George McGovern

It really is true that an orator is simply a good man who speaks well.

I suppose politicians have always wanted to get re-elected, but there's a kind of a feeling now that if you just discredit your opposition, it makes it easier for you to win. I don't think that's necessarily true.

Politics is an act of faith; you have to show some kind of confidence in the intellectual and moral capacity of the public.

I wish I had known more firsthand about the concerns and problems of American businesspeople while I was a U.S. senator and later a presidential nominee. That knowledge would have made me a better legislator and a more worthy aspirant to the White House.

I never even had the time to read novels.

I've enjoyed myself 90 percent of the time.

You know, sometimes, when they say you're ahead of your time, it's just a polite way of saying you have a real bad sense of timing.

I am fed up with a system which busts the pot smoker and lets the big dope racketeer go free.