J Edgar Quotes & Sayings

If you're a history buff, you know about J. Edgar Hoover. He was likely the most powerful man in the US. If you start reading about him, the books contradict each other constantly. I was often left with very little sense of the man personally. I had a sense of what he did and didn't do and what people disagreed about whether he did this or didn't do this or that, but I was like, "Why? Why was he doing all of this?" That was my big question. — Dustin Lance Black

No amount of law enforcement can solve a problem that goes back to the family. — J. Edgar Hoover

I regret to say that we of the FBI are powerless to act in cases of oral-genital intimacy, unless it has in some way obstructed interstate commerce. — J. Edgar Hoover

Even great men can be corrupted — J. Edgar Hoover

I grew up with J. Edgar Hoover. He was the G-man, a hero to everybody, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation was the big, feared organization. He was ahead of his time as far as building up forensic evidence and fingerprinting. But he took down a lot of innocent people, too. — Clint Eastwood

Purpose of counter-intelligence action is to disrupt and it is immaterial whether facts exist to substantiate the charge. If facts are present it aids in the success of the proposal but the Bureau feels ... that disruption can be accomplished without facts to back it up. — J. Edgar Hoover

All persons who bear the blessed title of parent have the personal responsibility to see that their children are growing up fully appreciative of the rights of God and their fellowmen. — J. Edgar Hoover

We are a fact-gathering organization only. We don't clear anybody. We don't condemn anybody. — J. Edgar Hoover

The Communist threat from without must not blind us to the Communist threat from within. The latter is reaching into the very heart of America through its espionage agents and a cunning, defiant, and lawless communist party, which is fanatically dedicated to the Marxist cause of world enslavement and destruction of the foundations of our republic. — J. Edgar Hoover

Complex man that he was, J. Edgar Hoover left nothing to chance. The director shrewdly recognized that building what became known as the world's greatest law enforcement agency would not necessarily keep him in office. — Ronald Kessler

The American mind simply has not come to a realization of the evil which has been introduced into our midst. — J. Edgar Hoover

If you read any of the biographies on J. Edgar Hoover, you find that they contradict each other more than they agree. Often times, they're often told from a political perspective. — Clint Eastwood

There will never be another Black Messiah unless we create him — J. Edgar Hoover

You right," Hawk said. "Couldn't happen. Be like J. Edgar Hoover running around in a dress."
"Exactly," I said. "Impossible. — Robert B. Parker

I came to America because of the great, great freedom which I heard existed in this country. I made a mistake in selecting America as a land of freedom, a mistake I cannot repair in the balance of my lifetime. — Albert Einstein

J. Edgar Hoover very famously denied the existence of organized crime up until the Appalachian Meeting, I think, in 1957. It was interesting to me that he clearly had to know that there was such a thing as organized crime and organized criminals as far back as the '20s. — Terence Winter

Experts say that children are not born criminals, nor pampered parasites. They are made that way by the environment in which they live. — J. Edgar Hoover

WHAT WE NEED IN AMERICA TODAY IS A VIGOROUS RETURN TO THE GOD OF OUR FATHERS AND A MOST VIGOROUS DEFENSE AGAINST THE MINION OF GODLESSNESS AND ATHEISM. — J. Edgar Hoover

What you need is a good Hoovering. — J. Edgar Hoover

There are so many parallels in society today [with era of J. Edgar Hoover ] that you can use, whether it's the head of a studio or the head of an organization, a major newspaper, a major factory or company, of people who stay too long, maybe, and overstay their usefulness. — Clint Eastwood

We all have a role to play. Don't despair at your own talents... Don't try to be better than anybody else. Just try to be better than yourself — Edgar J. Steele

I just kind of had my own impressions growing up with Hoover as a heroic figure in the 40s - actually the 30s, 40s, and 50s and beyond - but this was all prior to the information age so we didn't know about Hoover except what was usually in the papers, and this was fun, because this was a chance to go into it [ during filming 'J. Edgar Hoover' ] — Clint Eastwood

The will to do, the tenacity to overcome all obstacles and to finish the course, the strength to cling to inexorable ideals, are all rooted in courage. — J. Edgar Hoover

You know, back in the 1950s and '60s, when J. Edgar Hoover was making the FBI the respected organization it used to be, oftentimes they would find a fugitive and basically have his house surrounded, and then put out a press release saying he was on the top 10 most wanted list. And 10 minutes later, he'd be arrested. — Howie Carr

J. Edgar Hoover, J. Bracken Lee, J. Parnell Thomas, J. Paul Getty
you can always tell a shithead by that initial initial. — Edward Abbey

I would far rather over-estimate the threat [imposed by the Patriot Act] and be proven wrong than to underestimate the threat and wake up one morning in a world where the 21st century's J Edgar Hoover has the power to blackmail anyone in America. — Tim Lee

I wonder if 50 years from now we'll look back, and maybe Julian Assange will be the hero and J. Edgar Hoover will be the enemy of the state. — Rick Smolan

Above all, I would teach him to tell the truth Truth-telling, I have found, is the key to responsible citizenship. The thousands of criminals I have seen in 40 years of law enforcement have had one thing in common: Every single one was a liar. — J. Edgar Hoover

We actually did a lot of takes on this movie [J. Edgar Hoover ]. I never left the set wanting more. That's for sure. I don't know. This was a very difficult character for me and a lot of the other actors here, and at times we went and did 8 or 9 or 10 takes on a single day. — Leonardo DiCaprio

By the early 1920s, the America of Jefferson, Lincoln, Whitman, and the young William Jennings Bryan had ceased to exist. It had been replaced by the world of McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, J. Edgar Hoover, and Woodrow Wilson. — Oliver Stone

Justice is merely incidental to law and order. — J. Edgar Hoover

Why should you care if you have nothing to hide? — J. Edgar Hoover

I don't need to tell you that, what determines a man's legacy is often what isn't seen. — J. Edgar Hoover

Justice is incidental to law and order. — J. Edgar Hoover

for the first time in a popular novel I was reading about wrongdoing by the then-sacred institution, the FBI. I was reading open criticism and accusation of J. Edgar Hoover himself. I was reading it not from the typewriter of a young radical but from that of an old novelist. — Rex Stout

I intend to put up with nothing that I can put down.
[Letter to J. Beauchamp Jones, August 8, 1839] — Edgar Allan Poe

The most effective weapon against crime is cooperation ... The efforts of all law enforcement agencies with the support and understanding of the American people. — J. Edgar Hoover

It's an incredible education [for the movie J. Edgar Hoover] . It was like I did a college course on J. Edgar Hoover but not knowing and understanding the history and reading the books, but understanding what motivated this man was the most fascinating part of the research. — Dustin Lance Black

When morals decline and good men do nothing, evil flourishes. — J. Edgar Hoover

What's important at this time is to re-clarify the difference between hero and villain. — J. Edgar Hoover

We're interested in complex characters and he's a complex character, [ J. Edgar] Hoover. I like these types of dramas. I've made a few of them and I'm also interested in power structures so it just has elements that fascinate me, and the more you learn about Hoover, the more polarizing you realize he is. — Brian Grazer

All my humor is based upon destruction and despair. If the whole world were tranquil, without disease and violence, I'd be standing on the breadline right in back of J. Edgar Hoover. — Lenny Bruce

It can be held certain that information that is withheld or suppressed contains truths that are detrimental to the persons involved in the suppression. — J. Edgar Hoover

J. Edgar Hoover: When morals decline and good men do nothing, evil flourishes. A society unwilling to learn from past is doomed. We must never forget our history. — J. Edgar Hoover

The fact he has some kind of bond with you is quite extraordinary", she [Deep Throat's daughter] said. "He doesn't remember Ed Miller and other FBI guys. He remembers J. Edgar Hoover".
Well, I thought, Hoover and me. — Bob Woodward

The individual is handicapped by coming face-to-face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists. — J. Edgar Hoover

And so, given the musical sensibilities Hatcher treasured in his earthly life, it is hard to exaggerate the severity of his torture at standing naked in his tiny kitchen in Hell as former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover sings a Bee Gees disco song backed by a full studio orchestra and Robin and Maurice. — Robert Olen Butler

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been requested to assist in the investigation of reported sightings of flying disks ... — J. Edgar Hoover

happiness is that state wherein a person is flooded with positive energy and thus has no time and space for any sort of negativity, such as anger, sadness, envy, and bitterness, among other things. — Edgar J. Keyes

There is but one way to eliminate juvenile delinquency - that is by providing each child in America with competent parents. — J. Edgar Hoover

John F. Kennedy, who seized the White House from Richard Nixon in a frenzied campaign that turned a whole generation of young Americans into political junkies, got shot in the head for his efforts, murdered in Dallas by some hapless geek named Oswald who worked for either Castro, the mob, Jimmy Hoffa, the CIA, his dominatrix landlady or the odious, degenerate FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover. The list is long and crazy - maybe Marilyn Monroe's first husband fired those shots from the grassy knoll. Who knows? — Hunter S. Thompson

I'm so happy, I think I'll dress up like J. Edgar Hoover and sing show tunes. — Don Imus

Edgar Wayburn has worked to preserve the most breath-taking examples of the American landscape. In fact, over the course of more than a half-century, both as President of the Sierra Club and as a private citizen, he has saved more of our wilderness than any person alive. — William J. Clinton

I would do it [study UFOs], but before agreeing to do it, we must insist upon full access to discs recovered. For instance in the L.A. case, the Army grabbed it and would not let us have it for cursory examination. — J. Edgar Hoover

A child who has been taught to respect the laws of God will have little difficulty respecting the laws of men. — J. Edgar Hoover

By 1967, J. Edgar Hoover had concluded that the Black Panther Party had replaced the Communist Party as the gravest threat to national security. — Alexander Cockburn

[ J. Edgar]Hoover, I'm sure, felt that he was right in everything he did and even the things that we don't like about his character. — Clint Eastwood

By every measure, John Kennedy's sex life was compulsive and reckless. At one level, it had clear public consequences. Knowledge of Kennedy's behavior gave FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover absolute job security, as well as the potential power to derail Kennedy's re-election had he survived assassination. — Jeff Greenfield

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

My anxiety level was rising pretty fast now. Visits with the FBI can do that to you, I guess. I'd had bad experiences with them before. Ironically, so had Kit. They're good people, mostly, but something got screwed up along the way. I guess that's what happen when J. Edgar Hoover is your daddy. Talk about the road to perdition. — James Patterson

The individual comes face-to-face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists. The American mind has not come to a realisation of the evil which has been introduced into our midst. It rejects even the assumption that human creatures could espouse a philosophy which must ultimately destroy all that is good and decent. — J. Edgar Hoover

He'd gotten in a quick swipe with his tongue the moment he'd been close enough to reach. Then, just to be sure, he went in for another sample, bathing Alex's leg with saliva, careful to miss the dangly bits between the man's legs. Edgar didn't get what the big deal was. He licked himself there all the time. However, Jack made a big deal out of it so he avoided that area like he'd been taught. — Mary J. Williams

I have great respect for the FBI, and I know that there have been some rumors lately that the FBI was disenchanted because of what we were doing in story, or doing a certain take: that's not true. Actually the FBI was tremendously enthusiastic about us doing [ J. Edgar Hoover ] film. — Clint Eastwood

The flames of freedom which were lighted across this great land of ours in Thomas Jefferson's day have continued to burn with an intense and magnetic light for nearly 200 years. They have been fed by the spiritual fuel which abounds only in a land where an abiding faith in God and recognition of Him as the true Author of Liberty prevail. — J. Edgar Hoover

Angela Davis's legacy as a freedom fighter made her an enemy of the state under the increasingly neoliberal regimes of Nixon, Reagan and J. Edgar Hoover because she understood that the struggle for freedom was not only a struggle for political and individual rights but also for economic rights. — Henry Giroux

There is no doubt that America is now the prime target of international communism. — J. Edgar Hoover

[Re: J. Edgar Hoover] His knowledge was enormous, though his mind was narrow. — Tim Weiner

He was arguably the best-qualified FBI director since J. Edgar Hoover; he thought Clinton was the most talented politician since Richard Nixon. That made their mutual contempt all the more tragic. It undermined the FBI and ultimately damaged the United States. — Tim Weiner

Jack looked over to the foot of the bed to see Edgar watching them; head cocked to one side and tail wagging furiously. "You don't think he saw us, do you? — Mary J. Williams

Banks are an almost irresistible attraction for that element of our society which seeks unearned money. — J. Edgar Hoover

Just the minute the FBI begins making recommendations on what should be done with its information, it becomes a Gestapo. — J. Edgar Hoover

She shook her head slowly. "I don't believe you. You can't be a cop."
"Not a cop."
"Federal agent?"
"FBI."
"Even more unlikely."
"J. Edgar rolls over in his grave every day, but that's the way it is. — Sandra Brown

Also, with information having just come out at the time about J. Edgar Hoover's electronic surveillance of Dr. King, it gave greater weight to the statements of those persons who were alleging involvement of the FBI. — Louis Stokes

There is something addictive about secrets. — J. Edgar Hoover

*SMILES*
Smile awhile and while you smile - another smiles, And soon there are Miles and miles of smiles and Life's worth while Because you Smile. — Kathleen J. Edgar

The cure for crime is not the electric chair, but the high chair. — J. Edgar Hoover

To me, you couldn't write a character like J. Edgar Hoover and have it be believable. I mean, he was a crock pot of eccentricities. We couldn't even fit all his eccentricities into [ the same named] movie. — Dustin Lance Black

It's interesting in this day and age to do a film about political espionage and wiretapping. I don't think that those types of secrets that J. Edgar Hoover was able to obtain and keep for such a long period of time would be possible in today's world, with the Internet and WikiLeaks. — Leonardo DiCaprio