"I promise you I will listen to what has been said here, even though I wasn't here." - at the President's Economic Forum in Waco, Texas, Aug. 13, 2002
"We spent a lot of time talking about Africa, as we should. Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease." - Gothenburg, Sweden, June 14, 2001
"You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.'' - Townsend, Tenn., Feb. 21, 2001
"I glance at the headlines just to kind of get a flavor for what's moving. I rarely read the stories, and get briefed by people who are probably read the news themselves." - Washington, D.C., Sept. 21, 2003
"I'm the commander - see, I don't need to explain - I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being president." - quoted in Bob Woodward's Bush at War
"I am here to make an announcement that this Thursday, ticket counters and airplanes will fly out of Ronald Reagan Airport." - Washington, D.C., Oct. 3, 2001
"Do you have blacks, too?" - to Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso, Washington, D.C., Nov. 8, 2001
"This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating." - as quoted by the New York Daily News, April 23, 2002
"It is white." - after being asked by a child in Britain what the White House was like, July 19, 2001
"I couldn't imagine somebody like Osama bin Laden understanding the joy of Hanukkah." - at a White House menorah lighting ceremony, Washington, D.C., Dec. 10, 2001
"I'm the master of low expectations." - aboard Air Force One, June 4, 2003
"People say, how can I help on this war against terror? How can I fight evil? You can do so by mentoring a child; by going into a shut-in's house and say I love you." -Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 2002
"I wish you'd have given me this written question ahead of time so I could plan for it…I'm sure something will pop into my head here in the midst of this press conference, with all the pressure of trying to come up with answer, but it hadn't yet. . . - President George W. Bush, after being asked to name the biggest mistake he had made, Washington, D.C., April 3, 2004
- "My plan reduces the national debt, and fast. So fast, in fact, that economists worry that we're going to run out of debt to retire." - radio address, Feb. 24, 2001
- "I try to go for longer runs, but it's tough around here at the White House on the outdoor track. It's sad that I can't run longer. It's one of the saddest things about the presidency." -interview with "Runners World," Aug. 2002
- "I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn't do my job." - to a group of Amish he met with privately, July 9, 2004
-. "There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled again." - Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002
-. "Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." - Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sept. 6, 2004
- "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." -ashington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004
FIFTY BEST QUOTES
~Compiled by Daniel Kurtzman
