. He is best known for his involvement in the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War. Nixon was the only president to resign from office after being impeached by the House of Representatives for obstruction of justice. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Richard M. Nixon on leadership, education, government.

Top 10 Richard M. Nixon Quotes

1. Never forget, the press is the enemy. The establishment is the enemy. The professors are the enemy. Professors are the enemy. Write that on a blackboard 100 times and never forget it.
2. When the President does it, that means that it's not illegal.
3. Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.
4. There are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have a black and a white.
5. People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I earned everything I've got.
6. We cannot learn from one another until we stop shouting at one another - until we speak quietly enough so that our words can be heard as well as our voices.
7. I don't think a woman should be in any government job whatever. I mean, I really don't. The reason why I do is mainly because they are erratic and emotional.
8. Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines.
9. You've got to learn to survive a defeat. That's when you develop character.
10. Defeat doesn't finish a man, quit does. A man is not finished when he's defeated. He's finished when he quits.

Richard M. Nixon Short Quotes

• If we take the route of the permanent handout, the American character will itself be impoverished.
• You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference.
• Capitalism works better than it sounds, while socialism sounds better than it works.
• I didn't do anything wrong and I promise to never do it again.
• The finest steel has to go through the hottest fire.
• The important thing is that we maintain plausible deniability.
• If you want to make beautiful music, you must play the black and the white notes together.
• To write a novel, you need an iron butt.
• Idealism without realism is impotent. Realism without idealism is immoral.
• My concern today is not with the length of a person's hair but with his conduct.

Richard M. Nixon Quotes About Leadership

Idealism without pragmatism is impotent. Pragmatism without idealism is meaningless. The key to effective leadership is pragmatic idealism. — Richard M. Nixon

I refuse to make a decision that somebody else can make. The first rule of leadership is to save yourself for the big decision. Don't allow your mind to become cluttered. — Richard M. Nixon

...because there are no local or State boundaries to the problems of our environment, the Federal Government must play an active, positive role. We can and will set standards. We can and will exercise leadership. — Richard M. Nixon

With all the power that a president has, the most important thing to bear in mind is this: You must not give power to a man unless, above everything else, he has character. Character is the most important qualification the president of the United States can have. — Richard M. Nixon

Richard M. Nixon Quotes About Government

Sure there are dishonest men in local government. But there are dishonest men in national government too. — Richard M. Nixon

I'm not at liberty to discuss the governments knowledge of extraterrestrial UFO's at this time. I am still personally being briefed on the subject! — Richard M. Nixon

Under the doctrine of separation of powers, the manner in which the president personally exercises his assigned executive powers is not subject to questioning by another branch of government. — Richard M. Nixon

At home, we must reject the mistaken notion - a notion that has dominated too much of the public dialogue for too long - that ever bigger Government is the answer to every problem. — Richard M. Nixon

We are not spending the Federal Government's money, we are spending the taxpayer's money, and it must be spent n a way which guarantees his money's worth and yields the fullest possible benefit to the people being helped. — Richard M. Nixon

The people's right to change what does not work is one of the greatest principles in our system of government — Richard M. Nixon

Look at the Justice Department, it's full of Jews...The lawyers in government are damn Jews. — Richard M. Nixon

In our own lives, let each of us ask — not just what will government do for me, but what can I do for myself? In the challenges we face together, let each of us ask —not just how can government help, but how can I help? — Richard M. Nixon

Millions who endure poverty and bad government can now know what they are missing. To see how the other half lives all they have to do is switch on their television sets. — Richard M. Nixon

The time has come for us to draw the line. The time has come for the responsible leaders of both political parties to take a stand against overgrown Government and for the American taxpayer. — Richard M. Nixon

Richard M. Nixon Quotes About Vietnam

No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now. — Richard M. Nixon

Let us understand: North Vietnam cannot defeat or humiliate the United States. Only Americans can do that. — Richard M. Nixon

You have my assurance that we will respond with full force should the settlement be violated by North Vietnam. — Richard M. Nixon

I'm not going to be the first American president to lose a war. — Richard M. Nixon

The events that followed our withdrawal from Vietnam, including the plight of the boat people and the more than 1 million slaughtered by the new communist rulers of Cambodia, showed that media critics who said we were on the wrong side were mistaken. — Richard M. Nixon

Yes, I wish I'd done it sooner. — Richard M. Nixon

I want to be sure...that nothing is done on these veterans. Is that understood?...Is the word out? That they are not to touch em, they are not to do a thing?...Get a hold of the district police; they're not to touch them, they're to do nothing: Just let em raise Hell. — Richard M. Nixon

We must never forget that if the war in Vietnam is lost ... the right of free speech will be extinguished throughout the world. — Richard M. Nixon

What we do with this peace-whether we preserve it and defend it, or whether we lose it and let it slip away-will be the measure of our worthiness of the spirit and sacrifice of the hundreds of thousands who gave their lives in two World Wars, Korea, and in Vietnam. — Richard M. Nixon

Richard M. Nixon Quotes About Communism

The Cold War isn't thawing; it is burning with a deadly heat. Communism isn't sleeping; it is, as always, plotting, scheming, working, fighting. — Richard M. Nixon

What are our schools for if not indoctrination against Communism? — Richard M. Nixon

I also believe that academic freedom should protect the right of a professor or student to advocate Marxism, socialism, communism, or any other minority viewpoint - no matter how distasteful to the majority, provided... — Richard M. Nixon

Communism starts with the proposition that there are no universal truths or general truths of human nature. — Richard M. Nixon

The color of communism was not red but gray. — Richard M. Nixon

Communism denies God, enslaves men, and destroys justice. — Richard M. Nixon

Richard M. Nixon Quotes About Watergate

Watergate had become the center of the media's universe, and during the remaining year of my presidency the media tried to force everything else to revolve around it. — Richard M. Nixon

What was Watergate? A little bugging! — Richard M. Nixon

You must pursue this investigation of Watergate even if it leads to the president. I'm innocent. You've got to believe I'm innocent. If you don't, take my job. — Richard M. Nixon

I can see clearly now... that I was wrong in not acting more decisively and more forthrightly in dealing with Watergate. — Richard M. Nixon

It I talked about Watergate, I was described as struggling to free myself from the morass. If I did not talk about Watergate, I was accused of being out of touch with reality. — Richard M. Nixon

No words can describe the depths of my regret and pain at the anguish my mistakes over Watergate have caused the nation and the presidency - a nation I so deeply love and an institution I so greatly respect. — Richard M. Nixon

Richard M. Nixon Quotes About Resignation

I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is opposed to every instinct in my body. But as president I must put the interests of America first Therefore, I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow. — Richard M. Nixon

I hereby resign this office of president of the United States. — Richard M. Nixon

I've analyzed the best I can... and I have not found an impeachable offense, and therefore resignation is not an acceptable course. — Richard M. Nixon

I have impeached myself by resigning. — Richard M. Nixon

I brought myself down. I impeached myself by resigning. — Richard M. Nixon

Richard M. Nixon Quotes About President

Nothing would please the Kremlin more than to have the people of this country choose a second rate president. — Richard M. Nixon

The memory of that scene for me is like a frame of film forever frozen at that moment: the red carpet, the green lawn, the white house, the leaden sky. The new president and his first lady. — Richard M. Nixon

Our chief justices have probably had more profound and lasting influence on their times and on the direction of the nation than most presidents. — Richard M. Nixon

President Johnson and I have a lot in common. We were both born in small towns and we're both fortunate in the fact that we think we married above ourselves. — Richard M. Nixon

If I were to make public these tapes, containing blunt and candid remarks on many different subjects, the confidentiality of the office of the president would always be suspect. — Richard M. Nixon

Those who hate you don't win unless you hate them back. — Richard M. Nixon

The presidency has many problems, but boredom is the least of them. — Richard M. Nixon

Scrubbing floors and emptying bedpans has as much dignity as the Presidency. — Richard M. Nixon

Always give your best. Never get discouraged. Never be petty. — Richard M. Nixon

The American people are entitled to see the president and to hear his views directly, and not to see him only through the press. — Richard M. Nixon

Richard M. Nixon Quotes About People

Listen, I don't know anything about polygraphs and I don't know how accurate they are, but I know they'll scare the hell out of people. — Richard M. Nixon

My strong point is not rhetoric , it isn't showmanship, it isn't big promises - those things that create the glamour and the excitement that people call charisma and warmth. — Richard M. Nixon

To me, the most unhappy people in the world are the people ... in Palm Beach- Going to parties every night. Playing golf every afternoon, then bridge. [They have] no purpose. — Richard M. Nixon

Politics would be a helluva good business if it weren't for the goddamned people. — Richard M. Nixon

People react to fear, not love; they don't teach that in Sunday School, but it's true. — Richard M. Nixon

I really believe life is simple. It's all the other people that make things complicated. — Richard M. Nixon

The successful leader does not talk down to people. He lifts them up. — Richard M. Nixon

Americans admire a people who can scratch a desert and produce a garden. The Israelis have shown qualities that Americans identify with: guts, patriotism, idealism, a passion for freedom. I have seen it. I know. I believe that. — Richard M. Nixon

When information which properly belongs to the public is systematically withheld by those in power, the people soon become ignorant of their own affairs, distrustful of those who manage them, and -- eventually -- incapable of determining their own destinies. — Richard M. Nixon

As this long and difficult war ends, I would like to address a few special words to the American people: Your steadfastness in supporting our insistence on peace with honor has made peace with honor possible. — Richard M. Nixon

Richard M. Nixon Quotes About Politics

I would not like to be a political leader in Russia. They never know when they're being taped. — Richard M. Nixon

I think Congress has spent enough time on ethics. I think it's time they moved on to something else. — Richard M. Nixon

I reject the cynical view that politics is a dirty business. — Richard M. Nixon

I wish I could give you a lot of advice, based on my experience of winning political debates. But I don't have that experience. My only experience is at losing them. — Richard M. Nixon

Once genius is submerged by bureaucracy, a nation is doomed to mediocrity. — Richard M. Nixon

Finishing second in the Olympics gets you silver. Finishing second in politics gets you oblivion. — Richard M. Nixon

I let the American people down, and I have to carry that burden for the rest of my life. My political life is over. I will never again have an opportunity to serve in any official position. Maybe I can give a little advice from time to time. — Richard M. Nixon

The language of politics is poetry, not prose. Jackson is poetry. Cuomo is poetry. Dukakis is a word processor. — Richard M. Nixon

Nobody is a friend of ours. Let's face it. — Richard M. Nixon

The environmental agenda before the Congress includes laws to deal with water pollution, pesticide hazards, ocean dumping, excessive noise, careless land development and many other environmental problems. These problems will not stand still for politics or for partisanship. — Richard M. Nixon

Richard M. Nixon Quotes About Change

Federal and state laws (should) be changed to no longer make it a crime to possess marijuana for private use. — Richard M. Nixon

In the long term we can hope that religion will change the nature of man and reduce conflict. But history is not encouraging in this respect. The bloodiest wars in history have been religious wars. — Richard M. Nixon

Any change is resisted because bureaucrats have a vested interest in the chaos in which they exist. — Richard M. Nixon

I don't think that a leader can control, to any great extent, his destiny. Very seldom can he step in and change the situation if the forces of history are running in another direction. — Richard M. Nixon

Success is not a harbor but a voyage with its own perils to the spirit ... The lesson that most of us on this voyage never learn, but can never quite forget, is that to win is sometimes to lose. — Richard M. Nixon

What starts the process, really, are laughs and slights and snubs when you are a kid. If your anger is deep enough and strong enough, you learn that you can change those attitudes by excellence, personal gut performance. — Richard M. Nixon

Richard M. Nixon Famous Quotes And Sayings

The Bohemian Grove, which I attend from time to time - it is the most faggy goddamned thing you could ever imagine. — Richard M. Nixon

I gave 'em a sword. And they stuck it in, and they twisted it with relish. And I guess if I had been in their position, I'd have done the same thing. — Richard M. Nixon

When I retire I'm going to spend my evenings by the fireplace going through those boxes. There are things in there that ought to be burned. — Richard M. Nixon

We will establish a new system that makes high-quality health care available to every American in a dignified manner and at a price he can afford. — Richard M. Nixon

Remember, always give your best. Never get discouraged. Never be petty. Always remember, others may hate you. But those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself. — Richard M. Nixon

If an individual wants to be a leader and isn't controversial, that means he never stood for anything. — Richard M. Nixon

The mark of a true politician is that he is never at a loss for words because he is always half-expecting to be asked to make a speech. — Richard M. Nixon

The greatness comes when you’re really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes. — Richard M. Nixon

The greatness comes not when things go always good for you. But the greatness comes when you're really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes. Because only if you've been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain. — Richard M. Nixon

You have to face the fact that the whole problem is really the blacks. The key is to devise a system that recognizes this all while not appearing to. — Richard M. Nixon

You must never be satisfied with losing. You must get angry, terribly angry, about losing. But the mark of the good loser is that he takes his anger out on himself and not his victorious opponents or on his teammates. — Richard M. Nixon

The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word "crisis." One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. — Richard M. Nixon

We can no longer afford to consider air and water common property, free to be abused by anyone without regard to the consequences. Instead, we should begin now to treat them as scarce resources, which we are no more free to contaminate than we are free to throw garbage into our neighbor's yard. — Richard M. Nixon

Any lady who is first lady likes being first lady. I don't care what they say, they like it. — Richard M. Nixon

Don't get the impression that you arouse my anger. You see, one can only be angry with those he respects. — Richard M. Nixon

What we have done with the American Indian is its way as bad as what we imposed on the Negroes. We took a proud and independent race and virtually destroyed them. We have to find ways to bring them back into decent lives in this country. — Richard M. Nixon

It's a piece of cake until you get to the top. You find you can't stop playing the game the way you've always played it. — Richard M. Nixon

Before we become too arrogant with the most deadly of the seven deadly sins, the sin of pride, let us remember that the two great wars of this century, wars which cost twenty million dead, were fought between Christian nations praying to the same God. — Richard M. Nixon

The more you stay in this kind of job, the more you realize that a public figure, a major public figure, is a lonely man. — Richard M. Nixon

Let us begin by committing ourselves to the truth to see it like it is, and tell it like it is, to find the truth, to speak the truth, and to live the truth. — Richard M. Nixon

Solutions are not the answer. — Richard M. Nixon

The 1970s must be the years when America pays its debt to the past by reclaiming the purity of its air, its waters, and our living environment. It is literally now or never. — Richard M. Nixon

Baseball without fans is like Jayne Mansfield without a sweater. Hang on, that can be taken two ways. — Richard M. Nixon

It is essential that we take steps to prevent chemical substances from becoming environmental hazards. Unless we develop better methods to assure adequate testing of chemicals, we will be inviting the environmental crisis of the future. — Richard M. Nixon

The sky is no longer the limit. — Richard M. Nixon

Yet we can maintain a free society only if we recognize that in a free society no one can win all the time. No one can have his own way all the time, and no one is right all the time. — Richard M. Nixon

Extremists on the left tend to be just as critical of pragmatism as extremists on the right. — Richard M. Nixon

As you know, the separation of church and state is not subject to discussion or alteration. Under our Constitution no church or religion can be supported by the U.S. Government. We maintain freedom of religion so that an American can either worship in the church of his choice or choose to go to no church at all. — Richard M. Nixon

Clean air, clean water, open spaces - these should once again be the birthright of every American. — Richard M. Nixon

Castro couldn't even go to the bathroom unless the Soviet Union put the nickel in the toilet. — Richard M. Nixon

If, when the chips are down, the worlds most powerful nation, the United States of America, acts like a pitiful, helpless giant, the forces of totalitarianism and anarchy will threaten free nations and free institutions throughout the world. — Richard M. Nixon

A man who has never lost himself in a cause bigger than himself has missed one of life's mountaintop experiences. Only in losing himself does he find himself. Only then does he discover all the latent strengths he never knew he had and which otherwise would have remained dormant. — Richard M. Nixon

But more than anything else, we have learned that legal assistance for the poor, when properly provided, is one of the most constructive ways to help them help themselves. — Richard M. Nixon

The lesson of all history warns us that we should negotiate only when our military superiority is so convincing that we can achieve our objective at the conference table, and deny the aggressor theirs. — Richard M. Nixon

[The public lands represent] in a sense, the breathing space of the nation. — Richard M. Nixon

If you are ever going to lie, you go to jail for the lie rather than the crime. So believe me, don't ever lie. — Richard M. Nixon

I always remember that whatever I have done in the past or may do in the future, Duke University is responsible in one way or another. — Richard M. Nixon

The ability to be cool, confident, and decisive in crisis is not an inherited characteristic but is the direct result of how well the individual has prepared himself for the battle. — Richard M. Nixon

The easiest period in a crisis situation is actually the battle itself. The most difficult is the period of indecision - whether to fight or run away. And the most dangerous period is the aftermath. It is then, with all his resources spent and his guard down, that an individual must watch out for dulled reactions and faulty judgment. — Richard M. Nixon

Nothing is more priceless and more worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed. It is a many-faceted treasure, of value to scholars, scientists, and nature lovers alike, and it forms a vital part of the heritage we all share as Americans. — Richard M. Nixon

Mr. Stevenson has a degree alright-a PhD from the Acheson College of Cowardly Communist Containment. — Richard M. Nixon

The destiny of our land, the air we breathe, the water we drink is not in the mystical hands of an uncontrollable agent, it is in our hands. A future which brings the balancing of our resources-preserving quality with quantity - is a future limited only by the boundaries of our will to get the job done. — Richard M. Nixon

You find out who your true friends are not when you are on top of the world, but when the world is on top of you. — Richard M. Nixon

In the television age, the key distinction is between the candidate who can speak poetry and the one who can only speak prose. — Richard M. Nixon

Once you get into this great stream of history you can't get out. You can drown. Or you can be pulled ashore by the tide. But it is awfully hard to get out when you are in the middle of the stream -- if it is intended that you stay there. — Richard M. Nixon

You cannot win a battle in any arena merely by defending yourself. — Richard M. Nixon

I've never left a game before it ended. You never know when there could be a big turnaround in the game. — Richard M. Nixon

Let us move from the era of confrontation to the era of negotiation. — Richard M. Nixon

I was under medication when I made the decision to burn the tapes. — Richard M. Nixon

Once one determines that he or she has a mission in life, that's it's not going to be accomplished without a great deal of pain, and that the rewards in the end may not outweigh the pain -if you recognize historically that always happens, then when it comes, you survive it. — Richard M. Nixon

I believe in the battle-whether it's the battle of a campaign or the battle of this office, which is a continuing battle. — Richard M. Nixon

Defeat doesn't finish a man, quit does. — Richard M. Nixon

I'm glad I'm not Brezhnev. Being the Russian leader in the Kremlin. You never know if someone's tape recording what you say. — Richard M. Nixon

Life Lessons by Richard M. Nixon

1. Richard M. Nixon taught us the importance of resilience in the face of adversity. Despite the Watergate scandal, he was able to rebuild his reputation and continue to serve in public life.
2. He also showed us the power of humility and self-reflection. After his resignation from the presidency, Nixon was able to reflect on his mistakes and learn from them.
3. Finally, Nixon taught us that even the most powerful people can make mistakes and that it is important to take responsibility for them. He accepted responsibility for his actions and apologized to the American people.