WIST

I learned a lot from the stories my uncle, aunts, and grandparents told me: that no one is perfect but most people are good; that people can’t be judged only by their worst or weakest moments; that harsh judgements make hypocrites of us all; that a lot of life is just showing up and hanging on; that laughter is often the best, and sometimes only response to pain.

President William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (b. 1946) US President, 1993-2001
My Life (2004)

You know, most of the people I’ve known in this business, Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, were good people, honest people, and they did what they thought was right. And I hope that I’ll live long enough to see American politics return to vigorous debates where we argue who’s right and wrong, not who’s good and bad.

President William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (b. 1946) US President, 1993-2001
Comments at his offical portrait unveiling (14 Jun. 2004)

There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured with what is right in America.

President William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (b. 1946) US President, 1993-2001
First Inaugural Address (20 Jan. 1993)
Transcript

The central tenet of every democracy in the end is trust.

President William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (b. 1946) US President, 1993-2001
In Gwen Ifill, “Bill & Al’s Traveling Medicine Show,” New York Times (9 Sep 1993)

Full text.

And I think America, if we’re ever going to truly defeat terror without changing the character of our own country or compromising the future of our children, has got to not only say, “Okay, I want to shoulder my responsibilities, I want to create my share of opportunities” but we have to find a way to define the future in terms of a humanity that goes beyond our country, that goes beyond any particular race, that goes beyond any particular religion.

President William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (b. 1946) US President, 1993-2001
Inaugural Dole Lecture, U. of Kansas (21 May 2004)
Transcript

You should have disagreements with your leaders and your colleagues, but if it becomes immediately a question of questioning people’s motives, and if immediately you decide that somebody who sees a whole new situation differently than you must be a bad person and somehow twisted inside, we are not going to get very far in forming a more perfect union.

President William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (b. 1946) US President, 1993-2001
Inaugural Dole Lecture, U. of Kansas (21 May 2004)
Transcript

When we put aside partisanship, embrace the best ideas regardless of where they come from and work for principled compromise, we can move America not left or right, but forward.

President William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (b. 1946) US President, 1993-2001
News conference (8 Nov. 1996)

The last time I checked, the Constitution said, “of the people, by the people and for the people.” That’s what the Declaration of Independence says.

President William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (b. 1946) US President, 1993-2001
Speech (17 Oct. 1996)
inadvertently quoting the Gettysburg Address

The problem with ideology is, if you’ve got an ideology, you’ve already got your mind made up. You know all the answers and that makes evidence irrelevant and arguments a waste of time. You tend to govern by assertion and attacks.

President William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (b. 1946) US President, 1993-2001
Speech at event sponsored by the Center for American Progress (18 Oct. 2006)

People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.

President William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (b. 1946) US President, 1993-2001
Speech, Democratic National Committee Convention, Denver (27 Aug 2008)

Full text.