The whole idea that the rescue was staged or the soldiers were shooting blanks, that's just obvious stuff. Why would you do that in the middle of a war? It's just crazy.

I remember the first time I put on the Army uniform. I just felt like a totally different person - I felt proud.

I could be, you know, the person that shows little kids that giving up isn't something that you should do.

The truth is always more heroic than the hype.

I try to dream about peaceful things, beaches, that is what I cannot understand. Why are they chasing me?

Honesty has always been very important to me.

I grew up in Palestine, West Virginia, which is mostly a farming community; there aren't a lot of jobs.

I'm not about to take credit for something I didn't do. I did not shoot - not a round, nothing. I went down praying to my knees - that's the last thing I remember.

Certain days I think definitely because we went in there and we got Saddam and that was our mission. On other days, we lost so many lives and so many brothers and sisters...on that aspect, no.

I have repeatedly said, when asked, that if the stories about me helped inspired our troops and rally a nation, then perhaps there was some good.

The nurses at the hospital tried to soothe me, and they even tried unsuccessfully at one point to return me to Americans.

Always err on the side of generosity.

It was different, though, knowing something in your thoughts and then hearing it confirmed, made real, planted in the world like a tree

What I do say is, that no man is good enough to govern another man, without that other's consent. I say this is the leading principle - the sheet anchor of American republicanism.

The important things are not worth knowing because they are useful. They are worth knowing because they are true.

Man's unique reward, however, is that while animals survive by adjusting themselves to their background, man survives by adjusting his background to himself.

First of all, I'm so glad that the city of Houston has a football team again. They have such great fans. I'm really happy for the people of Houston because they deserve a football team.

I don't think I've ever prayed in my entire life, never sat and had an imaginary chat with God.

They're not dogs [poodles], they're art.

Heaven is a house full of miracles; yea, of spectacles and images of free grace.

A man with a good wife is the luckiest of God's creatures.