I was honoured when they asked me to appear at the president’s birthday rally in Madison Square Garden. There was like a hush over the whole place when I came on to sing ‚Happy Birthday,‘ like if I had been wearing a slip, I would have thought it was showing or something. I thought, ‚Oh, my gosh, what if no sound comes out!‘

All the president is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing, and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway.

As long as I stay in training and play well, I don’t see what objection there can be to what I do off the field.

I can’t say this enough – the food that you put into your bodies can actually help you get better grades. And it can also affect your performance in sports and other activities too. You see, when you give your body the best possible fuel, you have more energy, you’re stronger, you think more quickly.

A chorus is not easy.

Always there has been some terrible evil at home or some monstrous foreign power that was going to gobble us up if we did not blindly rally behind it.

Piety requires us to honor truth above our friends.

No greater nor more affectionate honor can be conferred on an American than to have a public school named after him.

I sang a song at my sister’s wedding. My mother forced me into that, too. But that one felt all right.

Purity is the feminine, truth the masculine of honor.

Seeing Pax get extra-nervous about which shirt he is going to wear when he meets Aung San Suu Kyi, I get very moved. He rightfully doesn’t get nervous going to a movie premiere; he gets nervous going to meet her.

Show me the man you honor, and I will know what kind of man you are.

I kept a very full diary of my relationship with Nixon, for some strange reason, until he became president.

We all have special numbers in our lives, and 4 is that for me. It’s the day I was born. My mother’s birthday, and a lot of my friends‘ birthdays, are on the fourth; April 4 is my wedding date.

One of the common failings among honorable people is a failure to appreciate how thoroughly dishonorable some other people can be, and how dangerous it is to trust them.

I don’t like to see a president who is just out campaigning all year long or for the last four years. I’d like to see somebody who’s going in the office. In fact, I’d like to not see them because that way you’d be sure that they’d be working.

Leadership to me means duty, honor, country. It means character, and it means listening from time to time.

You’ve all seen over the last eight years what President Obama means to this country. He is the embodiment of honor, resolve, and character – one of the finest presidents we have ever had.

I grew up in a musical family; the majority of my growing up was done in Hawaii. It’s what we do. You sing, you dance, you play ukulele and you drink.

All of my brothers and sisters are very talented. They all sang all right.

To those whose God is honor; only disgrace is a sin.

I always said that I wouldn’t use a teleprompter, and if I start to sing real flat, I’ll hang it up.

Opera happens because a large number of things amazingly fail to go wrong.

As president, Reagan worked very well with Democrats to do big things. It is true that he worked to reduce the size of government and cut federal taxes and he eliminated many regulations, but he also raised taxes when necessary.

I’ve had the honor of speaking at many commencements.

I’m mortified to be on the stage, but then again, it’s the only place where I’m happy.

I went on all over the States, ranting poems to enthusiastic audiences that, the week before, had been equally enthusiastic about lectures on Railway Development or the Modern Turkish Essay.

I knew I wanted to do something creative. I didn’t think I’d have the luxury of doing something like that, because I didn’t know anyone who had pursued anything they really adored, but I had dreams for singing or writing.

The bat is not a toy, it’s a weapon. It gives me everything in life, which helps me to do everything on the field.

I can’t see myself singing the same song twice in a row. That’s terrible.

You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing and dance, and write poems and suffer and understand, for all that is life.

The President is going to benefit from me reporting directly to him when I arrive.

But there are advantages to being elected President. The day after I was elected, I had my high school grades classified Top Secret.

In my opinion eight years as president is enough and sometimes too much for any man to serve in that capacity.

No body can be healthful without exercise, neither natural body nor politic, and certainly, to a kingdom or estate, a just and honourable war is the true exercise.

Ever since I was a kid, this was all I wanted to do. I’ve wanted to do music. I wanted to sing. It’s all I know.

I used to sing songs and write with my uncle, Bill Owens.

Being part of a community with a church at its centre and singin‘ hymns is a great thing to do.

The thought of being President frightens me and I do not think I want the job.

I’m no longer just a candidate. I’m the President. I know what it means to send young Americans into battle, for I have held in my arms the mothers and fathers of those who didn’t return. I’ve shared the pain of families who’ve lost their homes, and the frustration of workers who’ve lost their jobs.

Dancing is a perpendicular expression of a horizontal desire.

My great-grandfather and his two brothers fought at Gettysburg. They were in artillery, and they survived the war, thank goodness. So I revere what they did. I think their motivations were honorable when they undertook the war and participated in it along with other Southerners.

I don’t know what acting is, but I enjoy it.

The memory of that scene for me is like a frame of film forever frozen at that moment: the red carpet, the green lawn, the white house, the leaden sky. The new president and his first lady.

A lot has happened over the years. And while this nation has been tested by war, and it’s been tested by recession and all manner of challenges – I stand before you again tonight, after almost two terms as your president, to tell you I am more optimistic about the future of America than ever before.

I want a president who will teach our children that everyone in this country matters, a president who truly believes in the vision that our Founders put forth all those years ago that we are all created equal, each a beloved part of the great American story.

All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.

Show me the person you honor, for I know better by that the kind of person you are. For you show me what your idea of humanity is.

I’ve got no need to prove to myself that I can do Shakespeare. I’ve done it.

While we look to the dramatist to give romance to realism, we ask of the actor to give realism to romance.

I’d love to do a musical. I’ve been known to have a good step or two. I’m half Samoan, you know, and part of our culture is singing and dancing daily.

Many things difficult to design prove easy to performance.

Sitting on a bedroom floor crying is something that makes you feel really alone. If someone’s singing about that feeling, you feel bonded to that person. That’s the only way I can find an explanation for why 55,000 people would want to come see me sing.

How can a president not be an actor?

The U.S.S. George H. W. Bush is a great thing in my life. It’s amazing. A great honor.

When you’re singing you can hear the echo of people in the audience singing every single word with you, and that was that big dream that I had for myself. It’s happening.

The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast.

I enjoy acting when you really hit it right.

An operatic voice is like no other.

I enjoy singing my songs in front of people.

The main rule to me is to honor God with your life. To life a life of integrity. Not be selfish. You know, help others. But that’s really the essence of the Christian faith.