It is customary at occasions such as this for some old person to pass — Wesley Clark

"I think were at a time in American history thats probably analogous to, maybe, Rome before the first emperors, when the Republic started to fall... I think if you look at the pattern of events, if you look at the disputed election of 2000, can you imagine? In America, people are trying to recount ballots and a partisan mob is pounding on the glass and threatening the counters? Can you imagine that? Can you imagine a political party which does its best to keep any representatives from another party — whove even been affiliated with another party — from getting a business job in the nations capital? Can you imagine a political party that wants to redistrict so that its opponents can be driven out entirely?...its a different time in America and the Republic is — this election is about a lot more than jobs. Im not sure everybody in America sees it right now. But I see it, I feel it."

"I am saying what I believe. And Im being drawn into the political process because of what I believe and what Ive said about it. So its precisely the opposite of a man like Tom DeLay, who is only motivated by politics and says whatever he needs to say to get the political purpose. And so, you know, it couldnt be more diametrically opposed, and I couldnt be more opposed than I am to Tom DeLay. You know, Wolf, when our airmen were flying over Kosovo, Tom DeLay led the House Republicans to vote not to support their activities, when American troops were in combat. To me, thats a real indicator of a man who is motivated not by patriotism or support for the troops, but for partisan political purposes."

"I think General Eisenhower was exactly right, I think we should be concerned about the military-industrial complex. I think if you look at where the country is today youve consolidated all these defense firms into just a few large firms — like Halliburton — and with contracts and contacts at the top level of government. Youve got most of the retired generals are one way or another associated with the defense firms — thats the reason that youll find very few of them speaking out in any public way — Im not. When I got out I determined I wasnt going to sell arms, I was going to do as little as possible with the Department of Defense because I just figured it was time to make a new start. But I think the military-industrial complex does wield a lot of influence — Id like to see us create a different complex. And Im going to be talking about foreign policy in a major speech tomorrow, but we need to create an agency that is not about waging war but about creating conditions for peace around the world. We need some people who will be advocates for peace, advocates for economic development abroad, not just advocates for better weapon systems. So we need to create countervailing power to the military-industrial complex."

"Im not running to bash George Bush. A lot of Americans really love him. They love what he represents, a man whos overcome adversity in his life from alcoholism and pulled his marriage back together and — and moved forward. But Im running because I think this country must have better leadership in moving forward."

"I dont have labels. I believe in human beings, I believe in a strong national security, I believe in maximizing freedom... I can give you a whole list of things im for, but I believe in solving problems. I guess, more than anything else, Im a pragmatist with strong beliefs in people."

"But you dont have a chance if you cant find a job. I dont think it penetrates the minds of this Administration what it must be like for a factory worker to arrive home to his family with the news that hes been laid off. What it must be like not to know what the future holds for your children, because you dont know what the future holds for you. What it must be like to see the government take hundreds of billions of dollars that could be used to fund job training, unemployment benefits, or jobs programs — and instead to send that money off to people who have such staggering wealth that the new money wont make the tiniest improvement in their lifestyle. What it must be like to be told that tax cuts for the rich are necessary to create jobs for working people, and then to see jobs fall month after month for more than 30 months. If that doesnt break your heart, you dont have a heart."

"Be the change that you wish to see in the world."

"we are engaged in a grim experiment never before attempted. We are subjecting whole populations to exposure to chemicals which animal experiments have proved to be extremely poisonous and in many cases cumulative in their effect. These exposures now begin at or before birth and-unless we change our methods-will continue through the lifetime of those now living. No one knows what the result will be, because we have no previous experience to guide us."

"pity this busy monster, manunkind, not. Progress is a comfortable disease: your victim (death and life safely beyond) plays with the bigness of his littleness"

"I believe that the unity of man as opposed to other living things derives from the fact that man is the conscious life of himself. Man is conscious of himself, of his future, which is death, of his smallness, of his impotence; he is aware of others as others; man is in nature, subject to its laws even if he transcends it with his thought."

"“We need brains, is the bottom line,” Ivy said. “We’re not hunter-gatherers anymore. We’re all living like patients in the intensive care unit of a hospital. What keeps us alive isn’t bravery, or athleticism, or any of those other skills that were valuable in a caveman society. It’s our ability to master complex technological skills. It is our ability to be nerds. We need to breed nerds.”"

"I have been clinically depressed for most of my life. I once used drugs to fix it. Then I stopped. I stopped because I decided they were making me stupid, and Id rather be miserable than stupid. I am what I am."