George W. Bush on clever jabs

One thing I have learned about the presidency is that whatever shortcomings you have, people are going to notice them⁠—and whatever strengths you have, you’re going to need them.

Freedom is not America’s gift to the world, it is the Almighty God’s gift to every man and woman in this world.

Freedom and fear, justice and cruelty, have always been at war, and we know that God is not neutral between them.

I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly.

Winston Churchill1874–1965

Thus far, the reputed idiot Bush has graduated from Yale and Harvard, made a stack of cash in the oil industry, become the first consecutive-term governor of Texas, defeated a dual-term VP for the presidency, and led his party to [November 5th’s] extraordinary triumphs. Let his opponents keep calling him stupid; if they do, within five years Bush will be King of England, the Pope, and world Formula One motor racing champion.

Tim Blairborn 1965

• Politics

I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.

Mark Twain1835–1910