"As president, I will restore trust and credibility to the White House."
-- Senator John Kerry, in accepting the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.

“I’m John Kerry, and I’m reporting for duty.”
-- Senator John Kerry


Image from Kerry-Edwards

"Shove it!"
--Teresa Heinz Kerry

"Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? ...Your playing small does not serve the world."
-- Marianne Williamson

"I had hoped to be back here this week under different circumstances, running for re-election... But you know the old saying: You win some, you lose some. And then there's that little-known third category."
-- Vice President Al Gore

"We cannot lead if our leaders mislead... Recent policies have cost our nation its reputation as the world's most admired champion of freedom and justice. What a difference these few months of extremism have made... Ultimately, the issue is whether America will provide global leadership that springs from the unity and integrity of the American people or whether extremist doctrines and the manipulation of truth will define America's role in the world. At stake is nothing less than our nation's soul."
-- President Jimmy Carter

"Our dominant international challenge is to restore the greatness of America -- based on telling the truth, a commitment to peace, and respect for civil liberties at home and basic human rights around the world. Truth is the foundation of our global leadership, but our credibility has been shattered, and we are left increasingly isolated and vulnerable in a hostile world. Without truth -- without trust -- America cannot flourish. Trust is at the very heart of our democracy, the sacred covenant between the president and the people... When that trust is violated, the bonds that hold our republic together begin to weaken... After 9/11, America stood proud, wounded but determined and united. A cowardly attack on innocent civilians brought us an unprecedented level of cooperation and understanding around the world. But in just 34 months, we have watched with deep concern as all this goodwill has been squandered by a virtually unbroken series of mistakes and miscalculations. Unilateral acts and demands have isolated the United States from the very nations we need to join us in combating terrorism."
-- President Jimmy Carter

"John Kerry is a serious man for a serious job in a serious time in our country's history... I am very optimistic about this election because I think I know a great leader when I see one."
-- Senator Hillary Rodham-Clinton

"Their opponents will tell you we should be afraid of John Kerry and John Edwards because they won't stand up to terrorists. Don't you believe it...Strength and wisdom are not opposing values. They go hand in hand — and John Kerry has both"
-- President Bill Clinton

"Tonight I speak as a citizen, eager to join you here in Boston as a foot soldier in the fight for our future, as we nominate a true New England patriot for president. The state that gave us John Adams and John Kennedy has now given us John Kerry, a good man, a great Senator, a visionary leader... "
-- President Bill Clinton

"Democrats and Republicans have very different ideas on what choices we should make, rooted in fundamentally different views of how we should meet our common challenges at home and how we should play our role in the world... Democrats want to build an America of shared responsibilities and shared opportunities. Republicans believe in an America run by the right people, their people."
-- President Bill Clinton

"I look on Kerry as one who has gotten through his lifetime of experience exactly what is needed in makeup and battleground and learning and determination, and his ideals to be the president we need now in this troubled time."
-- Jimmy Carter, on CNN.


Image from The White House

"...The question that voters seem to be wrestling with now is not whether Mr. Bush is a legitimate president but whether he is a trustworthy one."
--Michael Oreskes, What's the Presidential Tipping Point?, The New York Times

"I'm not really gay cuz I don't like men. What I like are penises."
-- John Falcon, Multi-millionaire winner of the New York State Lottery, in One Man Show, a documentary film.

"Dogs never bite me. Just humans."
--Marilyn Monroe


Image from MarilynFineArt.com

Girl: John Edwards should do okay against Dick Cheney in the debates, right?
Boy: Up until Cheney grabs him and bites his ear off, yeah.
-- Aaron McGruder, The Boondocks, nationally syndicated comic strip.

"Stand up straight and keep your hair out of your eyes."
-- Laura Bush, First Lady of the Unted States, to her twins as they hit the campaign trail on behalf of the Miserable Failure.


Photo from Enter Stage Right

"Bush's power has been wielded with arrogance, calculation, and disdain for dissenting views. The Constitution's careful separation of powers has been breached, and its checks and balances circumvented. Behind closed doors, schemes have been hatched, with information denied to the legislative branch and policy makers shielded from informing the people or Congress. In fact, there appears to be little respect for the role of Congress. There is virtually no attempt to build consensus through the hard work of reaching across the aisle to find common ground. Real consultation does not exist."
-- Sen Robert Byrd, (D-WV), Losing America: Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant Presidency", p. 21, as quoted on Meet The Press.

I finally have eyebrows back and hair on my legs again."
-- Harvey Fierstein, on what it means to no longer be doing eight shows per week as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray, as quoted by Cindy Adams.


Photo from The Guide to Musical Theatre

It's hard to open and hard to close.
-- Elaine Stritch, At Liberty , HBO

"I could do it. I'm a really good camper. I can sleep on the ground. There are many, many good people who have gone to prison. Look at Nelson Mandela."
-- Martha Stewart, to ABC News after her sentencing to prison yesterday.  
  

Image from SaveMarthaStewart.com
 

"I've never made it a secret that my alcoholism is and will always be a lifelong struggle. I seek help and support on a daily basis. I have good days and bad days, and I am constantly learning new things in my effort to cope with this journey. Rehabilitation is not a dirty word, and I don't believe it is anything to be ashamed of anymore."
-- Liza Minnelli, quoted by Liz Smith, today. 

"My parents taught me to be a lady and not say anything bad about some stupid son of a bitch."
-- Liza Minnelli, discussing her botched wedding to David Gest, as quoted by Michael Musto.


Image from Maurice Heerdink

"Birds do it. Bees do it. Even educated fleas do it. Let's do it, let's fall in love."
-- Cole Porter


photo from River Walk Jazz

"Under pressure, people admit to murder, setting fire to the village church or robbing a bank, but never to being boring."
-- Elsa Maxwell


Photo from Clan Maxwell Society of the U.S.

"Here with stars in my eyes -- something that I dreamed about when I was 9 years old. There are others that deserve it, but let everybody get their own."
-- Isabel Sanford, 1917-2004, regarding her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, last January.


Photo by The Business of Acting

Summertime
And the living is easy
Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high

Oh, your daddy's rich
And your mama's good lookin'
So hush little baby now
don't you cry

One of these mornin's
You're gonna rise up singin'
Then you'll spread your wings
And take to the sky

But til that mornin'
Ain't nothin' can harm you
With your daddy
And your mammy
standin' by

-- George Gershwin and Dubose Heyward, Porgy and Bess

"There is a time for work. And a time for love. That leaves no other time."
-- Coco Chanel


Photo from Elmundo.es

"Tax cuts for wealthy thugs like me are criminal... I put my tax cut in my sock and buried it away. In November, let's sock it to them."
-- Paul Newman, at a fund-raiser for Kerry-Edwards, yesterday.


Photo by Ohio Veterans

Money will buy a pretty good dog but it won't buy the wag of his tail.
-- Josh Billings

"Noel Coward always said, 'I read the obituaries every day to see who's not coming to lunch."
-- Elaine Stritch, At Liberty, HBO

"A man who has shown guts and determination and political skill in his own race for the presidency of the United States. A man whose life has prepared him for leadership and whose character brings him to exercise it. I am pleased to announce that with your help, the next vice president of the United States will be Senator John Edwards of North Carolina..."
-- Senator John Kerry, today.

There is still no cure for the common birthday.
-- John Glenn

"The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest."
-- President Thomas Jefferson

"It's like the prostitute once said, 'It's not the work, it's the stairs'."
-- Elaine Stritch, At Liberty

"To grasp the full significance of life is the actor's duty, to interpret it is his problem, and to express it his dedication."

"The only reason I'm in Hollywood is that I don't have the moral courage to refuse the money."

"I don't think it's the nature of any man to be monogamous. Men are propelled by genetically ordained impulses over which they have no control to distribute their seed."

-- Marlon Brando, 1924-2004

"Exercise daily. Eat wisely. Die anyway."
-- Anonymous, as quoted by Liz Smith