John Ashcroft Quotes

We need to strengthen our analytic capacity in Washington, we need to centralize the anti-terrorism effort

What we learned on September 11 is that the unthinkable is now thinkable in the world

We are a nation called to defend freedom - a tradition that is not a grant of any government or document, but is an endowment from God.

We have to think outside the box, inside the Constitution, find ways to do things that will elevate our security, reduce the risk of the incidence of terrorist attack

There is no priority higher than the prevention of terrorism

The new rule says that the FBI has the right to go to public places on the same terms and conditions as other members of the public for counterterrorism purposes.

The worst mistake a boss can make is not to say 'Well done'.

If necessity is the mother of invention, it's the father of cooperation. And we're cooperating like never before.

An FBI agent ought to be able to surf the net and look for sites that instruct people how to make bombs.

The Patriot Act allows and provides a basis for an exchange of information.

To me, failure is not fatal unless you quit; getting knocked down is not embarrassing unless you allow it to keep you down.

Christianity is a faith in which God sent his Son to die for you.

Prior to September 11, we thought the world beyond our shores was one world of risk and the world in our continent was another world of risk

By tearing down the wall between law enforcement and the intelligence community, we have been able to share information in a way that was virtually impossible before the Patriot Act.

Nothing remains great without a capacity to change and to accommodate the conditions of a changing world.

A trustee has a responsibility to guard the assets of others with a higher degree of care than he does his own.

The FBI. is a massive culture. It's been a culture that served America well, and it's been focused on prosecution. But what we need in terms of terrorism is prevention.

People who commit crimes should be responsible for those crimes. It doesn't matter whether they're priests or ministers or atheists.

The FBI has long been a part of the security for the nation's banks because bank robberies have been a priority

Nothing that we have authorized conflicts with any law regarding privacy or any provision of the constitution.

Agents need to be free to pursue investigations in ways that they haven't. There have been restraints that a reformed FBI needs to make sure we don't impose.

The liberties and freedoms which we hold dear and we recognize and cherish and respect guide the way we gather information in the United States

The goal of terror is not traditional territorial enlargement; rather the war target of the terrorist is the dismemberment of the will of the community it terrorizes.

The charges of the hysterics are revealed for what they are: castles in the air built on misrepresentation, supported by unfounded fear, held aloft by hysteria.

We must embrace the power of faith, but we must never confuse politics and piety. For me, may I say that it is against my religion to impose my religion.

Civilized people - Muslims, Christians and Jews - all understand that the source of freedom and human dignity is the Creator.

I don't play full court anymore. I just play half-court.

People want to see other people who have 'non-negotiables,' things for which they're willing to say, 'This is it' we take our stand right here.' That's a leadership quality which people respect.

Our priorities should be: recognizing the voice of God and responding to the voice of God.

[Ashcroft vowed to] spare no effort to preserve the rights of all our citizens to pledge allegiance to the American flag.

We've got to understand that the whole nature of the way American democracy guards its freedom has been changed

Reasonable regulations regarding the ownership of weapons are appropriate.

The Internet provides very serious challenges to our ability to keep from children the kinds of things that are destructive to them

There's nothing more rewarding or important than to be involved in God's work of redemption.

The way the terrorist is trained to operate, especially the suicide terrorists, makes punishment and the threat of punishment far less valuable to those who would prevent the crime

I think all we should legislate is morality.

It doesn't help to wait until something happens and then prosecute the offenders, especially if it's the idea of the offender to extinguish himself in the commission of the crime.

[The war on terrorism isn't a religious war, but] a defense of our right to make moral choices, to seek fellowship with God that is chosen and not commanded.

This view of the text comports with the all but unanimous understanding of the Founding Fathers.

What did John Ashcroft say about moderates, he said, quote, there are two things you find in the middle of the road, a moderate and a dead skunk and I don't want to be either.

The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved.

If America is to be great in the future, it will be if we understand that our source is not civic and temporal, but our source is godly and eternal.

Only God, no other kings!

The transmission of values from one generation to the next is the single most important task of the society. ...What am I doing to shape the values of the society?

How sad, that the group with the most access to the truth chose in several strategic instances to look the other way.

All of us want to have meaning in our lives and want to feel like we're doing something that makes a difference. I believe we're doing that in the Justice Department.

Any citizen who's offended ... can leave the service.

For the first time in a long time, our leaders in Washington understand what Americans of all religious backgrounds have long held to be true: through faith, all things are possible.

The state's interest in effective crime-fighting should never vitiate the citizens' Bill of Rights.