Jesse Ventura Quotes

If you were to come to Minnesota, I could have you locked up like that. That's power.

I love my country, not my government.

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

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

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.

Remember something, if you will, about voting: Voting is not a horse race, you're not going there thinking "Gee, I gotta pick the winner so I can brag to my friends 'Oh, I picked so-and-so and he or she won'". Voting is voting your heart and voting your conscience and when you've done that, don't ever, EVER let a Democrat or Republican tell you that you've wasted your vote because the fact is, if you DON'T vote your heart and conscience then you HAVE wasted your vote.

Patriotism to your country is something that comes from your heart. It should be taught to you by your parents.

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

I have an idea about voting, how about on every ballot we include "None of the above". People may laugh at that, but what that is, it is a vote of no confidence in your government and I'm willing to bet that in some elections, 'None of the Above' would win. Imagine if you won the election but lost to 'None of the Above'. Wouldn't that make you re-think your positions?

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.

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.

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.

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

Marijuana makes the best bio-diesel fuel on the planet, so it can make you energy. It grows 15 feet a summer, so it's a renewable resource. It makes better paper than wood does. It makes clothing. Medical-wise, it's stopping seizures, it's working for post-traumatic stress, they're even finding that it's curing cancer in certain cases. I mean, this is a remarkable plant. Now, for those that smoke it recreationally, to feel good, what's wrong with that? That's mental health.

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.

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

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

I can't see any difference in government between Bush and Obama apart from the color of their skin.

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

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.

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

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

You need to hunt something that can shoot back at you to really classify yourself as a hunter. You need to understand the feeling of what it's like to go into the field and know your opposition can take you out.

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.

The communism of Karl Marx would probably be actually the best for everybody as a whole. But what he didn't figure into was human nature, and that's what corrupts it.

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.

If Jesus came back today, I think he'd throw up.

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.

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.

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

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Marijuana was made illegal because of William Randolph Hearst, the big newspaper guy. He owned thousands of acres of timberland and he didn't want hemp to be used for paper, he wanted to force everyone to buy his trees. And that's why he was the one that spearheaded making it illegal in Washington. Always follow the money, it's done for money purposes.

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

I believe in the America people's ability to govern themselves. If government would just get out of the way and allow them to lead their lives as they choose, they will succeed.

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

I like surfing in Mexico a whole lot better than sitting with people in Washington that I don't even like.

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.'

In wrestling, my mustache made me look more like a villain. A good mustache can give you the look of the devil.

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

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

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.