John F. Kerry Quotes

I would rather be the candidate of the NAACP than the NRA.

The American spirit wears no political label. In service to others and yes, in sacrifice for our country, there are no Republicans; there are no Democrats; there are only Americans.

I saw courage both in the Vietnam War and in the struggle to stop it. I learned that patriotism includes protest, not just military service.

Politics has always been the art of the possible. Today it's too often the art of the probable - tinkering around the edges without any greater vision, without a sense of optimism and imagination.

I'm proud of my medals. I always was proud of them.

It's hard to believe that in the greatest democracy in the world, we need legislation to prevent the government from writing and paying for the news.

Being lectured by the president on fiscal responsibility is a little bit like Tony Soprano talking to me about law and order in this country.

How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam? How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?

Climate change is real. The science is compelling. And the longer we wait, the harder the problem will be to solve.

You just don't invade another country on phony pretext in order to assert your interests!

This fight against drilling in the Arctic Refuge is a fight about our principles. Its about standing up for our environment, our families and our future, and I wont give up this fight.

What we need now is not just a regime change in Saddam Hussein and Iraq, but we need a regime change in the United States.

Confronting climate change is, in the long run, one of the greatest challenges that we face, and you can see this duty or responsibility laid down in scriptures, clearly.

So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real.

You just don't in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped up pre-text.

Values are not just words, values are what we live by. They're about the causes that we champion and the people we fight for.

If we can't have a serious conversation without politicizing it on cable TV and making it a scoring point for one day, we're in trouble.

America has not led but fled on the issue of global warming.

We should not allow a tiny minority of shoddy scientists and science and extreme ideologues to compete with scientific facts.

Folks, Sarah Palin said she could see Russia from Alaska. Mitt Romney talks like he's only seen Russia by watching 'Rocky IV.'

If America can go to the moon, then in the decades to come we should not ever have to have young Americans sent to any part of the world to defend and die for America's gluttony on fossil fuel.

Remember the hours after Sept. 11 when we came together as one...It was the worst day we have ever seen, but it brought out the best in all of us.

I want to start by saying something nice about President Bush. Of all the presidents we've had with the last name of Bush, his economic plan ranks in the top two.

You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.

I'm going to be honest with you - I don't know a lot about Cuba's healthcare system. Is it a government-run system?

And it is time for those who talk about family values to start valuing families.

I'm John Kerry, and I'm reporting for duty.

Those localized efforts take a long time and they don't deal with the larger issue of ISIL and the question of what you're going to do to really have a solution here. We have to save Syria.

Gender based violence anywhere is a threat to peace and security everywhere.

I think it was the right decision to disarm Saddam Hussein. And when the president made the decision, I supported him, and I support the fact that we did disarm him.

We're in a battle for our lives for things that really matter to us. There's a shell game going on like I've never seen before.

I know something about killing. I don't like killing. And I don't think a state honors life by turning around and sanctioning killing.

My definition of patriotism is to defend your country with the truth, no matter the consequences.

The consequences of a crime should not be out of proportion to the crime itself.

There is no greater breach of the public trust than knowingly misleading the country into war. In a democracy, we simply cannot tolerate the abuse of this trust by the government.

Real Democrats don't abandon the middle class.

I can't take my Catholic belief, my article of faith, and legislate it on a Protestant or a Jew or an Atheist. We have separation of church and state in the United States of America.

Mitt Romney says he believes in America and that he will restore American exceptionalism. I have news for him, we already have an exceptional American as president and we believe in Barack Obama.

I figured out Karl Rove's political strategy -- make gas so expensive, no Democrats can afford to go to the polls.

Medicare is paid for by the American taxpayer. Medicare belongs to you. Medicare is for seniors, who many of them are on fixed income, to lift them out of poverty.

I still believe Americas destiny is to become a living testament to what free human beings can accomplish by acting in unity.

America is the most powerful economy in the world. We're an $18-trillion-dollar economy.

The hope is there. The sun is rising. Our best days are yet to come.

Values spoken without actions taken are merely slogans.

Ask Osama bin Laden is he is better off now than he was four years ago.

Unlike Washington, which is stuck in ideological gridlock, Americans feel the impact of climate change in their own hometowns and they know something must be done.

I want to fully fund education, No Child Left Behind, special-needs education. And that's how we're going to be more competitive, by making sure our kids are graduating from school and college.

I know something about aircraft carriers for real.

If you don't believe ... Saddam Hussein is a threat with nuclear weapons, then you shouldn't vote for me.

I think the United States is still the indispensable force for positive change and for rule of law and for order and structure.