President Bartlett Quotes & Sayings

When I started writing, I did have some idealised notion of my dad as a writer. But I have less and less of a literary rivalry with him as I've gone on. I certainly don't feel I need his approval, although maybe that's because I'm confident that I've got it. — Paul Theroux

Thinking begins when you ask really difficult questions. — Slavoj Zizek

The only advice I have for youth is to date outside your race. I just think it's so cute when I see little kids in interracial relationships; it makes me feel like I'm watching a commercial. — Daniel Tosh

The problem we have had on the budget all along is a lack of adult supervision on the part of the White House. You can't blame members of Congress for looking out for their parochial interests. It is the president's responsibility to look out for the national interest. — Bruce Bartlett

On a good day, I view the job [of president] as directing an orchestra. On the dark days, it is more like that of a clutch
engaging the engine to effect forward motion, while taking greater friction. — A. Bartlett Giamatti

If Madison Avenue advertising executives were to pick a song that would best represent America, the last one they would choose is 'The Star Spangled Banner.' — Ronald Kessler

It is a common happening that those in power, as their tenure of office continues, find themselves less and less able to contemplate relinquishing it. — Anthony Eden

All I ever wanted to be president of was the American League. — A. Bartlett Giamatti

When I grew up in Flatbush, 'we played football, stickball and baseball all the time, right out there on the city streets. Football was my favorite. — Sid Luckman

A friend is one who knows who you are, understands where you have been, accepts who you've become, and still, gently invites you to grow. A friend loveth at all times. — Anonymous

Every new opinion, at its starting, is precisely in a minority of one. — Thomas Carlyle

I had a unique circumstance in which my career was associated with George W. Bush, who went straight to the top. I went to work for him in October of 1993. So my whole identity in national politics is associated with this president, and you know, I kind of want to leave it that way. It's not tugging at me to go do the '08 cycle. — Dan Bartlett

Silence didn't bother me, it was actually where I felt most comfortable - in the things that didn't need to be spoken - but this was a very pregnant silence that was starting to give me labor pains. — Nicole Williams

I know what you're going through is terrifying and unfair and really hard. But you have to go through it. Right now, you're just standing still. You're sinking in it. Let me hold your hand and go through it with you. — Lisa Genova

It is always difficult to get across to people who are not professional writers that a talent to write does not mean a talent to write anything at all. — Flannery O'Connor

I see great things in baseball. — Walt Whitman

All I ever wanted to be was president of the American League. — A. Bartlett Giamatti

PRESIDENT BARTLETT: See how benevolent I can be when everybody just does what I tell them. — Aaron Sorkin