I.B. George Quotes

I teamed up with the PGA of America to help promote a weekend of golf that raises scholarship money for kids who lost a parent or whose parent was severely wounded in combat.

Having purpose. I had purpose during my presidency, and I've got purpose after my presidency.

I've got a dad who jumps out of an airplane.

Hopefully I'm not a grumpy old guy sitting in the corner, yelling at people and demanding things.

I'm just beginning to live the next chapter of my life. In other words, politics - being governor and president - is not the end of my life. It's a chapter.

I think you ought to be open-minded as to where life takes you.

If I look back to when I was 20 and somebody said you'd be president, I would have said no way.

I ended up being the 43rd president of the United States. It was an awesome experience, and I'm glad I did it.

I'm comfortable with how I lived my life as the president.

I made friends during my presidency.

One thing you had to learn [after the presidency] was that you no longer had the sense of responsibility that became ingrained in your system.

For me, I learned from my father that when it's over, it's over.

I view my time in politics as a chapter, not my life.

I'm forever a former president and I understand that, but at this point in my post-presidency, I don't want to be involved with politics.

I don't want to interfere with my successor's presidency.

[My father] taught me (at least he showed me) a dignified way to be a former president is that once you're off the stage, you're off the stage.

When you're writing about something that happened, it helps you transition to the present.

I'm a content person and I'm content knowing that I gave it my all when I was president.

A number of people walk up to me and say, "You're much taller than I thought."

I didn't try to be something I wasn't.

What mattered to me was that I didn't compromise my soul in order to try to achieve a kind of popularity. The only thing you can do is just live your life.

I served. And now it's time for the new man to serve. I have zero desire to be in the limelight.

Sometimes armchair quarterbacks are doing it to enhance their own image. I'm just not comfortable with that idea.

It's kind of the Washington, D.C., chattering class. They kind of talk amongst themselves.

In terms of trying to re-create an image, I think that's a waste of time. I have no interest in doing that. The decisions I made are done.

The decisions I made are done. And history will judge whether or not they were correct. There's no such thing as accurate short-term history.

I'm comfortable that I made the best decisions I possibly could.

I regret that we weren't able to reform Social Security. The fact that we weren't able to when we had majorities in the House and the Senate I think reflected poorly on our political party.

[The economic crisis ] gave people the option to put money into private accounts.

I believe the world would have been a lot worse off if Saddam [Hussein] were in power today.

I thought Colin Powell did a fine job as secretary of state.

I believe that people want to be free. And that we face an enemy that murders innocent people to try to shake our psychology to get us to leave.

I try to live a faith-filled life. I'm a believer.

We had a shared experience. That makes a good marriage better. In many ways our marriage is great because she has made it great.

It's exciting for me to see [Laura Bush] busy and out there enjoying what she's doing. But we always make time to be with each other as well.

I think I'm the only president other than John Kennedy who had both parents alive during the presidency.

I'm not that worried about [my parents] right now because they are happy people. I'm pleased that in their later years, in spite of physical ailments, they're upbeat.

First of all, you never retire. At least I don't retire.

In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.

Fighting evil, it's hard work.

I think soft power definitely can work. But, you know, it depends on who you're dealing with. Some people are so intent upon power and keeping power that it's very difficult to conduct soft power.

Let's get rid of all our subsidies together. Let's join hands as wealthy industrialised nations and say to the world, we're going to get rid of all our agricultural subsidies together.

Iran is obviously part of the problem. They sponsor Hezbollah. They encourage a radical brand of Islam.

The question is: How do we succeed in Iraq? And you don't succeed by leaving before the mission is complete, like some in this political process are suggesting.

I want to live out principles that became a part of my life in my 40s, 50s, and 60s. One principle is the universality of freedom.

I feel a sense of obligation to our troops and their families because of the decisions that I made. So I'm involved with veterans.

"Reinvention" is a word that doesn't fit into my vocabulary.

"Statesman" presumes I'm out there giving opinions all the time about things, and no, I'm not interested in opining on a lot of subjects.

I really think it's important for presidents to exit the stage gracefully.

"Statesman" gives the impression that every time a major issue comes up, I'll be popping off. And that's not what's going to happen.