Top 100 James Comey Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “In a complicated, changing, and integrated world, our confirmation bias makes us very difficult people. We simply can’t change our minds.”

— James Comey

2. “But forest fires, as painful as they can be, bring growth. They spur growth that was impossible before the fire, when old trees crowded out new plants on the forest floor. In the midst of this fire, I already see new life – young people engaged as never before, and the media, the courts, academics, nonprofits, and all other parts of civil society finding reason to bloom.”

— James Comey

3. “There are those who’ve been hacked by the Chinese and those who don’t know they’ve been hacked by the Chinese.”

— James Comey

4. “The best leaders don’t care much about “benchmarking,” comparing their organization to others. They know theirs is not good enough, and constantly push to get better.”

— James Comey

5. “Harry Truman once said, “The only thing new in the world is the history you don’t know.” Humans tend to do the same dumb things, and the same evil things, again and again, because we forget.”

— James Comey

6. “In their minds, the murderers and accomplices of Germany, and Poland, and Hungary, and so many, many other places didn’t do something evil. They convinced themselves it was the right thing to do, the thing they had to do. That’s what people do. And that should truly frighten us.”

— James Comey

7. “A lack of transparency results in distrust and a deep sense of insecurity. DALAI LAMA.”

— James Comey

8. “Martin Luther once said, “You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say.”

— James Comey

9. “Ethical leaders choose a higher loyalty to those core values over their own personal gain.”

— James Comey

10. “A leader who screams at his employees or belittles them will not attract and retain great talent over the long term.”

— James Comey

11. “Those leaders who never think they are wrong, who never question their judgments or perspectives, are a danger to the organizations and people they lead.”

— James Comey

12. “People must fear the consequences of lying in the justice system or the system can’t work.”

— James Comey

13. “Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides. – MARGARET THATCHER.”

— James Comey

14. “Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary. – REINHOLD NIEBUHR.”

— James Comey

15. “We are experiencing a dangerous time in our country, with a political environment where basic facts are disputed, fundamental truth is questioned, lying is normalized, and unethical behavior is ignored, excused, or rewarded.”

— James Comey

16. “The easy, casual lies – those are a very dangerous thing. They open up the path to the bigger lies, in more important places, where the consequences aren’t so harmless.”

— James Comey

17. “Whatever your politics, it is wrong to dismiss the damage to the norms and traditions that have guided the presidency and our public life for decades or, in many cases, since the republic was founded. It is also wrong to stand idly by, or worse, to stay silent when you know better, while a president brazenly seeks to undermine public confidence in law enforcement institutions that were established to keep our leaders in check.”

— James Comey

18. “The best leaders are both kind and tough. Without both, people don’t thrive.”

— James Comey

19. “The Constitution and the rule of law are not partisan political tools. Lady Justice wears a blindfold. She is not supposed to peek out to see how her political master wishes her to weigh a matter.”

— James Comey

20. “The tough and kind leader loves her people enough to know they can always improve their game. She lights a fire in them to always get better.”

— James Comey

21. “Ethical leaders never ask for loyalty.”

— James Comey

22. “Lordy, I hope there are tapes.”

— James Comey

23. “Being an outsider, being picked on, was very painful, but in hindsight it made me a better judge of people.”

— James Comey

24. “Harry Howell had power, and he wielded it with compassion and understanding. That wasn’t always easy for him, because he had to deal with a lot of immature kids. Others had power, like the bullies at school, and they found it far easier to wield it against those who were defenseless and to just go along with the group rather than stand up to it.”

— James Comey

25. “As I found myself thrust into the Trump orbit, I once again was having flashbacks to my earlier career as a prosecutor against the Mob. The silent circle of assent. The boss in complete control. The loyalty oaths. The us-versus-them worldview. The lying about all things, large and small, in service to some code of loyalty that put the organization above morality and above the truth.”

— James Comey

26. “Guilt and affection are far more powerful motivators than fear.”

— James Comey

27. “The criminal investigation was not centered on the fact that Secretary Clinton decided to use nongovernmental email to do her work.”

— James Comey

28. “Getting problems, pain, hopes, and doubts out on the table so we can talk honestly about them and work to improve is the best way to lead. By acknowledging our issues, we have the best chance of resolving them in a healthy way. Buried pain never gets better with age. And by remembering and being open and truthful about our mistakes, we reduce the chance we will repeat them.”

— James Comey

29. “He was a happy man. This is the person I want to be, I thought. My effort at life-plagiarism has been imperfect, but the lessons were priceless. That is what it means to lead and keep a life.”

— James Comey

30. “The Constitution and the rule of law are not partisan political tools. Lady Justice wears a blindfold.”

— James Comey

31. “Much of life is ambiguous and subject to interpretation, but there are things that are objectively, verifiably either true or false.”

— James Comey

32. “Any investigator or prosecutor who doesn’t have a sense, after nearly a year of investigation, where their case is likely headed, is incompetent.”

— James Comey

33. “Intelligence is the ability to collect and report what the documents and witnesses say; judgment is the ability to say what those same facts mean and what effect they will have on other audiences.”

— James Comey

34. “The nature of human existence makes it hard for us – or at least for me – to come to that understanding naturally. After all, I can only experience the world through me. That tempts all of us to believe everything we think, everything we hear, everything we see, is all about us. I think we all do this.”

— James Comey

35. “There was once a time when most people worried about going to hell if they violated an oath taken in the name of God. That divine deterrence has slipped away from our modern cultures. In its place, people must fear going to jail.”

— James Comey

36. “Bush may have had a slight mean streak – he clearly enjoyed watching that scene – but he understood that humor was essential to the high-stress, high-stakes business we were in. We could be talking with deadly seriousness about terrorism one minute and then filling the Oval Office with laughter the next. It was the only way to get through the job – to intentionally inject some fun and joy into it.”

— James Comey

37. “But we were just people, ordinary people in extraordinary roles in challenging times. I’m not sure what I had expected, but I met the top of the pyramid and it was just us, which was both comforting and a bit frightening.”

— James Comey

38. “Too few people asked, “What is true?” Too few people actually considered the possibilities and asked what might be going on, even if they believed I was out to lunch. Instead, folks rushed to their team, their side. Very few voices in the public square took the time to ask, “So what is this guy worried about and what is he saying, exactly?”

— James Comey

39. “Speaking uphill takes courage. It takes overcoming a universal human affliction – the impostor complex.”

— James Comey

40. “Our discussion was the total opposite of the Washington listen: each of us actually took the time to really understand a different way of looking at something and with a mind open to being convinced.”

— James Comey

41. “I had seen the impact of Addington’s threats and bullying on these exhausted and fundamentally decent people. In my opinion, his arrogance was the reason we were in this mess, and these two guys were really good people. I had had enough.”

— James Comey

42. “As strange as it might sound, there is a certain freedom in being totally screwed, in knowing you will be attacked no matter what you do. Half the country will howl either way, so tune out the critics and let only the facts and the law dictate which half.”

— James Comey

43. “In that moment, something hit me: It’s just us. I always thought that in this place there would be somebody better, but it’s just this group of people – including me – trying to figure stuff out.”

— James Comey

44. “Policies come and go. Supreme Court justices come and go. But the core of our nation is our commitment to a set of shared values that began with George Washington – to restraint and integrity and balance and transparency and truth. If that slides away from us, only a fool would be consoled by a tax cut or a different immigration policy.”

— James Comey

45. “Being an outsider, being picked on, was very painful, but it made me a better person. It instilled in me a lifelong hatred for bullies and sympathy for their victims.”

— James Comey

46. “The more stressful the job, the more intentional I’ve always been about helping my team members find joy in our work. Laughter is the outward manifestation of joy, so I believe if I’m doing it right, and helping people connect to the meaning and joy in their work, there will be laughter in the workplace. Laughter is also a good indication that people aren’t taking themselves too seriously.”

— James Comey

47. “Our investigation required us to answer two questions. The first question was whether classified documents were moved outside of classified systems or whether classified topics were discussed outside of a classified system. If so, the second question was what the subject of the investigation was thinking when she mishandled that classified information.”

— James Comey

48. “I was struck by the way he could see and evaluate a variety of angles on a complicated issue.”

— James Comey

49. “Getting problems, pain, hopes, and doubts out on the table so we can talk honestly about them and work to improve is the best way to lead.”

— James Comey

50. “The danger in every organization, especially one built around hierarchy, is that you create an environment that cuts off dissenting views and discourages honest feedback. That can quickly lead to a culture of delusion and deception. And in a leader, the tendency of too much confidence to swamp humility can lead to a dangerous self-indulgence at the expense of others.”

— James Comey