George Bush's vision does not live up to the America I enlisted in the Navy to defend, the America I have fought for in the Senate, and the America that I hope to lead as president.

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!

Don't turn over rocks if you don't want to see the pale creatures who live under them.

I've said I'll stand for a full second term, but I think after that it will be time for new leadership. Terms are like Shredded Wheat - two are wonderful but three might just be too many.

I've been working for many years and I think I've managed to work with some of the best people in the business, which has been rewarding and an apprenticeship.

There's no greater challenge and there is no greater honor than to be in public service.

It was important to me that the book didn't comment on being a teenager, but felt instead like a story told by a teenager.

At one level you're condemned to the voice you have. But within those confines, you have a certain amount of freedom to range among your possible voices.

One of the great things with comedy is that there's no such thing as a mediocre comedy; it's either uproarious or crap. That's the problem.

Every young writer, I imagine, has their first intellectual magazine, whose essays and articles are devoured all the more greedily for being slightly over one's head. Mine was First Things.

If I could patent 'being real', I think I could own that.