Herman Cain Quotes & Sayings

America has got to learn to take a joke. — Herman Cain

I believe these words came from the Pokemon movie. 'Life can be a challenge. Life can seem impossible. It's never easy when there's so much on the line. But you and I can make a difference. There's a mission just for you and me.' — Herman Cain

I am suspending my presidential campaign, because of the continued distractions, the continued hurt caused on me and my family, not because we are not fighters. Not because I'm not a fighter. — Herman Cain

I didn't know I was a conservative when it didn't matter to me growing up. — Herman Cain

Spending time at the Federal Reserve was a good learning opportunity for me. It helped me to understand economic philosophies and polices that I had not previously known about. — Herman Cain

Don't blame Wall Street, don't blame the big banks. If you don't have a job and you are not rich, blame yourself! — Herman Cain

The 9-9-9 plan would resuscitate this economy because it replaces the outdated tax code that allows politicians to pick winners and losers, and to provide favors in the form of tax breaks, special exemptions and loopholes. It simplifies the code dramatically: 9% business flat tax, 9% personal flat tax, 9% sales tax. — Herman Cain

I started at Pillsbury as a manager in one of their analysis functions, then worked my way up the corporate ladder to become vice president. Moving to Burger King was an important moment in my career. — Herman Cain

Well, you show me the science [that being gay is not a choice] and I'll be persuaded. — Herman Cain

I've never sexually harassed anyone, and yes, I was falsely accused while I was at the National Restaurant Association. — Herman Cain

People sometimes hold themselves back because they want to use racism as an excuse for them not being able to achieve what they want to achieve. — Herman Cain

The possibility of success was motivating me more than the fear of failure. — Herman Cain

In the vernacular of my grandfather, 'I does not care.' — Herman Cain

I just want people who are qualified, I want them to believe in the Constitution of the United States of America. So yep, I don't have a problem with appointing an openly gay person. Because they're not going to try to put sharia law in our laws. — Herman Cain

The more toppings a man has on his pizza, I believe the more manly he is. A manly man don't want it piled high with vegetables! He would call that a sissy pizza. — Herman Cain

Okay Libya ... got all this stuff twirling around in my head — Herman Cain

In order to fix Social Security, we must restructure it so that we continue to provide for our Nation's seniors that are approaching retirement age, but allow for younger taxpayers to invest a portion of their Social Security taxes in private accounts. — Herman Cain

And I'm here to tell you, the reaction that I'm getting around the country, people are sick and tired of this word in Washington, compromise. This is why nothing ever gets done. — Herman Cain

It is not someone's fault if they succeeded, it is someone's fault if they failed. — Herman Cain

I do not believe abortion should be legal. — Herman Cain

Most of the ancestors that I can trace were born here in the United States of America. And then it goes back to slavery. And I'm sure my ancestors go all the way back to Africa, but I feel more of an affinity for America than I do for Africa. I'm a black man in America. — Herman Cain

Uncertainty is killing this economy. — Herman Cain

We need responsible regulations, not regulations that have gone wild. For example, the EPA has a rule that is going to be implemented Jan. 1, 2012, where they're going to begin to regulate dust. That's right, dust. It's called PM 2.5. That is focusing on the wrong thing. — Herman Cain

The majority of the people in the country don't care what color I am. — Herman Cain

999 ... I can explain it in a minute — Herman Cain

One right decision doth not a great president make. — Herman Cain

Chris Christie has been saying for a long time he's not interested in running. The media is trying to create a story by sucking Chris Christie into race, just like they made a story by sucking Rick Perry into the race. — Herman Cain

There's no hidden secrets going on in the Federal Reserve — Herman Cain

Republicans have been losing the war of words for years now. Now they are just caving because they don't even want to try. I don't agree with that approach. — Herman Cain

If you touch the hearts of people you can get people's minds to change, but you have to show them the beauty of not aborting a life. — Herman Cain

If the tea party is so racist, how come when they have straw polls the black guy keeps winning? — Herman Cain

They call me racist too just because I disagree with a president who happens to be black. You are not racists - you are patriots. — Herman Cain

I didn't go to political correctness school. — Herman Cain

There are generally three kinds of people in the world. People who make things happen, people who watch things happen, and people who say, what in the heck happened. — Herman Cain

I challenge anybody to say that I wouldn't know how to approach foreign policy because, unlike some of the other people, I at least have a foreign policy philosophy, which is an extension of the Reagan philosophy. Peace through strength, and my philosophy is peace through strength and clarity. — Herman Cain

The thing that differs me from a lot of other people running for the President of the United States is that I focus on the problem first. Then I focus on what the solution is. — Herman Cain

I am an American. Black. Conservative. I don't use African-American, because I'm American, I'm black and I'm conservative. I don't like people trying to label me. African- American is socially acceptable for some people, but I am not some people. — Herman Cain

The problem with that analysis is that it is incorrect. — Herman Cain

I think that taxes would be fair if we first get rid of the tax code. This is the ultimate solution, not to just say we're going to trim around the edges, not to say that we will try to simplify a little of this and a little of that. The problem is, replace the tax code, so we can establish tax fairness for everybody. — Herman Cain

The endorsement process is an evolution. What you try to do is you endorse someone that you believe in and their ideas and their solutions align with yours. — Herman Cain

My presence in the social media and on the Internet is much bigger than many of the other candidates, including Mitt Romney. So, when you take the social media and you take the Tea Party citizens movement, you have a combination there that, quite frankly, 10 years ago, I wouldn't have had a chance. — Herman Cain

How do you say 'delicious' in Cuban? — Herman Cain

I'm very particular about the pizza that I eat. Godfather's is still a premium-quality product, and I cannot always find that. It's got to be as good as Godfather's or I won't eat it. — Herman Cain

One of the things that I did before I ran for president is I was a professional speaker. Not a motivational speaker - an inspirational speaker. Motivation comes from within. You have to be inspired. That's what I do. I inspire people, I inspire the public, I inspire my staff. I inspired the organizations I took over to want to succeed. — Herman Cain

The Democrats co-opted the credit for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But if you go back and look at the history, a larger percentage of Republicans voted for that than did Democrats. But a Democrat president signed it, so they co-opted credit for having passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. — Herman Cain

Most of the people who are in elective office in Washington, D.C., they have held public office before. How's that working for you? — Herman Cain

I can connect with peoples' pain because I was 'po' before I was 'poor'. — Herman Cain

They say African Americans. I say black people. I've only been to Africa once. I've been in America all my life! — Herman Cain

Polls are inaccurate in my opinion, based upon anecdotal evidence, based upon people that I know. — Herman Cain

My great great grandparents were slaves. And now I'm running for president of the United States. Is this a great country or what?! — Herman Cain

You don't throw your friends under the bus. — Herman Cain

I don't believe ... global warming is real. Do we have climate change? Yes. Is it a crisis? No ... Because the science, the real science, doesn't say that we have any major crisis or threat when it comes to climate change. — Herman Cain

It's time to get real, folks. Hope and change ain't working. Hope and change is not a solution. Hope and change is not a job. — Herman Cain

The lesson that I'm learning is that I've got to be careful of being pigeonholed because people can take a piece of tape and edit out the first half and only pull out one snippet that could start a firestorm. — Herman Cain

My approach to cutting spending as president, is to do a ten percent across the board cut of all federal agencies, and then ask each of my new agency heads to find another ten percent by drilling down. That's what you do in business to come up with approximately 20 percent cuts for the first fiscal year budget. — Herman Cain

Stupid people are ruining America. — Herman Cain

I used to vote Democrat. — Herman Cain

I'm ready for the 'gotcha' questions and they're already starting to come ... — Herman Cain

It's not about me, it's about the grandkids. That's what a lot of people don't understand about what Herman is up to. — Herman Cain

One of the questions that I often get is, 'Why are you running to be President?'. To Be President! What did I miss? I'm not running to go to Disneyland. — Herman Cain

When they ask me who's the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan I'm going to say, you know, I don't know. Do you know? And then I'm going to say how's that going to create one job? — Herman Cain

I could eat black walnut all the time, it's not a flavor of the week! — Herman Cain

When all else fails the liberals call you names or attack your personality. — Herman Cain

I ran for president in order to be able to try to change Washington D.C. from the inside. Our federal government is broken. — Herman Cain

Just look inside and you will find just what you can do. — Herman Cain

Let me tell you what the Cain Doctrine would be, as it relates to Israel if I were president. You mess with Israel, you are messing with the United States of America! — Herman Cain

I haven't learned to be politically correct yet. — Herman Cain

The real problem is clean up the bureaucracy that people have to deal with to become a citizen the right way. And we must truly secure the border. We can't leave it porous. — Herman Cain

We as voters, have long hoped that we would get a businessman instead of a politician in order to help fix America's problems. Well, I am that businessman. — Herman Cain

I don't have more money. I won't have more money than any of the candidates, even the Republican candidates. We know that already. But we are building this campaign team like I would build a business. And that is, we are building it so far with no debt. — Herman Cain

The only tactic liberals have is to try to intimidate people into thinking the Tea Party is racist. The Tea Party is not a racist movement, period! If they were, why would the straw polls keep showing that the black guy is winning? That's a rhetorical question. Let me state it: The black guy keeps winning. — Herman Cain

The American people, Neil, are sick and tired of excuses. They are sick and tired of the blame game. And they're sick and tired of the deception coming from this president and this administration. This is why I believe that I am doing so well in the polls. — Herman Cain

Americans need accurate information in order to consider Social Security reform. Too bad the media can't be counted upon to provide it — Herman Cain

My motivation for running for Senate was not for the stature of being a senator, but because I wanted to make a difference on issues I feel passionate about. — Herman Cain

I would have to have people totally committed to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of this United States. And many of the Muslims, they are not totally dedicated to this country. They are not dedicated to our Constitution. Many of them are trying to force Sharia law on the people of this country. — Herman Cain

Whether you were talking about Pillsbury, Burger King, Godfather's, the National Restaurant Association, in each one of those situations, I had a daunting problem that I had to solve. And I used the same business principles to approach the problem and, more importantly, solve the problem in every one of the situations. — Herman Cain

I'm very proud to know the Koch brothers. This may be a breaking news announcement for the media: I am the Koch brothers' brother from another mother. — Herman Cain

I know I'm going to get in trouble! — Herman Cain

Remember this presidential candidate can count. — Herman Cain

Democrats are losing loyal voters, but the Republicans aren't picking them up. Democrats are ideologically bankrupt. Republicans have a major brand-identity problem — Herman Cain

Prime Minister Benjamin Netyanahu made it real clear. They're willing to be generous on some other concessions but not on the border issue. And I don't blame him. — Herman Cain

I think 'Hail to the Chief' needs a little bit fresher sound. I might put some gospel beats in 'Hail to the Chief.' — Herman Cain

The past several months I have been able to meet with people across this country. One thing is clear: America craves for real solutions to the problems we face. That's why I'm running for President of the United States. — Herman Cain

The American dream is under attack because our government has been hijacked by the Liberals in Washington DC. — Herman Cain

A gold standard is to the moochers and looters in government what sunlight and garlic are to vampires. — Herman Cain

Just call me Mr. Cain. And in 2013, they can call me Mr. President. — Herman Cain

The one thing that the President can do is to establish a real energy independence plan. We have all the recources we need right here in this country to establish energy independence if we had the leadership. — Herman Cain

My message of common-sense solutions is resonating with people. People around the country are starting to know who I am and starting to identify me with solutions, not rhetoric. — Herman Cain

This whole notion that all African-Americans are not going to vote for Obama is not necessarily true. I believe a third would vote for me, based on my own anecdotal feedback. Not vote for me because I'm black but because of my policies. — Herman Cain

Michele Bachmann ... I'm not going to say it. I'm not going to say it ... Tutti-frutti. I know I'm going to get in trouble! — Herman Cain

We need a leader, not a reader. — Herman Cain

It was a joke to the extent in the context of the views that speech. — Herman Cain

I believe in traditional marriage and I believe in the Defense of Marriage Act. — Herman Cain

To all those people who say that the Tea Party is a racist organization, eat your words. — Herman Cain

I left that Democrat plantation a long time ago and I ain't going back. — Herman Cain

It's not Planned Parenthood. No, it's planned genocide. — Herman Cain

The objective of the liberals is to destroy this country. — Herman Cain

African-Americans have been brainwashed into not being open-minded, not even considering a conservative point of view. I have received some of that same vitriol simply because I am running for the Republican nomination as a conservative. So it's just brainwashing and people not being open-minded, pure and simple. — Herman Cain

I'm not supposed to know anything about foreign policy. Just thought I'd throw that out. — Herman Cain

If ObamaCare had been fully implemented when I caught cancer, I'd be dead. — Herman Cain