Top 300 Richard M. Nixon Quotes (2024 Update)
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101. “You must never give up. You must remember that you have to take risks in order to achieve anything and sometimes you will suffer defeat. But the mark of any individual is to recover from defeat and disappointment and go on and give it his best shot.”

— Richard M. Nixon

102. “It is in that spirit, the spirit of ’76, that I ask you to rise and join me in a toast to Chairman Mao, to Premier Chou, to the people of our two countries, and to the hope of our children that peace and harmony can be the legacy of our generation to theirs.”

— Richard M. Nixon

103. “God, of course, is the greatest philosopher of all.”

— Richard M. Nixon

104. “Law enforcement officers should use only the minimum force necessary in dealing with disorders when they arise. A human life-the life of a student, soldier, or police officer-is a precious thing, and the taking of a life can be justified only as a necessary and last resort.”

— Richard M. Nixon

105. “It is essential that we take steps to prevent chemical substances from becoming environmental hazards. Unless we develop better methods to assure adequate testing of chemicals, we will be inviting the environmental crisis of the future.”

— Richard M. Nixon

106. “Communism starts with the proposition that there are no universal truths or general truths of human nature.”

— Richard M. Nixon

107. “Well, I screwed it up real good, didn’t I?”

— Richard M. Nixon

108. “Millions who endure poverty and bad government can now know what they are missing. To see how the other half lives all they have to do is switch on their television sets.”

— Richard M. Nixon

109. “Italy hasn’t had a government since Mussolini.”

— Richard M. Nixon

110. “Economic power is not the same as strength of national character. Our country may be rich in goods, but we are poor in spirit.”

— Richard M. Nixon

111. “When I grow up, I want to be an honest lawyer so things like that can’t happen.”

— Richard M. Nixon

112. “Don’t try to take on a new personality; it doesn’t work.”

— Richard M. Nixon

113. “The peace we seek to win is not victory over any other people, but the peace that comes “with healing in its wings;” with compassion for those who have suffered; with understanding for those who have opposed us; with the opportunity for all the peoples of this Earth to choose their own destiny.”

— Richard M. Nixon

114. “The Pakistanis are straightforward and sometimes extremely stupid. The Indians are more devious, sometimes so smart that we fall for their line.”

— Richard M. Nixon

115. “I was not lying. I said things that later on seemed to be untrue.”

— Richard M. Nixon

116. “Honesty may not be the best policy, but it is worth trying once in a while.”

— Richard M. Nixon

117. “A riot is a spontaneous outburst. A war is subject to advance planning.”

— Richard M. Nixon

118. “We seek friendly relations with all nations. Any nation can be our friend without being any other nation’s enemy.”

— Richard M. Nixon

119. “The ability to be cool, confident, and decisive in crisis is not an inherited characteristic but is the direct result of how well the individual has prepared himself for the battle.”

— Richard M. Nixon

120. “Let us begin by committing ourselves to the truth to see it like it is, and tell it like it is, to find the truth, to speak the truth, and to live the truth.”

— Richard M. Nixon

121. “I see the face of a child. He lives in a great city. He is black. Or he is white. He is Mexican, Italian, Polish. None of that matters. What matters, he’s an American child.”

— Richard M. Nixon

122. “I’m not a crook. I’ve earned everything I’ve got.”

— Richard M. Nixon

123. “The ultimate test of a nation’s character is not how it responds to adversity in war but how it meets the challenge of peace.”

— Richard M. Nixon

124. “Peace is the real and right memorial for those who have died in war.”

— Richard M. Nixon

125. “Anybody who wants to be an ambassador, wants to pay at least $250,000.”

— Richard M. Nixon

126. “My concern today is not with the length of a person’s hair but with his conduct.”

— Richard M. Nixon

127. “I let the American people down, and I have to carry that burden for the rest of my life. My political life is over. I will never again have an opportunity to serve in any official position. Maybe I can give a little advice from time to time.”

— Richard M. Nixon

128. “Because of the realities of human nature, perfect peace is achieved in two places only: in the grave and at the typewriter.”

— Richard M. Nixon

129. “America will not tolerate being pushed around by anybody, anyplace.”

— Richard M. Nixon

130. “The man of thought who will not act is ineffective; the man of action who will not think is dangerous.”

— Richard M. Nixon

131. “I never say something I cannot do. And I always will do more than I can say.”

— Richard M. Nixon

132. “I hereby resign this office of president of the United States.”

— Richard M. Nixon

133. “Nobody is a friend of ours. Let’s face it.”

— Richard M. Nixon

134. “Where the hell is Chad?”

— Richard M. Nixon

135. “Certainly in the next 50 years we shall see a woman president, perhaps sooner than you think. A woman can and should be able to do any political job that a man can do.”

— Richard M. Nixon

136. “Peace demands more, not less, from a people. Peace lacks the clarity of purpose and the cadence of war. War is scripted: peace is improvisation.”

— Richard M. Nixon

137. “History will treat me fairly. Historians probably won’t, because most historians are on the left.”

— Richard M. Nixon

138. “We must always remember that America is a great nation today not because of what government did for people but because of what people did for themselves and for one another.”

— Richard M. Nixon

139. “We are all in it together. This is a war. We take a few shots and it will be over. We will give them a few shots and it will be over.”

— Richard M. Nixon

140. “When I am the candidate, I run the campaign.”

— Richard M. Nixon

141. “If you are ever going to lie, you go to jail for the lie rather than the crime. So believe me, don’t ever lie.”

— Richard M. Nixon

142. “Voters quickly forget what a man says.”

— Richard M. Nixon

143. “The average American is just like the child in the family.”

— Richard M. Nixon

144. “Tonight – to you, the great silent majority of my fellow Americans – I ask for your support.”

— Richard M. Nixon

145. “But more than anything else, we have learned that legal assistance for the poor, when properly provided, is one of the most constructive ways to help them help themselves.”

— Richard M. Nixon

146. “Government can provide opportunity. But opportunity means nothing unless people are prepared to seize it.”

— Richard M. Nixon

147. “Your mind must always go, even while you’re shaking hands and going through all the maneuvers. I developed the ability long ago to do one thing while thinking about another.”

— Richard M. Nixon

148. “If I had feelings, I probably wouldn’t have even survived.”

— Richard M. Nixon

149. “Until he has been part of a cause larger than himself, no man is truly whole.”

— Richard M. Nixon

150. “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference.”

— Richard M. Nixon