Joe Biden Quotes & Sayings

You know we're going to control the insurance companies. — Joe Biden

The number one job facing the middle class, and it happens to be, as Barack says, a three-letter word: jobs. J-O-B-S. — Joe Biden

John McCain is a personal friend, a great friend, and I would be honored to run with or against John McCain, because I think the country would be better off, be well off no matter who ... — Joe Biden

Judge [Samuel Alito], there's a genuine struggle going on well beyond you, well beyond the Congress, in America about how to read the Constitution. — Joe Biden

Since when do corporations not have responsibility to the community? Since when to the not have responsibility to their employees? — Joe Biden

I'd rather be at home making love to my wife while my children are asleep. — Joe Biden

I'm not big on flak jackets and tie-dyed shirts. You know, that's not me. — Joe Biden

No Ordinary American Cares About Their Constitutional Rights — Joe Biden

Let me tell you what I literally told every world leader I've met with, and I've met them all: It's never, never, never been a good bet to bet against America. We have the finest fighting force in the world. — Joe Biden

When I said clean, I meant he [Barack Obama] was bright. Like when [Donald] Trump said about Carly [Fiorina], "face" he meant "persona." — Joe Biden

I can die a happy man never having been president of the United States of America. But it doesn't mean I won't run. — Joe Biden

The Chinese have figured out that they have a giant environmental problem. Folks in Beijing, some days, literally can't breathe. Over a million Chinese die prematurely every year because of air pollution. — Joe Biden

In the good old days when I was a senator, I was my own man. — Joe Biden

Everyone thinks because we love cars and our dad was in the business, we love the mechanical end of cars. — Joe Biden

Our future cannot depend on the government alone. The ultimate solutions lie in the attitudes and the actions of the American people. — Joe Biden

The Iraqis have become invested in their nationhood. — Joe Biden

My position is that I am personally opposed to abortion, but I don't think I have a right to impose my view on the rest of society. I've thought a lot about it, and my position probably doesn't please anyone. I think the government should stay out completely. I will not vote to overturn the Court's decision. I will not vote to curtail a woman's right to choose abortion. But I will also not vote to use federal funds to fund abortion. — Joe Biden

No foreign policy can be sustained in the United States of America without the informed consent of the American people. And informed means just that, successes and failure, a realistic assessment of where we are and what the president plans to do about it. — Joe Biden

The more people learn about them (Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton) and how they handle the pressure, the more their support will evaporate. — Joe Biden

The effects of climate change are real and must be acted on. — Joe Biden

Politics is a damn expensive business. I had one hell of a time trying to raise money as a candidate. I had to put a second mortgage on our house to get that campaign started, and I ended up spending over $300,000 to get elected. I believe that public financing of federal election campaigns is the only thing that will insure good candidates and save the two-party system. It is the most degrading thing in the world to go out with your hat in your hand and beg for money, but that's what you have to do if you haven't got your own resources. — Joe Biden

In Romania, American forces have found a devoted NATO ally. — Joe Biden

I have never left another senator out to dry. Never. — Joe Biden

First of all, there are Persians and Arabs. The fact they share a religion, a Shiite religion, does not mean that they're close. It doesn't work that way. There is a relationship because there is a long border. There is going to be trade between them. They should have a relationship. They want to make sure that - though, that there is no undue influence coming from Iran or any other country in the region. — Joe Biden

Mike Dukakis? He's the salt of the earth. — Joe Biden

The United States, to state the obvious, is greatly concerned by the startling number of unaccompanied minors that - children and teenagers who are making a very perilous journey through Central America to reach the United States. — Joe Biden

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras have all agreed to send additional consular officers from Guatemala, from Honduras, from El Salvador, send them to the U.S. border so that we can more quickly and humanely identify unaccompanied children and process their individual removal. — Joe Biden

Foreign policy is like human relations, only people know less about each other. — Joe Biden

1983:
To my generation has now come the challenge. In the days to come we will be tested on whether we have the moral courage, the realism, the idealism, the tenacity, and the ability to sacrifice some of the current comfort to invest in the future ... I believe that this generation will rise to the challenge ... The experts believe that, like the Democratic Party itself, the less than forty-year-old voters are prepared to sell their souls for some security, real or illusory. They have misjudged us. Just because our political heroes were murdered does not mean that the dream does not still live, buried deep in our broken hearts. — Joe Biden

Justice [Sandra Day] O'Connor also brought balance to our highest court; most recently, as been repeated many times, when she cautioned about how war doesn't give a blank check. — Joe Biden

Well, we're [USA] not looking for an ally; what we're looking for is a stable, democratic government that is not beholden to anyone in the region and is able to be secure within its own borders and have its own policy. — Joe Biden

Partitioning Iraq is inevitable, as shown by history. — Joe Biden

Apologized for saying Barack Obama was clean and articulate. — Joe Biden

No one doubts that innocent men, women and children have been the victims of chemical weapons attacks in Syria. And there's no doubt who is responsible for this heinous use of chemical weapons in Syria: the Syrian regime. — Joe Biden

He wanted me to understand two big things: First, that nobody, no group, is above others. Public servants are obliged to level with everybody, whether or not they'll like what he has to say. And second, that politics was a matter of personal honor. A man's word is his bond. You give your word, you keep it. For as long as I can remember, I've had a sort of romantic notion of what politics should be- and can be. If you do politics the right way, I believe, you can actually make people's lives better. And integrity is the minimum ante to get into the game. Nearly forty years after I first got involved, I remain captivated by the possibilities of politics and public service. In fact, I believe- as I know my grandpop did- that my chosen profession is a noble calling. — Joe Biden

The most powerful military in the world cannot invade, kill or capture a network or destroy every loose weapon on the planet. The best response to this network of terror is to build a network of our own
a network of like-minded countries and organizations that pools resources, information, ideas, and power. Taking on the radical fundamentalists alone isn't necessary, it isn't smart, and it won't succeed. — Joe Biden

No matter how you cut it, this real debate on personal accounts is about the legitimacy of Social Security; it's not about the solvency of Social Security. — Joe Biden

Anyone who's traveled with me to Afghanistan knows why I love this book: 'War,' by Sebastian Junger. — Joe Biden

We need to aggressively take on radical Islamic terrorism but not at the expense of our American values. — Joe Biden

I know what I believe, I know what I want to do, and I'm just comfortable saying it, and laying it out there. — Joe Biden

The only thing I know is I ain't changing my brand. I know what I believe. I'm confident in what I know. And I'm gonna say it. And if folks like it, wonderful. If they don't like it, I understand. — Joe Biden

I ran for the Senate six times. And one of the things I know about Senate races off years and on races, and on years, the same as governor's races, is it's all local. It all gets down to what the specific issues in that - in that district or that state is. — Joe Biden

We [US government] have no fundamental disagreement with the Saudis - I mean, excuse me, with the Iraqis any more than we do with the Arab League, which we happen to support the position they're taking. — Joe Biden

Life is a matter of really tough choices. — Joe Biden

Think about the decade after Iraq, not just the day after. — Joe Biden

As a matter of fact, I didn't make a political speech outside of my state for 20 years. — Joe Biden

Reality has a way of intruding. Reality eventually intrudes on everything. — Joe Biden

I have a really close relationship with Mike Bloomberg. — Joe Biden

I kept trying to tell people that just because I was young didn't mean I could speak for all young people. — Joe Biden

Based on my own experiences, I made sure, and I'm proud of this, that the Common Core curriculum is hard on plagiarizers. — Joe Biden

I used to say to my late wife, 'I have great faith in the American people.' — Joe Biden

An abusive relationship is worse than being in prison. I mean literally, not figuratively. — Joe Biden

It is unfortunate we were put in the position where the Republicans made it clear they were ready to let everything fall unless they got these tax cuts . — Joe Biden

I did not grope the wife of Defense Secretary Ashton Carter or the daughter of Sen. Christopher Coons. I don't put drugs in drinks or give drinks to underage females. And all those photos about me inappropriately touching girls, they are blown-up. — Joe Biden

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor brought critical qualities to the high court that not everybody thinks are qualities - I happen to think they are - her pragmatism and her state craft. — Joe Biden

But all our differences hardly measure up to the values we all hold in common ... — Joe Biden

Candor generates trust. Trust is the basis on which real change, constructive change, is made. — Joe Biden

Prime Minister Netanyahu has, as Minister Livni knows, has been my friend for over 30 years. We drive each other crazy. But he has truly been a personal friend for well over 30 years. He acknowledged this. — Joe Biden

Here at home, when Americans were standing in long lines to give blood after the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, we squandered an obvious opportunity to make service a noble cause again, and rekindle an American spirit of community. — Joe Biden

And Bobby [Jindal] and I are both Catholics. — Joe Biden

When you question a man's motives, when you say they are acting out of greed, they are in the pocket of an interest group, et cetera. It's awful hard to reach consensus. It's awful hard to reach across the table and shake hands. No matter how bitterly you disagree, though, it is always possible if you question judgment and not motive. — Joe Biden

Remember, no one decides who they're going to vote for based on the vice president. I mean that literally. — Joe Biden

I know I'm not supposed to like muscle cars, but I like muscle cars. — Joe Biden

We are America, second to none, and we own the finish line. Don't forget it. — Joe Biden

Sure, we have an obstacle, ISIS. They can do great damage. They can do great damage and they scare the living hell out of everybody with good reason. But they are, instead of dealing with nation-states that are arranged against us, we're to deal with non-state actors that can do damage to us. But this is within our control. We are beginning to make genuine progress as to how we isolate them, how we take them out. We're in a situation - I mean, I just could go on. But I am - the only generic criticism I had is we're not talking about the possibilities. — Joe Biden

How I Learned to Love the New World Order — Joe Biden

In my heart, I'm confident I could make a good president. — Joe Biden

The Turks ... the Saudis, the Emiratis, etc. What were they doing? — Joe Biden

I wouldn't go anywhere in confined spaces now. When one person sneezes it goes all the way through the aircraft. That's me. I would not be, at this point, if they had another way of transportation, suggesting they ride the subway. — Joe Biden

Israel has no better friend than Joe Biden — Joe Biden

The Democratic Party had failed (in 1983)
'to remember waht got us this far and how we got here
moral indignation, decent instincts, a sense of shared sacrifice and mutual responsibility, and a set of national priorities that emphasized what we had in common.. The Party that was the engine of the national interest
molding our pluralistic interest into a compelling new social contract that served the nation well for fifty years
became perceived as little more than the broker of narrow special interests. Instead of thinking of ourselves as Americans first, Democrats second, and members of interest groups third, we have begun to think in terms of special interests first and the greater interest second.. We have let our opponents set the agenda and define what is at stake.
p. 140 — Joe Biden

There's one advantage in having been around as long as I have. Everybody in the Senate knows me, and - I'm going to say something presumptuous, to repeat myself - I think most respect me. — Joe Biden

Saudi Arabia has allowed training on its soil of American forces. — Joe Biden

I must express protest against continually increasing the debt without taking positive steps to slow its growth. — Joe Biden

People took the word "clean" out of context. My mother had an expression: "clean as a whistle, sharp as a tack." I inherited her originality. — Joe Biden

There arent any jobs left in America except for the good kind ... Blow Jobs. — Joe Biden

America doesn't have health insurance. — Joe Biden

Well, I'm telling them two things. One is that, look, this is going to be something when the American people realize - once it's passed - that, A, it does take care of preexisting conditions; B, you're insurance rates aren't going to skyrocket; C, the insurance companies aren't going to be running the show like they were before; D, you're going to be in a position where you can keep your insurance that you have. That once the American public realizes that, you're going to get a reward for this. They're going to be rewarded. — Joe Biden

I got tested for AIDS. I know Barack got tested for AIDS. There's no shame in being tested for AIDS. It's an important thing. — Joe Biden

The senate is a place filled with goodwill and good intentions, and if the road to hell is paved with them, then it's a pretty good detour.
Hubert Humphrey, as quoted by Biden, p. 134 — Joe Biden

I didn't deserve to be president just based on the Richter scale of 'Was I tough enough and did I understand the process?' — Joe Biden

I promise you, the president has a big stick. I promise you. (April 26th 2012) — Joe Biden

Most Americans think there's already universal background checks. They don't understand why there wouldn't be a background check to purchase a weapon. — Joe Biden

Abe Foxman has been a friend and advisor of mine for a long time. — Joe Biden

It's a problem that we [USA] think the Iranians are backing Hezbollah; the Iranians are backing terrorist activity in many parts of that region. — Joe Biden

Not that I've always agreed with what she said - far from it - but Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has been properly lauded, in my view, as a judge who approached her duties with open-mindedness and with a sensitivity that affects her decisions would have on everyday, ordinary people. — Joe Biden

If you need more than 10 rounds to hunt, and some argue they hunt with that many rounds, you shouldn't be hunting. If you can't get the deer in 3 shots, you shouldn't be hunting. You are an embarrassment. — Joe Biden

I have never touched Hillary [Clinton] inappropriately. — Joe Biden

If we wait for the danger to become clear, it could be too late. — Joe Biden

Every single great idea that has marked the 21st century, the 20th century and the 19th century has required government vision and government incentive. — Joe Biden

You should not run for president because tactically you can win. The questions you have to ask are why you're running for president and what will you do when you are president. You shouldn't run until you know the answers to those questions. — Joe Biden

Acknowledging that a woman's right to be safe from a gender-based attack was a "civil right," I believed, was critically important in changing the American consciousness. When a right reaches the status and categorization of a "civil right," it means the nation has arrived at a consensus that is nonnegotiable. Violence against women would no longer be written off ... Once our criminal justice system
at the local, state and federal levels
recognized these as serious and inexcusable crimes, women could stop blaming themselves. — Joe Biden

It is my view that we cannot conduct foreign policy at the extremes. — Joe Biden

In the middle of a recession, where we're just climbing out of it, where the economy -unemployment is still at 9.7 percent, the idea of raising taxes and reducing spending is a prescription for disaster. — Joe Biden

I do not believe that we have a right to tell other people, women, that they can't control their bodies. — Joe Biden

A diplomatic solution that puts significant and verifiable constraints on Iran's nuclear program represents the best and most sustainable chance to ensure that America, Israel, the entire Middle East will never be menaced by a nuclear-armed Iran. — Joe Biden

There's no political point worth my son's life. — Joe Biden

Barack Obama is probably the most exciting candidate that either the Democratic or Republican party has produced at least since I've been around. He's fresh, he's new, he's insightful. — Joe Biden

She [Justice Sandra Day O'Connor], unlike, Judge Bork, did not think that being on the court would be an "intellectual feast," to quote Judge [Robert Heron] Bork. — Joe Biden

Global energy security is a vital part of America's national security. — Joe Biden