“Perserverance. . .that’s been the story of my family.”

I’ve played everything – baseball, football, basketball. I can still swim a mile a day. That’s why I can’t walk.

Everyone knows that gays have served honorably in the military since at least the time of Julius Caesar.

I have characterized Nixon as a loner, a cold man with great self-confidence and a one-track mind centered on the advancement of Richard Nixon.

Politics [is] the art of achieving the maximum amount of freedom for individuals that is consistent with the maintenance of social order.

I say that when you elect a president you want a man to manage the legitimate business of your government. The government that is big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take it away.

It is impossible to maintain freedom and order and justice without religious and moral sanctions.

Trade unions infringe upon the property rights of company owners.

Small men, seeking great wealth or power, have too often and too long turned even the highest levels of public service into mere personal opportunity.

I could have ended the war in a month. I could have made North Vietnam look like a mud puddle.

Unlimited campaign spending eats at the heart of the democratic process.

The constitution is an instrument, above all, for LIMITING the functions of government.

We now have a president who tries to save money by turning off lights in the White House, even as he heads toward a staggering addition to the national debt. “L.B.J.” should stand for Light Bulb Johnson.

Religious factions will go on imposing their will on others unless the decent people connected to them recognize that religion has no place in public policy. They must learn to make their views known without trying to make their views the only alternatives.

History has to judge every man who served. I don’t know how they’re going to treat me. I may be the worst S.O.B. that ever came down the pike. But I won’t lose any sleep over it. I just like to be remembered as an honest person who tried.

The Conservative knows that to regard man as part of an undifferentiated mass is to consign him to ultimate slavery.

If you don’t mind smelling like peanut butter for two or three days, peanut butter is darn good shaving cream.

I think I’m more bonded, emotionally and in a craft sense, to films that tell extraordinary stories about extraordinary destinies.

Every moral has a story, every story has and end. Every battle has its glory, and its consequence.

I write nonfiction in this thriller-esque style. I have all the facts; I research it. I have thousands of pages of court documents… I try to get inside my stories.

My favorite roles usually have to do with the story, if it’s a good story I usually enjoy doing the character.

Nietzsche said that everyone tells themselves the story of their life. That’s true about countries, too. We’re constantly telling ourselves the American story.

There’s always more to a story than a body can see from the fenceline.

Music is a big part of my life. I listen to different genres, and I choose the music that will inspire the next part of my story.

Gravity”: “It’s the story of how George Clooney would rather float away into space and die then spend one more minute with a woman his own age.