Gerald Ford

Tell the truth, work hard, and come to dinner on time.

— Gerald Ford

Too often critics seem more intent on seeking new ways to alter Congress than to truly learn how it functions. They might well profit from the advice of Thomas Huxley, who said a century ago: "Sit down before facts as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconceived notion — or you shall learn nothing."

— Gerald Ford

America now is stumbling through the darkness of hatred and divisiveness. Our values, our principles, and our determination to succeed as a free and democratic people will give us a torch to light the way. And we will survive and become the stronger — not only because of a patriotism that stands for love of country, but a patriotism that stands for love of people.

— Gerald Ford

An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers to be at a given moment in history; conviction results from whatever offense or offenses two-thirds of the other body considers to be sufficiently serious to require removal of the accused from office.

— Gerald Ford

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.

— Gerald Ford

In a political sense, there is one problem that currently underlies all of the others. That problem is making Government sufficiently responsive to the people. If we don't make government responsive to the people, we don't make it believable. And we must make government believable if we are to have a functioning democracy.

— Gerald Ford

He's the smartest guy in Congress, but he insists on voting his conscience instead of party.

— Gerald Ford

I believe in friendly compromise. I said over in the Senate hearings that truth is the glue that holds government together. Compromise is the oil that makes governments go.

— Gerald Ford

We must proceed with our own energy development. Exploitation of domestic petroleum and natural gas potentialities, along with nuclear, solar, geothermal, and non-fossil fuels is vital. We will never again permit any foreign nation to have Uncle Sam over a barrel of oil.

— Gerald 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 Ford

The political lesson of Watergate is this: Never again must America allow an arrogant, elite guard of political adolescents to by-pass the regular party organization and dictate the terms of a national election.

— Gerald Ford

I cannot imagine any other country in the world where the opposition would seek, and the chief executive would allow, the dissemination of his most private and personal conversations with his staff, which, to be honest, do not exactly confer sainthood on anyone concerned.

— Gerald Ford

I know well the coequal role of the Congress in our constitutional process. I love the House of Representatives. I revere the traditions of the Senate despite my too-short internship in that great body. As President, within the limits of basic principles, my motto toward the Congress is communication, conciliation, compromise, and cooperation.

— Gerald Ford

All my children have spoken for themselves since they first learned to speak, and not always with my advance approval, and I expect that to continue in the future.

— Gerald 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 Ford

As I rejected amnesty, so I reject revenge. I ask all Americans who ever asked for goodness and mercy in their lives, who ever sought forgiveness for their trespasses, to join in rehabilitating all the casualties of the tragic conflict of the past.

— Gerald Ford

I would hope that understanding and reconciliation are not limited to the 19th hole alone.

— Gerald Ford

The pat on the back, the arm around the shoulder, the praise for what was done right and the sympathetic nod for what wasn't are as much a part of golf as life itself.

— Gerald Ford

(Gail A. Cobb) has our lasting admiration for the cause of law enforcement and the well-being of our society, a cause for which she made the highest sacrifice.

— Gerald Ford

Let us put an end to self-inflicted wounds. Let us remember that our national unity is a most priceless asset. Let us deny our adversaries the satisfaction of using Vietnam to pit Americans against Americans.

— Gerald Ford

Obviously, it's a great privilege and pleasure to be here at the Yale Law School Sesquicentennial Convocation. And I defy anyone to say that and chew gum at the same time.

— Gerald Ford

The old question still remains: Can a free people restrain crime without sacrificing fundamental liberties and a heritage of compassion? I am confident of the American answer. Let it become a vital element on America's new agenda. Let us show that we can temper together those opposite elements of liberty and restraint into one consistent whole. Let us set an example for the world of a law-abiding America glorying in its freedom as well as its respect for law.

— Gerald Ford

I can tell you, and tell you now, that I am prepared to veto any bill that has as its purpose a Federal bailout of New York City to prevent a default.… It encourages the continuation of "politics as usual" in New York, which is precisely not the way to solve the problem.

— Gerald 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 Ford

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.

— Gerald 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 Ford

The veto is a President's Constitutional right, given to him by the drafters of the Constitution because they wanted it as a check against irresponsible Congressional action. The veto forces Congress to take another look at legislation that has been passed. I think this is a responsible tool for a president of the United States, and I have sought to use it responsibly.

— Gerald Ford

There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe — and there never will be under a Ford administration... The United States does not concede that those countries are under the domination of the Soviet Union.

— Gerald Ford

It is only as the temporary representatives and servants of the people that we meet here, we bring no hereditary status or gift of infallibility, and none follows us from this place.

— Gerald Ford

The three-martini lunch is the epitome of American efficiency. Where else can you get an earful, a bellyful and a snootful at the same time?

— Gerald Ford

America needed recovery, not revenge. The hate had to be drained and the healing begun.

— Gerald Ford

I have always felt that the real purpose of government is to enhance the lives of people and that a leader can best do that by restraining government in most cases instead of enlarging it at every opportunity.

— Gerald Ford

I am a Ford, not a Lincoln. My addresses will never be as eloquent as Mr. Lincoln's. But I will do my very best to equal his brevity and his plain speaking.

— Gerald Ford

As a man of the Congress, let me reaffirm my conviction that the collective wisdom of our two great legislative bodies, while not infallible, will in the end serve the people faithfully and very, very well.

— Gerald Ford

I have not sought this enormous responsibility, but I will not shirk it. Those who nominated and confirmed me as Vice President were my friends and are my friends. They were of both parties, elected by all the people and acting under the Constitution in their name. It is only fitting then that I should pledge to them and to you that I will be the President of all the people.

— Gerald 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 Ford

I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our Government but civilization itself. That bond, though strained, is unbroken at home and abroad. 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 Ford

It is good to be back in the People's House. But this cannot be a real homecoming. Under the Constitution, I now belong to the executive branch. The Supreme Court has even ruled that I am the executive branch — head, heart, and hand.

— Gerald Ford

I know well the coequal role of the Congress in our constitutional process. I love the House of Representatives. I revere the traditions of the Senate despite my too-short internship in that great body. As President, within the limits of basic principles, my motto toward the Congress is communication, conciliation, compromise, and cooperation.

— Gerald Ford

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

— Gerald Ford

I am a little late getting around to it, but confession is good for the soul. I have sometimes voted to spend more taxpayer's money for worthy Federal projects in Grand Rapids, Michigan, while I vigorously opposed wasteful spending boondoggles in Oklahoma. [Laughter] Be that as it may, Mr. Speaker, you and I have always stood together against unwarranted cuts in national defense. This is no time to change that nonpartisan policy.

— Gerald Ford

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of the 94th Congress, and distinguished guests:

— Gerald Ford

We came from many roots, and we have many branches.

— Gerald 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 Ford

History and experience tells us that moral progress cannot come in comfortable and in complacent times, but out of trial and out of confusion.

— Gerald Ford

Richard Nixon… was just offered $2 million by Schick to do a television commercial — for Gillette.

— Gerald Ford

I gave a speech in Omaha. After the speech I went to a reception elsewhere in town. A sweet old lady came up to me, put her gloved hand in mine, and said, "I hear you spoke here tonight." "Oh, it was nothing," I replied modestly. "Yes," the little old lady nodded, "that's what I heard."

— Gerald Ford

I have a basic philosophy: When I meet somebody, even somebody who I've been warned is not a very nice person, my approach is there must be something nice in that person. And if you get to know the nice part of the individual, then you develop a relationship and a friendship that is invaluable. And I say with great emphasis: Everybody I've ever met, you can find something good about them. And I think that is a trait we ought to embellish and appreciate rather than discard.

— Gerald Ford

The length of one's days matters less than the love of one's family and friends.

— Gerald Ford