Cheney Quotes & Sayings

I reckon there's always a bit of pressure. We put it on ourselves, I think we always feel a bit of pressure because people around us and our manager and stuff call us perfectionists, which I find very hard to take because nothing that we do is perfect. — Chris Cheney

The Robin and the Sparrow"
Said the robin to the sparrow,
"I should really like to know,
Why these anxious human beings
Rush about and worry so."
Said the sparrow to the robin,
"Friend I think that it must be,
That they have no Heavenly Father,
Such as cares for you and me. — Elizabeth Cheney

E is for the EDUCATORS, the women who taught us well. — Lynne Cheney

Nixon was a professional politician, and I despised everything he stood for
but if he were running for president this year against the evil Bush-Cheney gang, I would happily vote for him. — Hunter S. Thompson

The Cheney team had, for example, technological supremacy over the National Security Council staff. That is to say, they could read their e-mails. I remember one particular member of the N.S.C. staff wouldn't use e-mail because he knew they were reading it. He did a test case, kind of like the Midway battle, when we'd broken the Japanese code. He thought he' broken the code, so he sent a test e-mail out that he knew would rile Scooter [Libby], and within an hour Scooter was in his office. — Lawrence Wilkerson

I believe very deeply in the proposition that what we did in Iraq was the right thing to do. It was hard to do. It took a long time. There were significant costs involved. — Dick Cheney

If what I've been told is true - and I believe it is, General David Petraeus, a commander with soldiers deployed in two theaters of war, has had multiple meetings with Dick Cheney, the former vice-president of the United States, to discuss Petraeus's candidacy for the Republican nomination for the presidency. — Eric Massa

Every piece of remotely responsible research that has been done in the last 20 years on this issue has shown there is no difference between children who are raised by same-sex parents and children who are raised by opposite-sex parents. What matters is that children are being raised in a stable, loving environment. — Mary Cheney

The soul would have no rainbow, had the eyes no tears. — John Vance Cheney

Love energy can revolutionize any part of life. If we are open to it, we can observe the potential energy of love in everything. That is the root of optimism. — Phil 'Philosofree' Cheney

I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. But I also believe that gay and lesbians and gay and lesbian couples, those who have been in long-term relationships, deserve to be treated respectfully, they deserve to have benefits. — Dick Cheney

True beauty is not the absence of ugliness, but the acceptance of it. — Terri Cheney

I have argued in the past, and would again, if we had been able to pre-empt the attacks of 9/11 would we have done it? And I think absolutely. We have to be prepared now to take the kind of bold action that's being contemplated with respect to Iraq in order to ensure that we don't get hit with a devastating attack when the terrorists' organization gets married up with a rogue state that's willing to provide it with the kinds of deadly capabilities that Saddam Hussein has developed and used over the years. — Dick Cheney

[In response to the question "Do you think that you underestimated the insurgency's strength?"] I think so. I guess if I look back on it now, I don't think anybody anticipated the level of violence that we've encountered. — Dick Cheney

I know he [Richard] went hunting. Maybe well get lucky, and he'll shoot himself in the head. Or maybe a buddy will pull a Dick Cheney. — Karen Metcalf

Expecting to be able to get rid of the competitive drive, first of all, flies in the face of human nature - and little girls certainly have this drive, as much as little boys do, or at least the little girls I have observed in my immediate family have it. — Lynne Cheney

It's not just Bin Laden or just those that are involved in the counterterrorism effort. We've gotta cast the net broader than that. But I think it's a - very special tribute that we all owe to the bravery and courage of the men and women in the intelligence and military business who performed so well to finally get it done. — Dick Cheney

For the record, I love my sister. But she is dead wrong on the marriage issue. — Mary Cheney

I can think of a lot of words to describe Senator Kerry's position on Iraq; 'consistent' is not one of them. — Dick Cheney

In his years in Washington, Senator Kerry has been one vote of a hundred in the United States Senate - and fortunately on matters of national security he was very often in the minority. — Dick Cheney

America has shown we are serious about removing the threat of weapons of mass destruction." ... "We now know that Saddam Hussein had the capacity to produce weapons of mass destruction ... We know he had the necessary infrastructure because we found the labs and the dual-use facilities that could be used for these chemical and biological agents. We know that he was developing the delivery systems ballistic missiles that had been prohibited by the United Nations. — Dick Cheney

Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy. — Dick Cheney

The wind is awake, pretty leave, pretty leaves, Heed not what he says, he deceives, he deceives; Over and over To the lowly clover He has lisped the same love (and forgotten it, too). He will be lisping and pledging to you. — John Vance Cheney

John McCain is now openly endorsing the policies of the Bush-Cheney White House and promising to actually continue the same policies over again? Hey, I believe in recycling but that's ridiculous. — Al Gore

I had other priorities in the sixties than military service. — Dick Cheney

Vice President Dick Cheney reportedly has been disturbed over what he sees as the erosion of presidential powers since the Watergate scandal and has urged Bush to take a stronger stand against what Cheney sees as congressional intrusions into the executive branch. — Helen Thomas

The funny thing is that Dick Cheney has done more than anybody in the White House for quite a long time to throw up roadblocks against future historians. — Barton Gellman

Oh, the gardens of the future that we are all sowing every day! — Elizabeth Cheney

Republicans don't have to accept evolution, economics, climatology, or human sexuality, but I just watched a week of their national convention, and I need them to admit the historical existence of George W. Bush. If your party can run the nation for eight years and then have a national convention and not invite Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Karl Rove, or Tom DeLay, you're not a political movement, you're the witness protection program. — Bill Maher

The United States needs to be not so much loved as it needs to be respected. Sometimes, that requires us to take actions that generate controversy. I'm not at all sure that that's what the Obama administration believes. — Dick Cheney

You know, I've got experiences going back to the wage price controls in the Nixon administration where, in effect, we had what I think was a terrible mistake, in that case a Republican administration, where moved in and tried to control the wages, prices and profits of every enterprise in America. It was a huge mistake. — Dick Cheney

In terms of asking questions, I plead guilty. I ask a hell of a lot of questions. That's my job. — Dick Cheney

Love is a chemical imbalance, too. That perilous highs and desperate lows and extravagant flurries of mood are not always symptoms of a broken mind, but signs of a beating heart. — Terri Cheney

I think Barack Obama is a one-term President. — Dick Cheney

I'll tell you, Liz Cheney is going to be a very good candidate. I worked with her during the Bush campaigns. She's smart, she's focused, she's disciplined - and she's got a great back story. She's got a large family. She's a great mom. And she's a hard worker. I think she's going to be a very effective campaigner. — Mark McKinnon

Mission accomplished? The mission in Iraq, as laid out by President Bush and Vice President Cheney, has failed. — Robert Byrd

These people [Bush Administration] are for the most part rip-off artists. Notice that they're all gas and oil men from Cheney, to the two Bushes; I think Rumsfeld also. — Gore Vidal

I've never liked the telephone. It's a noisy, shrill intruder. If it were up to me, I'd ban all phones and bring back visiting days, like in Jane Austen and Edith Wharton novels: — Terri Cheney

Enhanced Interrogation is Dick Cheney changing a word, Dick Cheney comes up with a new word to cover his ass! — Jesse Ventura

Holographic Theory shows that it is possible for our bodies to make decisions based on the experience of others. — Phil 'Philosofree' Cheney

The important thing here to understand is that the people that are at Guantanamo are bad people. I mean, these are terrorists for the most part. — Dick Cheney

I find George Bush and Dick Cheney frightening, Donald Rumsfeld and John Ashcroft frightening. — Barbra Streisand

I don't believe in lynching, I just don't support legal action being taken against the KKK — Liz Cheney

Under our plan you can build wealth, even if you don't have a dollar to spare. — Dick Cheney

I'm absolutely convinced that the threat we face now, the idea of a terrorist in the middle of one of our cities with a nuclear weapon, is very real and that we have to use extraordinary measures to deal with it. — Dick Cheney

When you were a volunteer for the Bush-Cheney campaign, you came in the morning; you had a supervisor who gave you a list of calls to make and a time to do it in. — Ed Gillespie

Vice President Cheney has been the most dangerous vice president we've had probably in American history. The idea he doesn't realize that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the vice president of the United States, that's the Executive Branch. He works in the Executive Branch. He should understand that. Everyone should understand that. And the primary role of the vice president of the United States of America is to support the president of the United States of America, give that president his or her best judgment when sought, and as vice president, to preside over the Senate, only in a time when in fact there's a tie vote. The Constitution is explicit. The only authority the vice president has from the legislative standpoint is the vote, only when there is a tie vote. He has no authority relative to the Congress. — Joe Biden

I think, in fact, the situation with respect to Al Qaida to say that, you know, that was a big attack we had on 9/11, but it's not likely again, I just think that's dead wrong. I think the biggest strategic threat the United States faces today is the possibility of another 9/11 with a nuclear weapon or a biological agent of some kind, and I think Al Qaida is out there even as we meet trying to figure out how to do that. — Dick Cheney

I'd rather not be known as the Vice President's lesbian daughter. — Mary Cheney

The days of looking the other way while despotic regimes trample human rights, rob their nations' wealth, and then excuse their failings by feeding their people a steady diet of anti-Western hatred are over. — Dick Cheney

I - obviously, I'm not a big fan of President Obama. I think he's been one of our weakest presidents. I just fundamentally disagree with him philosophically. — Dick Cheney

Same sex marriage must be decided by the states, and by the people in the states, not by judges and not even by legislators, but by the people themselves. — Liz Cheney

The world is essentially bipolar: driven to extremes but defined by flux. Saints are always just a stumble away from sinners. Nothing is absolute, not even death — Terri Cheney

We've had experiences where the president's been shot, but never had a situation where the vice president shot somebody. — Dick Cheney

I would also hope that no one would think about trying to amend the constitution as a political strategy, — Mary Cheney

If Edwards gained 60 pounds and lost all his hair, he'd look like Dick Cheney! — Neil Cavuto

I have not suggested there's a connection between Iraq and 9/11, but there's clearly an established Iraqi track record with terror. — Dick Cheney

The relevance for 9/11 is that what 9/11 marked was the beginning of a struggle in which the terrorists come at us and strike us here on our home territory. And it's a global operation. It doesn't know national boundaries or national borders. — Dick Cheney

We need to have a pro-growth policy put in place that offers people hope and offers the opportunity for businesses to expand and for them to have confidence in what the world is going to look like for the next two or three or four years with respect to economic policy. — Dick Cheney

I think freedom means freedom for everybody, — Dick Cheney

After 9/11, it became clear that we [the United States] had to do several things to have a successful strategy to win the global war on terror, specifically that we had to go after the terrorists wherever we might find them, that we also had to go after state sponsors of terror, those who might provide sanctuary or safe harbor for terror. — Dick Cheney

No command of art,
No toil, can help you hear;
Earth's minstrelsy falls clear
But on the listening heart. — John Vance Cheney

Cheney, Rumsfeld - they were Shakespearean in their attitude of impunity. — Glen Duncan

I won't say that writing tamed the Black Beast. It soothed him, though, enough so he agreed simply to occupy a corner of my mind ... Gradually, I redirected my focus and skills towards causes much closer to my own heart: writing and mental health advocacy.
[ ... ]
I felt so good at times that I even wondered, was I still bipolar? In my community work, I saw so many people who were much worse off than I was - deep in their disease in a way I no longer seemed to be. I knew that this often happens to manic-depressives: the brain forgets the ravages of the illness they way a woman forgets the pains of childbirth. You have to, to survive. But it's always a dangerous place to be, because you inevitably start to question the need for medication, therapy, and all the other rigorous stopgaps of sanity so carefully put into place to prevent another episode. — Terri Cheney

Since the Bush-Cheney Administration took office in January 2001, controlling the major oil and natural gas fields of the world had been the primary, though undeclared, priority of US foreign policy ... Not only the invasion of Iraq, but also the toppling of the Taliban in Afghanistan, had nothing to do with 'democracy,' and everything to do with pipeline control across Central Asia and the militarization of the Middle East. — F. William Engdahl

I did my 40 years in Washington, 40-plus, and it's time to pause and reflect and think about what I've seen and done. — Dick Cheney

I got sick, hospitalized, had no insurance. And the money I had saved for our honeymoon went to pay medical bills. So I had been in the position of not having insurance when I needed health care. — Dick Cheney

It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you. — Dick Cheney

It used to be you needed to have a very large sophisticated state before you could even have a nuclear weapon ... Now the technology is widespread enough. It doesn't take very many people to be able to cobble together a devastating attack, and all it takes is one. — Dick Cheney

The issue is that [Saddam] has chemical weapons. — Dick Cheney

Principle is OK up to a certain point, but principle doesn't do any good if you lose. — Dick Cheney

Was drug induced happy still happy? Was it the right kind of happy? Did it count? — Terri Cheney

Our adversaries - our Democratic adversaries - like to be able to portray the Republican Party as a bunch of wingnuts - narrow based, always have some agenda that's not attractive to the public ... That's easier for them, and more fun, than dealing with their own problems. And I think their problems are significant. — Dick Cheney

But I am scared. Everybody's scared."
"You know what I mean, like scared scared. Like coward scared, like if you never went to begin with. But with everything you've done nobody's going to doubt you." Then she made a somewhat frantic speech about a website she found that listed how certain people had avoided Vietnam. Cheney, Four education deferments, then a hardship 3-A. Limbaugh,4-F thanks to a cyst on his ass. Pat Buchanan, 4-F. Newt Gingrich, grad school deferment. Karl Rove, did not serve. Bill O'Reilly, did not serve. John Ashcroft, did not serve. Bush, AWOL from the Air National Guard, with a check mark in the "do not volunteer" box as to service overseas.
"You see where I'm going with this?'
"Well, yeah."
"I'm just saying, those people want a war so bad, they can fight it themselves. Billy Lynn's done his part. — Ben Fountain

If they had taught a class on how to be the kind of citizen Dick Cheney worries about, I would have finished high school. — Edward Snowden

Don Rumsfeld is the finest secretary of defense the nation has ever had. — Dick Cheney

You really do think about it institutionally; this is your job, and to some extent you benefit from having a job to do at a moment like this. You have things that you have to make happen. And you don't have time for the emotional reaction that might otherwise occur if somebody was just sitting there watching these events unfold and had no responsibilities. — Dick Cheney

The Senator from Massachusetts has given us ample grounds to doubt the judgment and the attitude he brings to bear on vital issues of national security. — Dick Cheney

I'm probably a little more like my dad. But because of my mom, I never saw being a woman as being an impediment to being able to do something. She had her Ph.D. before I was born. — Mary Cheney

The whole idea that you can take a disease like this and exercise your way to health is foolishness. It is insane. — Paul Cheney

We have to deal with this new type of threat in a way we haven't yet defined ... With a low-probability, high-impact event like this ... If there's a one percent chance that Pakistani scientists are helping al Qaeda build or develop a nuclear weapon, we have to treat it as a certainty in terms of our response. — Dick Cheney

A recent conversation: Dubya: Look at the clock, time is racing! Cheney: That's the second hand, George. — Dennis Miller

In our own country, we take democratic values seriously - and so we always have a vigorous debate on the issues. That's part of the greatness of America, and we wouldn't have it any other way. — Dick Cheney

John Kerry didn't out me, nor did he offend or attack me by calling me a lesbian. I certainly couldn't be offended by the truth. — Mary Cheney

No one knows if Saddam is still alive. They keep showing old footage of him on TV saying that it's live. You know, it's like the same thing we do with Dick Cheney. — David Letterman

Under Cheney's direction, the United States moved to restore the powers of secret intelligence that had flourished for fifty-five years under J. Edgar Hoover. In public speeches, the president, the vice president, and the attorney general renewed the spirit of the Red raids. In top secret orders, they revived the techniques of surveillance that the FBI had used in the war on communism. The — Tim Weiner

Hey! look at us
We're digging and digging
Into stubborn, ancient earth;
We're discovering
Where we came from,
and how we came.

"but where are you going?"

Hey! look at us
We're learning and learning
Into stubborn laws
Of nature and space
And non-nature and non-space;
We're discovering
All there is to know.

"but where are you going?"

Hey! look at us
We're planning and planning
Into stubborn years
Of education and training
And hopes and dreams;
We're discovering
How not to waste any time.

"but where are you going?"

Hey! look at us
We're shiny and bright
And clever and sophisticated
And witty and well-read;
We're discovering
How to really fill up
This old life.

"but where are you going?"

where?

"Yes; where? — Lois A. Cheney

Court ... a place where they dispense with justice. — Arthur Cheney Train

Let us rid ourselves of the fiction that low oil prices are somehow good for the United States. — Dick Cheney

Tesla, at least, seemed perfectly satisfied with what he had achieved in Colorado. He had made lightning dance at his command; he had used the whole Earth as a piece of laboratory equipment; and he had received messages from the stars. Now he was in a hurry to get on with the future. — Margaret Cheney

There's every reason to believe there will be further attacks attempted against the United States. For us to spend so much time patting ourselves on the back because we got bin Laden that we miss the next attack would be a terrible tragedy. — Dick Cheney

The plan was criticized by some retired military officers embedded in TV studios. But with every advance by our coalition forces, the wisdom of that plan becomes more apparent. — Dick Cheney

You've got a job to do, and because you've got a job to do, you've got to focus on that, so you don't have time for personal considerations. — Dick Cheney

From almost the first day they got into office, they (President Bush and Vice President Cheney) were trying to figure out how to get rid of Saddam Hussein. I'm not a psychiatrist - I don't know all of the reasons behind their concern, some might say their obsession. — Hillary Clinton

That's one of the fun things ... That's your excuse for dressing up. You can get picked on and go, 'Oh well I'm in a band'. — Chris Cheney

We will, in fact, be greeted as liberators. — Dick Cheney

Everyone knows that you're not really a real man unless you own a gun. — Dick Cheney

I didn't know that President Bush would endorse a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. — Mary Cheney

There's something to be said for CEOs' entering politics: In theory, they have management expertise and financial savvy. Then again, it didn't work so well with Dick Cheney. — Nicholas Kristof

From kindergarten to graduation, I went to public schools, and I know that they are a key to being sure that every child has a chance to succeed and to rise in the world. — Dick Cheney