Dick Gephardt Quotes

Democracy is interactive... Its a constant job of information, education, explanation, listening, and interactive communication.

I'm running for president because I've had enough of the oil barons, the status-quo apologists, the special-interest lobbyists running amok.

Eventually I foresee voting on the Internet, which will lead to much more direct democracy.

I hope we can get back to what I call the kitchen table. Everyday issues that people are really worried about and focused on.

America is a great country. We are so wealthy. But our one remaining challenge is to fulfill the potential of all our people. And the only way we can do that is to try to bring everybody together to a higher place.

Those who have prospered and profited from life's lottery have a moral obligation to share their good fortune.

One of the most important virtues of the American character is our ability to approach the complexities that life presents us with common sense and decency, .. The considered judgment of the American people is not going to rise or fall on the fine distinctions of a legal argument but on straight talk and the truth. It is time for the president and the Congress to follow that common sense for the good of the country.

We can see beyond the present shadows of war in the Middle East to a new world order where the strong work together to deter and stop aggression. This was precisely Franklin Roosevelt's and Winston Churchill's vision for peace for the post-war period.

I share the administration's goals in dealing with Iraq and its weapons of mass destruction.

What we have is two important values in conflict: freedom of speech and our desire for healthy campaigns in a healthy democracy. You can't have both.

Diplomacy matters. Burden-sharing matters. Follow-through matters. And yes, sustaining the peace is harder, more complex and often costlier than winning the war itself. No matter the surge of momentary machismo -- as gratifying as it may be for some -- it's short-sighted and wrong to simply go it alone.

In 1988, as an unknown candidate, totally unknown, I won Iowa, came in second in New Hampshire, won South Dakota. I was ahead in every Super Tuesday state the day after South Dakota. The only problem was I didn't have enough money. I had a million dollars left, and Al Gore had three and Michael Dukakis had three and it was lights out.

I think it's time we had a president who carried the same life experiences into the White House as most ordinary Americans.

Every proposal I'm making, every idea I'm advancing has a single, central purpose: to revive a failing economy and give working Americans the help and security they need.

I don't think you can be a good listener unless you're a good listener. I think it's something that you really have to do, and if you really do it, then you can do it. If you don't do it, then you can't do it.

I've thought a lot about the world and how George Bush sees the world and it ain't even close.

I think when everything is finally considered, I'll have a lot of support -- strong support -- not only from labor unions but from working people.

And the president should be doing more about education than saying, 'Lights, camera, action.'

When you succeed (with legislation), that feeling is exhilaration. And it takes leadership from a president, which means you meet with members of Congress 24/7 and you talk and you listen.

Life is the division of human cells, a process which begins at conception.

If you want to run for president, you better be an athlete. It's 24/7. It never ends. You give up your personal life completely and you have something of a chance to be shot.

You know, when you're in public life, everything you do is out there. But I am proud to stand on my record.

Politics is a substitute for violence.

I was raised in a working class family of Baptist faith, and I went to college on a church scholarship where early teachings were reinforced. Abortion was wrong, I was taught.

We are all so privileged to be citizens of America, and we all need to be engaged.

I think in some cases busing did improve the situation in some areas; in some cases it didn't. We had busing in St. Louis, and it has been ended and we are using other methods of trying to better integrate the schools.

I think a lot of people think I was born in a blue suit, on the David Brinkley show. And that isn't me. I am much more that kid who grew up in South St. Louis, in a very modest household, with a simple background with parents who didn't get through high school.

I have been a long and strong supporter of civil rights in my whole career. I led the fight to get the voting rights act re-enacted. I have been a strong supporter of affirmative action. I believe in it strongly.

When I'm president, we'll have executive orders to overcome any wrong thing the Supreme Court does tomorrow or any other day

I've always had good energy; I've always had good health.

In every issue there are winners are losers, and the losers are plenty. But they have to be willing to grudgingly accept the result. That's the genius of our democracy.

Our democracy if self-cleansing. If you don't like it, be a candidate, or support a candidate.

I grew up in a household that was a labor household. My dad was a Teamster and a milk truck driver. My mother was a secretary. Neither of them got through high school. But they worked hard and they gave me very, very important opportunities to go to school, get a good education.

I led the fight for the Clinton health care plan in 1994. We failed. I learned from that experience. What I learned is you can't pass a complicated government-run plan.

I grew up in the '50s and '60s when Jack Kennedy was president. We would watch him on television. And our teachers always talked about the good things public servants could do. I thought maybe that's something I should do. So when I got out of law school, my wife, Jane, and I became precinct captains.

In every issue there are winners are losers, and the losers are plenty.

The Department of Education should not be producing paid political advertising for the president, it should be helping us to produce smarter students.

Why would we want to keep a tax cut that's failed? Why would we not want to go back to the Clinton tax code? And why would we not want to help every family more with a health-care plan like mine? Let's help average people. Let's be Democrats.

Politics takes patience, time, listening and endless meetings.

I filed a brief as a friend of the court in the U. of Michigan to keep affirmative action at the U. of Michigan, which I attended the law school. And I was one of the original sponsors of making the Martin Luther King birthday a federal holiday.

One of the big mistakes Republicans made with the Contract with America is that they tried to do too much too fast, and people revolted against it.

I had the honor to meet Nelson Mandela, and I heard him explain his forgiveness of his captors of 27 years by saying hatred and bitterness is destructive - the power is in love and forgiveness.

Al Gore is a good man. He is a decent, caring man. He listens to his heart and his head. He loves his family.

The people I'm honored to represent in Missouri and all over the country want leaders to address their kitchen table everyday problems.