Top 70 Arlen Specter Quotes (2024 Update)

1. “There’s nothing more important than our good health – that’s our principal capital asset.”

— Arlen Specter

2. “I beat a brain tumor.”

— Arlen Specter

3. “Effective security measures do not come cheap.”

— Arlen Specter

4. “We don’t need holy wars. What we need is tolerance and brotherhood and simple humanity.”

— Arlen Specter

5. “Stability means respecting precedents.”

— Arlen Specter

6. “I do come from a strong family.”

— Arlen Specter

7. “The First Amendment freedom of religion is as important today as when the Bill of Rights was first written.”

— Arlen Specter

8. “There is no higher value in our society than integrity.”

— Arlen Specter

9. “When I supported the stimulus package, I knew that it would not be popular with the Republican Party.”

— Arlen Specter

10. “I would suggest respectfully to the president that he is not the sole decider. The decider is a shared and joint responsibility.”

— Arlen Specter

11. “Voting is fundamental in our democracy. It has yielded enormous returns.”

— Arlen Specter

12. “When I’m asked about legacy, I say it’s too early to talk about legacy.”

— Arlen Specter

13. “When the 14th Amendment, equal protection clause was enacted, the galleries in the Senate were segregated. Now we have integration.”

— Arlen Specter

14. “When the students are occupied, they’re not juvenile delinquents. I believe that education is a capital investment.”

— Arlen Specter

15. “The fundamental purpose of government is to protect its citizens.”

— Arlen Specter

16. “My definition of winning at squash is playing and surviving, and I’ve never lost a match.”

— Arlen Specter

17. “Heart disease continues to be the number one killer; cancer, the number 2 killer, not far behind. The tragic aspect of these deadly diseases is that they could all be cured, I do believe, if we had sufficient funding.”

— Arlen Specter

18. “It’s inspirational to see someone who is dying smile.”

— Arlen Specter

19. “I don’t like labels. I think they conceal more than they reveal, sort of like a bikini.”

— Arlen Specter

20. “If you can get people to laugh, you can get people to listen.”

— Arlen Specter

21. “Strong advocacy for education, health care and worker safety will be indispensable if they are to get their fair share of President Bush’s austere budget for the next fiscal year.”

— Arlen Specter

22. “I must say I am not pleased to have to arrange the Senate schedule around the availability of Senators who are running for President.”

— Arlen Specter

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23. “Beating the tea party gang is more important than who does the beating.”

— Arlen Specter

24. “I’m battling cancer. It’s another battle I intend to win.”

— Arlen Specter

25. “My change in party will enable me to be re-elected.”

— Arlen Specter

26. “There is no doubt that our nation’s security and defeating terrorism trump all other priorities.”

— Arlen Specter

27. “Lawyers advocate more so than state their own positions.”

— Arlen Specter

28. “The solicitor general is sometimes referred to as the 10th Supreme Court justice – a pretty important position.”

— Arlen Specter

29. “Today the Internal Revenue Code constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. A flat tax would be an enormous step forward.”

— Arlen Specter

30. “As a matter of traditional and sound constitutional doctrine, an amendment to the Constitution should be the last resort when all other measures have proved inadequate.”

— Arlen Specter

31. “I have not taken a position on that nuclear option. My view is I’m not going to do anything until I come to that bridge. I’m not going to jump off the bridge until I come to it.”

— Arlen Specter

32. “It is with unwelcome frequency that I find myself the deciding vote.”

— Arlen Specter

33. “Do you believe today that the right to privacy does exist in the Constitution?”

— Arlen Specter

34. “If Romney wants to make me responsible for ObamaCare, I’ve said I would be proud to be responsible for it.”

— Arlen Specter

35. “Cannibals are devouring senators.”

— Arlen Specter

36. “When the president acts in absence of a congressional grant of authority, he can rely only upon his own independent powers. When the president takes measures incompatible with the express or implied will of Congress, his power is at its lowest ebb.”

— Arlen Specter

37. “The essence of a democracy is a free electorate.”

— Arlen Specter

38. “We’re all looking for a plan that will work. The current plan is not working, and 21,500 additional troops – it’s a snowball in July. It’s not going to work.”

— Arlen Specter

39. “If we had pursued the war on cancer which President Nixon declared in 1970, Jack Kemp might be alive today.”

— Arlen Specter

40. “You know, a statesman is a dead politician.”

— Arlen Specter

41. “The best way to reduce the cost of medical care is to reduce the illness.”

— Arlen Specter

42. “Big money is ruining the political system.”

— Arlen Specter

43. “When Pat Robertson says there is no constitutional doctrine of separation of church and state, I say he is wrong.”

— Arlen Specter

44. “My tenure in the Senate was really as an independent and whichever, regardless of party label.”

— Arlen Specter

45. “Separation of power says the judiciary committee is supposed to confirm qualified judges and then what the Supreme Court does, that is their function, not my function.”

— Arlen Specter

46. “There’s nothing in the First Amendment that even remotely talks about spending money for political contests, and to say that an individual can spend as much of his or her own money as he or she wants constitutionally without any limitation, I think is just absurd.”

— Arlen Specter

47. “As the Republican Party has moved farther and farther to the right, I have found myself increasingly at odds with the Republican philosophy and more in line with the philosophy of the Democratic Party.”

— Arlen Specter

48. “Was the Vietnam conflict a war which should have, as a matter of constitutional law, required a declaration of war by Congress?”

— Arlen Specter

49. “But one way or another, judges perform a very vital function in our society. They have a risky job and they are entitled to security.”

— Arlen Specter

50. “It’s been a great privilege to serve the people of Pennsylvania.”

— Arlen Specter