Gerald R. Ford Quotes

Enjoy the top 139 famous quotes, sayings and quotations by Gerald R. Ford.

“Humor can help you to disagree without being disagreeable. The key in democracy is not necessarily that we agree, but that we participate ... Despite all the heavy problems- domestic and international- there is humor. Humor transcends partisanship.”
— Gerald R. Ford —

“A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.”

— Gerald R. Ford

“I know I am getting better at golf because I am hitting fewer spectators.”

— Gerald R. Ford

“The harder you work, the luckier you are, and I worked like hell.”

— Gerald R. Ford

“I've had a lot of experience with people smarter than I am.”

— Gerald R. Ford

Things are the way they are now, more than they ever have been before.

— Gerald R. Ford

“There are no adequate substitutes for father, mother, and children bound together in a loving commitment to nurture and protect. No government, no matter how well-intentioned, can take the place of the family in the scheme of things.”

— Gerald R. Ford

“I had pro offers from the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers, who were pretty hard up for linemen in those days. If I had gone into professional football the name Jerry Ford might have been a household word today.”

— Gerald R. Ford

“Even though this is late in an election year, there is no way we can go forward except together and no way anybody can win except by serving the people's urgent needs. We cannot stand still or slip backwards. We must go forward now together.”

— Gerald R. Ford

“Truth is the glue that holds government together.”

— Gerald R. Ford

It's the quality of the ordinary, the straight, the square, that accounts for the great stability and success of our nation. It's a quality to be proud of. But it's a quality that many people seem to have neglected.

— Gerald R. Ford

In all my public and private acts as your president, I expect to follow my instincts of openness and candor with full confidence that honesty is always the best policy in the end.

— Gerald R. Ford

“When a man is asked to make a speech, the first thing he has to decide is what to say.”

— Gerald R. Ford

“There is an old saying, The harder you try the luckier you get. I kind of like that definition of luck.”

— Gerald R. Ford

Music education opens doors that help children pass from school into the world around them - a world of work, culture, intellectual activity, and human involvement. The future of our nation depends on providing our children with a complete education that includes music.

— Gerald R. Ford

“I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our government, but civilization itself.”

— Gerald R. Ford

“For nearly two hundred years, our nation has derived its strength from the diversity of its people and of their beliefs. That strength has been greatly enhanced by [the Islamic] religious heritage.”

— Gerald R. Ford

“Richard Nixon was just offered $2 million by Schick to do a television commercial - for Gillette.”

— Gerald R. Ford

An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history.

— Gerald R. Ford

Speaker, with mixed emotions we mark the 50th anniversary of the Turkish genocide of the Armenian people. In taking notice of the shocking events in 1915, we observe this anniversary with sorrow in recalling the massacres of Armenians and with pride in saluting those brave patriots who survived to fight on the side of freedom during World War I.

— Gerald R. Ford

“One of the enduring truths of the nation's capital is that bureaucrats survive.”

— Gerald R. Ford

“Never be satisfied with less than your very best effort. If you strive for the top and miss, you'll still 'beat the pack.'”

— Gerald R. Ford

“We have too long treated the natural world as an adversary rather than as a life-sustaining gift from the Almighty. If man has the genius to build, which he has, he must also have the ability and the responsibility to preserve.”

— Gerald R. Ford

“I couldn't wait to start the day.”

— Gerald R. Ford

“I know I will go to hell, because I pardoned Richard Nixon.”

— Gerald R. Ford

“I do believe, with all my heart and mind and spirit, that I, not as President but as a humble servant of God, will receive justice without mercy if I fail to show mercy.”

— Gerald R. Ford

“In a democracy, the public has a right to know not only what the government decides, but why and by what process.”

— Gerald R. Ford

I am the first to admit that I am no great orator or no person that got where I have gotten by any William Jennings Bryan technique.

— Gerald R. Ford

“My goal is for a cooperative world at peace, using its resources to build, not to destroy.”

— Gerald R. Ford

As President, I am determined to offer leadership to overcome our current economic problems. My goal is for jobs for all who want to work and economic opportunity for all who want to achieve.

— Gerald R. Ford

We must introduce a new balance in the relationship between the individual and the government
a balance that favors greater individual freedom and self-reliance.

— Gerald R. Ford

“I hope never to see the day that I cannot admit having made a mistake.”

— Gerald R. Ford

“This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts.”

— Gerald R. Ford

“Theirs is an American tragedy in which we all have played a part. It could go on and on, or someone must write "The End" to it. I have concluded that only I can do that. And if I can, I must.”

— Gerald R. Ford

“The old question still remains: Can a free people restrain crime without sacrificing fundamental liberties and a heritage of compassion?”

— Gerald R. Ford

In the two centuries that have passed since 1776, millions upon millions of Americans have worked and taken up arms, when necessary, to make [the American] dream a reality. We can be proud of what they have accomplished. Today, we are the world's oldest republic. We are at peace. Our nation and our way of life endure. And we are free.

— Gerald R. Ford

“It feels like getting a back massage from the Grim Reaper: one must get comfortable with the most horrifying things in the world.”

— Gerald R. Ford

“The United States ... has been proud of its association with the State of Israel. We shall continue to stand with Israel. We are committed to Israel's survival and security. The United States for a quarter of a century has had an excellent relationship with the State of Israel. We have cooperated in many, many fields - in your security, in the well-being of the Middle East, and in leading what we all hope is a lasting peace throughout the world.”

— Gerald R. Ford

“I am committed to furthering the self-determination of Indian communities but without terminating the special relationship between the Federal Government and the Indian people. I am strongly opposed to termination. Self-determination means that you can decide the nature of your tribe's relationship with the Federal Government within the framework of the Self-Determination Act, which I signed in January of 1975.”

— Gerald R. Ford

“All of us who served in one war or another know very well that all wars are the glory and the agony of the young.”

— Gerald R. Ford

“Today, America can regain the sense of pride that existed before Vietnam. These events, tragic as they are, portend neither the end of the world nor of America's leadership in the world.”

— Gerald R. Ford

“The Communist leaders in Moscow, Peking and Hanoi must fully understand that the United States considers the freedom of South Viet Nam vital to our interests. And they must know that we are not bluffing in our determination to defend those interests.”