The value of a man should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive.

What troubles me most about my lovely country is that its children are seldom taught that American freedom will vanish, if, when they grow up, and in the exercise of their duties as citizens, they insist that our courts and policemen and prisons be guided by divine or natural law.

Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too selfish to seek other than itself.

Imagine for yourself a character, a model personality, whose example you determine to follow, in private as well as in public.

I’ll promise to go easier on drinking and to get to bed earlier, but not for you, fifty thousand dollars, or two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars will I give up women. They’re too much fun.

On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, ‚Is it safe?‘ Expediency asks the question, ‚Is it politic?‘ And Vanity comes along and asks the question, ‚Is it popular?‘ But Conscience asks the question, ‚Is it right?‘

Great and good are seldom the same man.

I have a very good family. I’m very fortunate to have a very good family. I believe very strongly in the family. It’s one of the things we have in our platform, is to talk about it.

A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true.

Duty, Honor, Country. Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be.

I’ve said this time and again: My greatest concern coming into the White House was making sure my girls came out whole and normal, and decent and kind, just like I would expect them to if we were living on the South Side of Chicago. And it takes work to keep White House life normal for the kids.

Honor means that a man is not exceptional; fame, that he is. Fame is something which must be won; honor, only something which must not be lost.

It is a fine thing to be honest, but it is also very important to be right.

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

I try to give to the poor people for love what the rich could get for money. No, I wouldn’t touch a leper for a thousand pounds; yet I willingly cure him for the love of God.

Lenience will operate with greater force, in some instances than rigor. It is therefore my first wish to have all of my conduct distinguished by it.

I haven’t written my own epitaph, and I’m not sure I should. Whatever it is, I hope it will be simple, and that it will point people not to me, but to the One I served.

Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think.

Money can’t buy life.

A gentleman is one who puts more into the world than he takes out.

Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.

I am the most helpful and open up doors for everyone and I like to share.

There is no principle worth the name if it is not wholly good.

To summarize, draft resistance can make use of the inegalitarian nature of American society as a technique for increasing the cost of American aggression, and it threatens values that are important to those in a decision-making position.

If a man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it.

It is a no-fail, incontrovertible reality: If you get, give. If you learn, teach. You can’t do anything with that except do it.

Create a ladder of values and priorities in your life, reminding yourself of what really matters to you.

Use power to help people. For we are given power not to advance our own purposes nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power and it is to serve people.

More than anything else, I want the folks back at home to think right of me.

I always think if you are asking somebody for something it is a good idea to give them something first.

When I give somebody something and see their face, it just makes me so happy.

If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.

Character may almost be called the most effective means of persuasion.

Traditions are a common part of our lives. They can be good, and not all traditions are wrong, but sometimes they can take the joy out of life.

Of the billionaires I have known, money just brings out the basic traits in them. If they were jerks before they had money, they are simply jerks with a billion dollars.

I will never say something I don’t agree with or believe in… even if the reward is massive!

The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life.

That’s the true spirit of Christmas; people being helped by people other than me.

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

Giving is better than receiving because giving starts the receiving process.

The deed is everything, the glory is naught.

Stay humble and be concerned for the less fortunate.

Virtue itself scapes not calumnious strokes.

If women were particular about men’s characters, they would never get married at all.

My parents taught me service – not by saying, but by doing. That was my culture, the culture of my family.

The greatest gift that you can give to others is the gift of unconditional love and acceptance.

Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued.

There was the time I bought three cars in the span of three or four weeks. It was crazy; it wasn’t greedy. It was mine, my girl’s, my mom’s. I got Benzes for my ladies. But I felt crazy. You have to understand I come from a world where we’re very modest. But that’s not greedy. That’s nice, right?

If you want someone to say, ‚She’s so sweet, and she’s so cute, and, honey, point your foot,‘ that’s not my school. You can go to the YMCA and have a nobody teach your kid if that’s what you want to hear.

Heroes are not known by the loftiness of their carriage; the greatest braggarts are generally the merest cowards.

Reverence for life is the highest court of appeal.

When you are laboring for others let it be with the same zeal as if it were for yourself.

At the end of the day, when it comes time to make that decision, as president, all you have to guide you are your values, and your vision, and the life experiences that make you who you are.

We can be thankful to a friend for a few acres, or a little money; and yet for the freedom and command of the whole earth, and for the great benefits of our being, our life, health, and reason, we look upon ourselves as under no obligation.

I agree with Balzac and 19th-century writers, black and white, who say, ‚I write for money.‘ Yes, I think everybody should be paid handsomely; I insist on it, and I pay people who work for me, or with me, handsomely.

There’s no political point worth my son’s life.

There are many people in South Africa who are rich and who can share those riches with those not so fortunate who have not been able to conquer poverty.

Giving should be entered into in just the same way as investing. Giving is investing.

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

I’m a mama’s boy because everything I do is with respect to my mother. I won’t do a movie or a video that would bring disrespect to my mother.

Not always actions show the man; we find who does a kindness is not therefore kind.