Top 40 Wesley Clark Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “Let’s not forget what the origin of the problem is. There is no place in modern Europe for ethnically pure states. That’s a 19th century idea and we are trying to transition into the 21st century, and we are going to do it with multi-ethnic states.”

— Wesley Clark

2. “It doesn’t take any more energy to create a big dream than it does to create a little one.”

— Wesley Clark

3. “We’re going to take out seven countries in 5 years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran.”

— Wesley Clark

4. “The truth is, about the Middle East is, had there been no oil there, it would be like Africa. Nobody is threatening to intervene in Africa.”

— Wesley Clark

5. “Already the scent of victory is in the air.”

— Wesley Clark

6. “I have grown up with guns all my life, but people who like assault weapons they should join the United States Army, we have them.”

— Wesley Clark

7. “Global warming is a matter of national security. Will we live in a world where we must fight our neighbors for fresh water and food? Or will we take the lead now and leave to our children and grandchildren a world better off than the one we inherited from our parents?”

— Wesley Clark

8. “It’s important. One of the principles in the United States is civilian control of the military.”

— Wesley Clark

9. “You have to be true to what you believe in and do your duty.”

— Wesley Clark

10. “The more Marines I have around, the better I like it.”

— Wesley Clark

11. “The time has passed in America when this party can be the party of compassion and let the executive branch run foreign policy. It won’t work. We have to be the party that can stand toe to toe with George W. Bush on national security, as well as the party of compassion.”

— Wesley Clark

12. “I’m spiritual. I’m religious. I’m a strong Christian and I’m a Catholic but I go to a Presbyterian Church. Occasionally I go to the Catholic church too. I take communion. I haven’t transferred my membership or anything.”

— Wesley Clark

13. “It was of tremendous comfort. I always said my prayers at night. My mother taught actually me to say prayers at night but most of it came from the church.”

— Wesley Clark

14. “Europe and America must act together in the face of evil. It’s high time for Americans and Europeans to restore that unity and be able to take actions collectively together.”

— Wesley Clark

15. “You need people with the courage to stand up and voice their opposition without being labeled unpatriotic.”

— Wesley Clark

16. “What I learned in the military is that gossip starts early and it stays forever.”

— Wesley Clark

17. “It ’s really hard to impose democracy. It has to emerge naturally. You have to get out of the way and let it happen.”

— Wesley Clark

18. “I don’t think it’s patriotic to put on a flight suit and prance around on the deck of an aircraft carrier looking for a photo op. We have a president of the United States who did not do his duty to take care of America. If you’re patriotic, you do your duty.”

— Wesley Clark

19. “As president of the United States, my top priority will be to keep America safe. We’re going to go after the terrorist networks. We’re going to go after Osama bin Laden. We are not going to live in fear in this country.”

— Wesley Clark

20. “Slobodan Milosevic was just as smart as a five-year-old. Five-year-olds have an uncanny way of getting into your psyche, your self-esteem.”

— Wesley Clark

21. “I’m pro-choice, pro-affirmative action, pro-environment and pro-labor. I was either going to be the loneliest Republican in America or I was going to be a happy Democrat.”

— Wesley Clark

22. “Nothing could be a more serious violation of public trust than to consciously make a war based on false claims.”

— Wesley Clark

23. “I want to make one thing clear: I’m pro-choice, I’m pro-affirmative action, I’m pro- environment, pro-health care, and pro-labor. And if that ain’t a Democrat, then I must be at the wrong meeting.”

— Wesley Clark

24. “You have to take a plan that might work and make it work.”

— Wesley Clark

25. “I think we’re at risk with our democracy. I think we’re dealing with the most closed, imperialistic, nastiest administration in living memory. They even put Richard Nixon to shame.”

— Wesley Clark

26. “This is kind of hard to articulate, but in broad outline, the United States is going to do what the United States has to do.”

— Wesley Clark

27. “Nothing is going to hurt this country – not bioweapons, not a nuclear weapon, not a terrorist strike – there is nothing that can hurt us if we stay united and move together and have a vision for moving to the future the right way.”

— Wesley Clark

28. “I don’t think you can solve what’s going on in Iraq unless you can deal effectively with the region and you can’t deal effectively with the region if you start with the premise that you can’t talk to people who disagree with you.”

— Wesley Clark

29. “Veterans have had a long record of leaning towards the Republican Party. I think that’s changing. I think that President Obama has the strongest record with veterans among any president in my lifetime.”

— Wesley Clark

30. “President George Bush had the courage and the vision and we will always be grateful to President George Bush for that tremendous leadership and statesmanship.”

— Wesley Clark

31. “I would have been a Republican if Karl Rove had returned my phone calls.”

— Wesley Clark

32. “The safety of our country demands an end to the doctrinaire, ineffective policies that currently grip Washington. Enough is enough! A safe America – a just America – that’s what we want, that’s what we need.”

— Wesley Clark

33. “George W. Bush has helped those who have most, hurt those who have least and ignored everyone in between.”

— Wesley Clark

34. “We’ve proven to be quite flexible and adept in the way that we’ve changed what was the original pattern of air activities into something that’s now very focused on the battlefield.”

— Wesley Clark

35. “I’ve forgotten more about national security than George W. Bush will ever learn.”

— Wesley Clark

36. “I like Hilary Clinton. I think she’s – she’s a fantastic leader.”

— Wesley Clark

37. “Anyone who tells you that one political party has a monopoly on the best defense of our nation is committing a fraud on the American people.”

— Wesley Clark

38. “I tremendously admire, and I think we all should, the great work done by our commander-in-chief, our president, George Bush.”

— Wesley Clark

39. “Everybody in the military has a reputation, and usually it doesn’t come out to the public.”

— Wesley Clark

40. “One of the principles that we operate on in this country is that leaders are held accountable. The simple truth is that we went into Iraq on the basis of some intuition, some fear, and some exaggerated rhetoric and some very, very scanty evidence.”

— Wesley Clark

41. “Maybe it’s because I’ve never been in politics, but I don’t believe that America is run by politicians in Washington. I believe it’s run by people like us, in places like this.”

— Wesley Clark