Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. Quotes
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I had a life-long ambition to be a professional baseball player, but nobody would sign me.
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Government exists to create and preserve conditions in which people can translate their ideas into practical reality. In the best of times, much is lost in translation. But we try.
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I had a lot of experience with people smarter than I am.
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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.
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It's discouraging how hard it is for a President to slice away large chunks of a $305 billion budget.
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I believe that prayer in public schools should be voluntary. It is difficult for me to see how religious exercises can be a requirement in public schools, given our Constitutional requirement of separation of church and state. I feel that the highly desirable goal of religious education must be principally the responsibility of church and home. I do not believe that public education should show any hostility toward religion, and neither should it inhibit voluntary participation, if it does not interfere with the educational process.
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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.
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If you have not chosen me by secret ballot, neither have I gained office by any secret promises. I have not campaigned either for the Presidency or the Vice Presidency. I have not subscribed to any partisan platform. I am indebted to no man, and only to one womanmy dear wifeas I begin this very difficult job.
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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.
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Richard Nixon... was just offered $2 million by Schick to do a television commercial - for Gillette.
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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.
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I think that sports, particularly football, gave me an opportunity to be out front, to be a leader, which helped me later on, when I got into politics.
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For millions of men and women, the church has been the hospital for the soul, the school for the mind and the safe depository for moral ideas.
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The length of one's days matters less than the love of one's family and friends.
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There is an old saying, The harder you try the luckier you get. I kind of like that definition of luck.
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I couldn't wait to start the day.
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Frankly, I've never felt voting to be all that essential to the process.
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That, in part, is why the Constitution's framers gave justices life tenure ? to enable them to rule wherever the law and the Constitution led them, without obligation or fear of political reprisal. Former Republican president Gerald Ford recently paid tribute to John Paul Stevens, his only appointee to the Supreme Court, who is also far more liberal than Republicans expected. He has served his nation well, ... with dignity, intellect and without partisan political concerns.
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We have come tardily to the tremendous task of cleaning up our environment. We should have moved with similar zeal at least a decade ago. But no purpose is served by post-mortems. With visionary zeal but the greatest realism, we must now address ourselves to the vast problems that confront us.
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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.
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The old question still remains: Can a free people restrain crime without sacrificing fundamental liberties and a heritage of compassion?
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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.
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America needed recovery, not revenge. The hate had to be drained and the healing begun.
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Personal excellence can be achieved by a visionary goal, through planning, dedicated execution, and total follow-through.