I stand before you today as a disciplined conservative Texan, a committed Republican and a proud American, united with you to restoring our nation and revive the American dream.

In the myopic world of the liberals, guns are responsible for evil instead of the perpetrator of evil. But criminals are not bound by our laws. That's what makes them criminals.

The foundation for future prosperity is built on the bedrock of good jobs and great schools. We are building a strong foundation one job at a time and one educated Texan at a time.

Running for the presidency's not an IQ test.

I may have the genetic coding that Im inclined to be an alcoholic, but I have the desire not to do that, and I look at the homosexual issue the same way.

I hope I am the Tim Tebow of the Iowa caucuses.

Every life is precious.

Every barrel of oil that comes out of those sands in Canada is a barrel of oil that we don't have to buy from a foreign source.

Dark economic clouds are dissipating into an emerging blue sky of opportunity.

Armed and law-abiding citizens are a greater deterrent to violent crime than 1,000 laws passed by Congress.

America needs jobs, smaller government, less spending and a president with the courage to offer more than yet another speech.

But that slip of paper wouldn't disappear, ever, and neither would the image of his prostrate wife, and neither would the thought that if he could, it might greatly improve his life to end it.

On this matter I'm inclined to agree with the French, who gaze upon any personal dietary prohibition as bad manners.

An ordinary man seeks freedom through enlightenment. An enlightened man expresses freedom through being ordinary.

Music excites me, inspires me, fuels me! I listen to music every single day.

I'm certainly not an uptight home owner.

It does not take much to imagine the humanity of people you don't know. An American author does not need to know a word of Arabic to write a book like the one I wrote.

I do not use profanity in my novels. My characters all go to church.

The moment a man begins to talk about technique that's proof that he is fresh out of ideas.

More and more, I see myself as a folk musician, and someone who values context.

Perseverance has kept me going over the years. Things rarely happen overnight. Filmmakers should be prepared for many years of hard work. The sheer toil can be healthy and exhilarating.