Dan Quayle Quotes
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- We will never give Bill Clinton the opportunity to be the
President of the United States.
-- [former] VP Dan Quayle - 1992.
- The [Democrats] talked about putting people first. Well, they
put people first unless you happen to be a spotted owl or a
giant garter snake or some other endangered species and then
that seems to have priority. Obviously, you take the bald eagle
and things of that sort, of course you're going to make sure
that they are saved and that they can live and you're going to
take every precaution that you can. But others
we just need
a little flexibility.
-- VP Dan Quayle defending his lambasting of Democrats on the
Spotted Owl/Endangered Species issue - Aug. 1992.
- You smile discreetly, you look like you're enjoying yourself,
like you're ready to get down to serious business. You've got to
be careful what you say.
-- VP Dan Quayle, on how to act in front of the press.
- It's a good Supreme Court. They're lawyers... they're judges...
they're appointed for life.
-- VP Dan Quayle on being asked about the verdict in the
Supreme Court ruling on the PA abortion law case - 1992.
- I'm not sure I'm up for a 'Murphy Brown' appearance yet. I'm
not sure that they want a guest appearance by me either... Well,
I'd consider it.
-- VP Dan Quayle on Larry King Live. He also said that he'd
make a guest appearance as long as his point of view wasn't
censored - July 1992.
- Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our
children.
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1990.
- Quayle Stuff:
While discussing the terms of the vice-presidential debate,
Quayle's side suggested that 'props' be allowed, mainly because
the Vice-President wanted to read directly from Al Gore's book
on the environment, 'Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human
Spirit.' Gore's people agreed, saying that the Senator would
then use a potato as a prop. Quayle quickly abandoned the
proposal - Oct. 1992.
- It shows 'us vs. them,' and I'm on the 'us' side.
-- VP Dan Quayle explaining the strategy behind his twitting
of 'cultural elites' - 1992.
- It's sort of like define pornography. You know it when you see
one. You know a cultural elitist when you see one.
[Jim Lehrer: Who are they?]
They know who they are.
[Jim Lehrer: Yes, but WHO ARE they?]
You know and I know.
-- VP Dan Quayle describing who he is talking about when he
refers to the cultural elite - 1992.
- We have had a number of discussions and, believe me, if I thought
I was hurting the ticket, I'd be gone.
-- VP Dan Quayle on Larry King Live when asked if he'd offered
to remove himself from the ticket - 1992.
- I just have one thing to say: Murphy, you owe me!
-- VP Dan Quayle after Candice Bergan won an Emmy for her
role as Murphy Brown.
- [KTLA a.m. co-anchor Barbara Beck, 'So, what's your favorite TV
program?']
Murphy Brown on KTLA/Channel 5
--not!
-- VP Dan Quayle in a television commercial for KTLA's Murphy
Brown reruns. (reported in the San Jose Mercury News,
9/10/92)
- This isn't a man who is leaving with his head between his legs.
-- VP Dan Quayle discussing John Sununu's resignation and
apparent lack of flexibility - 1991.
- The American people would not want to know of any misquotes
that Dan Quayle may or may not make.
-- VP Dan Quayle, in a speech to the American Society of
Newspaper Editors - 1991.
- Great American sport. Horseshoes is a very great game. I love
it.
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1989.
- You're a very strong woman... Though this would be a traumatic
experience that you would never forget, I think that you would
be very successful in life.
-- Senator Dan Quayle telling an 11-year-old girl why he
would want her to have the baby if she were raped by her
father - 1988.
- I don't have to experience tragedy to understand it.
-- VP Dan Quayle during a photo-op in LA, responding to
criticisms that he didn't understand what it meant to
live in the 'inner city' - 1992.
- Add one little bit on the end... Think of 'potatoe,' how's it
spelled? You're right phonetically, but what else...? There
ya go... all right!
-- VP Dan Quayle correcting a student's correct spelling of
the word 'potato' during a spelling bee at an elementary
school in Trenton.
- I should have caught the mistake on that spelling bee card.
But as Mark Twain once said, 'You should never trust a man who
has only one way to spell a word.'
-- VP Dan Quayle, actually quoting from President Andrew
Jackson.
- People who Bowl Vote. Bowlers are not the cultural elite.
-- VP Dan Quayle while at a Las Vegas bowling alley. He
bowled 5 times, and knocked down 19 pins. The American
Bowling Congress projected his score for a full game to
be 76. The Detroit average for amateur players is 163.
- I should have remembered that was Andrew Jackson who said that,
since he got his nickname 'Stonewall' by vetoing bills passed
by Congress.
-- VP Dan Quayle, confusing Andrew Jackson with Confederate
General Thomas J. 'Stonewall' Jackson, who actually got
his nickname at the first Battle of Bull Run.
- I wear their scorn as a badge of honor.
-- VP Dan Quayle discussing how he copes with criticism from
the media elite - 1992.
- It would be a serious mistake to replace a seasoned statesman
with a temperamental tycoon who has no respect for the
constitution.
-- VP Dan Quayle giving his opinion about Ross Perot's
presidential campaign - June 1992.
- This president is going to lead us out of this recovery. It
will happen.
-- VP Dan Quayle at a campaign stop at CA State University,
Fresno - 1992.
- Quayle Stuff:
Dan Quayle had a trip planned to Beijing, but was worried because
of the turmoil at that end. His security advisor however informed
him that it was pretty safe for D.Q. as, 'They are only harassing
intellectuals.'
- We have to do more than just elect a new president if we truly
want to change this country.
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- Absolutely. I certainly hope I am.
-- VP Dan Quayle on whether he is still on the Republican
ticket - 1992.
- We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur.
-- VP Dan Quayle talking about the Mideast situation - 1990.
- For NASA, space is still a high priority.
-- VP Dan Quayle, talking to NASA employees - 1990.
- [The U.S. victory in Gulf war was] a stirring victory for the
forces of aggression.
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1991.
- [Abortion] is not an issue with the American people. It is a
figment of your imagination if you think that this is an issue
that is talked about a lot.
-- VP Dan Quayle - September 23, 1992.
- If you give a person a fish, they'll fish for a day. But if you
train a person to fish, they'll fish for a lifetime.
-- VP Dan Quayle while at a job training center in Atlanta
celebrating the 10'th anniversary of the Job Training
Partnership Act, which Quayle helped to sponsor while a
senator - 1992.
- You can't just walk into a store and buy a gun. There's all
sorts of registration, there are all sorts of state laws.
-- Senator Dan Quayle after criticizing Michael Dukakis for
the Massachusetts furlough program. Quayle was soon
informed that indeed in many states a person could just
walk into a store and buy a gun - 1988.
- [Republican supporter: You did great, Dan, great. There's just
one thing. This abortion thing. You've got to realize that the
Democratic position
--]
Is extreme? (nodding in anticipation)
[No, is supported by 72 percent of the people in this country.
You've got to drop it, Dan.]
-- VP Dan Quayle while standing on the stage after the VP
debate taking the congratulations of Republicans. Quayle
then nodded politely and moved on - 1992.
- It doesn't help matters when prime time TV has Murphy Brown
--
a character who supposedly epitomizes today's intelligent, highly
paid, professional woman
-- mocking the importance of fathers, by
bearing a child alone, and calling it just another 'lifestyle
choice.' I know it is not fashionable to talk about moral values,
but we need to do it. Even though our cultural leaders in Holly-
wood, network TV, the national newspapers routinely jeer at them
...
-- VP Dan Quayle criticizing Murphy Brown's decision to NOT
have an abortion and to be a single mother - 1992.
- Quayle Stuff:
When told about Quayle's comments [on Murphy Brown], a senior
Bush campaign official replied only 'Oh, dear.' Bush's top aid
said, 'The world is a lot more complex than Dan would like to
believe' - 1992.
- It was a good campaign contribution to Bill Clinton, but he
gets a lot of contributions from Hollywood. We're making great
progress with Hollywood. I am convinced because of my speech of
several months ago on the poverty of values in this country
that Hollywood will begin to reflect our values better.
-- VP Dan Quayle, when asked about the season opener of the
television sitcom, 'Murphy Brown' - 1992.
- I'm ready.
-- VP Dan Quayle describing his ability to take over the
presidency after President Bush vomits and collapses in
Tokyo - 1992.
- You have a part-time job, and that's better than no job at all.
-- VP Dan Quayle after the manager of the Burger King had said
that the jobs offered were part-time minimum wage jobs,
which didn't pay enough to live on, and that 'It's hard to
find people who want to actually show up for the job.'
- Ever heard of this theory of 'trickle down?' That's ridiculous.
We're talking about trickling up. We're talking about climbing
up the ladder.
-- VP Dan Quayle trying to encourage teenage students in
Salinas, California to push themselves in school - 1992.
- We're in Florida.
-- VP Dan Quayle explaining why he had just purchased four
peaches (and no citrus fruits
-- for which Florida is
famous) at a Publix supermarket in Oakland Park, Florida.
Georgia (which IS famous for peaches) did not gain from
the transaction, however; the peaches were from Chile.
- I hope there's some respect and dignity for things I did not do.
-- Senator Dan Quayle defending himself against allegations of
involvement with Paula Parkinson - 1988.
- My friends, no matter how rough the road may be, we can and we
will never, never surrender to what is right.
-- VP Dan Quayle speaking to the Christian Coalition about the
need for abstinence to avoid AID - 1991.
- And for those concerned about children growing up in poverty, we
should know this: marriage is probably the best anti-poverty
program of all.
-- VP Dan Quayle addressing the Commonwealth Club of San
Francisco - 1992.
- When I have been asked during these last weeks who caused the
riots and the killing in L.A., my answer has been direct and
simple: Who is to blame for the riots? The rioters are to blame.
Who is to blame for the killings? The killers are to blame.
-- VP Dan Quayle giving an intelligent, in-depth analysis of
the LA riots - 1992.
- There is one picture on TV I'll never forget - the picture of a
man being pulled from his truck and being beaten to death.
-- VP Dan Quayle talking about a LA riot video tape showing
33-year-old Reginald Denny being beaten unconscious. Denny,
however, did not die from the attack - 1992.
- I suppose three important things certainly come to my mind that
we want to say thank you. The first would be our family. Your
family, my family
-- which is composed of an immediate family
of a wife and three children, a larger family with grandparents
and aunts and uncles. We all have our family, whichever that
may be ... The very beginnings of civilization, the very
beginnings of this country, goes back to the family ... So
when you pay thanks I suppose the first thing that would come
to mind would be to thank the Lord for the family.
-- Senator Dan Quayle on the Thanksgiving holiday - 1988.
- Quayle Stuff:
Republican activist Dana Reed said he was amused recently when
he received an unsolicited certificate of commendation signed by
Vice President Dan Quayle. The honor was awarded to Reed as 'a
champion of the traditional American values of family, faith,
hard work and morality.' Reed quipped, 'I'm twice-divorced and
'Murphy Brown' is my favorite TV show' - July 1992.
- I think especially in her position, a highly successful
professional woman, it would be a real exception to have an
unwed child.
-- VP Dan Quayle to The Chron's Jerry Roberts.
- You know, before I left, President Bush and I were talking and he
said to me, 'I knew Spiro Agnew. I worked with Spiro Agnew. And
believe me, you are no Spiro Agnew.'
-- VP Dan Quayle to those who had compared his attacks on the
'cultural elite' to Agnew's denunciations of 'effete
intellectuals' - 1992.
- Speaking as a man, it's not a woman's issue. Us men are tired
of losing our women.
-- VP Dan Quayle talking about breast cancer.
- I want to show you an optimistic sign that things are beginning
to turn around.
-- VP Dan Quayle trying to convince reporters that the economy
was doing better because a Burger King had a 'now hiring'
sign in the window - 1992.
- I don't watch it, but I know enough to comment on it.
-- VP Dan Quayle defending his opinions about the TV show
'Murphy Brown' - 1992.
- The intergenerational poverty that troubles us so much today is
predominantly a poverty of values.
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- Illegitimacy is something we should talk about in terms of not
having it.
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1992.
- Murphy Brown is doing better than I am. At least she knows she
still has a job next year.
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1992.
- Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a cure for AIDS in the market-
place before Magic Johnson gets AIDS?
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1991 (CNN).
- The message of David Duke, is this, basically: Big government,
anti-big government, get out of my pocketbook, cut my taxes, put
welfare people back to work. That's a very popular message. The
problem is the messenger.
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- I do have a political agenda. It's to have as few regulations
as possible.
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- We are doing the right thing and we do not see the bad things.
-- VP Dan Quayle pretending he is one of the wise monkeys.
- I didn't pay a lot of attention as I should have in college.
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- Are they taking DDT?
-- VP Dan Quayle asking doctors at a Manhattan AIDS clinic
about their treatments of choice - 1992.
- Maybe you guys will get lucky this year and face the Orioles in
the World Series.
-- VP Dan Quayle encouraging the Milwaukee Brewers after
throwing out the opening pitch of the season. Both teams
are in the American League - 1992.
- The President is going to benefit from me reporting directly to
him when I arrive.
-- VP Dan Quayle speaking to oil spill clean-up workers at
Prince William Sound - 1989.
- They need help, and we have helped, and we are here to help.
And we are helping, and we're going to continue to help.
-- VP Dan Quayle discussing federal involvement in the
Chicago floods - 1992.
- It's wonderful to be here in the great state of Chicago.
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1991.
- We have a firm commitment to NATO, we are a *part* of NATO. We
have a firm commitment to Europe. We are a *part* of Europe.
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- I spend a great deal of time with the President. We have a very
close, personal, loyal relationship. I'm not, as they say, a
potted plant in these meetings.
-- VP Dan Quayle defending himself - 1990.
- Sam, had a great time this weekend but the golf was lousey
[sic].
-- VP Dan Quayle in a handwritten note written to Sam Snead
in the summer of 1991, after they had played a lousy round
of golf.
- I'm glad you asked me that. This gives me the perfect
opportunity to talk about the problems with this Congress...
-- VP Dan Quayle responding to reporter's questions about his
use of Air force 2 to go on golf trips at the cost of
$26,000/hour.
- It's not to keep him from running off our property. It's to
protect my putting green.
-- VP Dan Quayle telling a guest at his house why his dog,
Breezy, wears a special collar that emits a painful jolt
of electricity should the dog try to run away - 1992.
- [I support efforts] to limit the terms of members of Congress,
especially members of the House and members of the Senate.
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1990.
- I love California; I practically grew up in Phoenix.
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- Public speaking is very easy.
-- Senator Dan Quayle to reporters - 1988.
- The mike works. That's very important to make sure the mike
works, and ours is working well.
-- Senator Dan Quayle informing reporters of a successful
sound check before the VP debate - 1988.
- The destruction, it is just very heart-rendering.
-- VP Dan Quayle attempting to say the SF earthquake wreckage
was heart-rending - 1989.
- I am not part of the problem; I am a Republican.
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- They asked me to go in front of the Reagans. I'm not used to
going in front of President Reagan, so we went out behind the
Bushes.
-- VP Quayle after the swearing in ceremony on Inauguration
Day, 1/20/89. No, he's not discussing his sanitary habits.
- I happen to be a Republican president- ah, the vice president.
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1990.
- I'm the Vice-President. They know it, and they know that I know
it.
-- VP Dan Quayle talking about his political enemies - 1989.
- I've never professed to be anything but an average student.
-- Senator Dan Quayle during the VP debate in Nebraska - 1088.
- Hey, Roger, does... on, on this, you know, if I'm gonna, if I,
if I decide on my gesture over there... is that all right?...
You don't mind?
-- Senator Dan Quayle asking Roger Ailes's advice on a debating
gesture - 1988.
- The other day [the President] said, I know you've had some rough
times, and I want to do something that will show the nation what
faith that I have in you, in your maturity and sense of
responsibility. (He paused, then said) Would you like a puppy?
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1989.
- I've been told to keep my remarks relatively brief. I understand
Quayle-hunting season begins at noon.
-- Senator Dan Quayle to a crowd in Eau Claire, Wisc. - 1988.
- Take a breath, Al... Inhale.
-- VP Dan Quayle politely cutting off Senator Al Gore during
the VP Debate in Atlanta - 1992.
- Most women do not want to be liberated from their essential
natures as women.
-- VP Dan Quayle, while campaigning in Kansas City, MO - 1992.
- [It's] time for the human race to enter the solar system.
-- VP Dan Quayle on the concept of a manned mission to Mars.
- Our trick, Rush - not a trick, our challenge - our challenge is
to make the American people comfortable with the leadership
George Bush will offer in the next four years.
-- VP Dan Quayle, on the Rush Limbaugh show - 1992.
- We have been pushing the idea George Bush is going to make matters
much, much worse by holding the line on taxes, a balanced budget
amendment...
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1992.
- Quayle Stuff:
On 8/13/91 lawyer Dan Quayle tells the American Bar Association
that the US has too many lawyers. He is quickly scolded by another
speaker - 1992.
- It's a very valuable function and requirement that you're
performing, so have a great day and keep a stiff upper lip.
-- VP Dan Quayle speaking to oil spill clean-up workers at
Prince William Sound - 1989.
- I could take this home, Marilyn. This is something teenage boys
might find of interest.
-- VP Dan Quayle, when purchasing a South American Indian Doll
that, when lifted, displays an erection - 1990.
- When you make as many speeches and you talk as much as I do and
you get away from the text, it's always a possibility to get a
few words tangled here and there.
-- Senator Dan Quayle defending himself - 1988.
- Every once in a while, you let a word or phrase out and you want
to catch it and bring it back. You can't do that. It's gone, gone
forever.
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1989.
- I couldn't help but be impressed by the magnitude of the earthquake.
-- VP Dan Quayle, stepping out of the helicopter upon arrival at
Alameda Naval Air Station.
- I would like to express my sympathy to all those impacted by this
disaster.
-- VP Dan Quayle standing in front of the collapsed section of
highway caused by the Loma Prieta quake. (CNN)
- Obviously, if you join the National Guard, you have less of a
chance of going to Vietnam. I mean it goes without saying.
-- VP Dan Quayle discussing his draft record - 1992.
- [Americans will soon observe the 20th anniversary of] Neil
Armstrong and Buzz Lukens' walk on the moon.
-- VP Dan Quayle confusing the sexual assaulter/Congressman
with Astronaut Buzz Aldrin - 1989.
- I did not know in 1969 that I would be in this room today, I'll
confess.
-- Senator Dan Quayle responding to questions in 1988 about
allegations that he used family connections to get into the
Indiana National Guard.
- We will invest in our people, quality education, job opportunity,
family, neighborhood, and yes, a thing we call America.
-- Senator Dan Quayle - 1988.
- Intrapersonal.
-- Senator Dan Quayle describing his relationship with Bush
on the campaign trail in Irvine, California - 1988.
- We're going to have the best-educated American people in the
world.
-- Senator Dan Quayle - 1988.
- I stand by all the misstatements that I've made.
-- VP Dan Quayle to Sam Donaldson - 1989.
- ...Buzz Lukens took that fateful step...
-- VP Dan Quayle continuing to confuse the sexual assaulter
/Congressman with Astronaut Buzz Aldrin - 1989.
- This election is about who's going to be the next President of
the United States!
-- Senator Dan Quayle - 1988.
- We'll let the sunshine come in and shine on us, because today
we're happy and tomorrow we'll be even happier.
-- Senator Dan Quayle to students at a high school in Miami
with the highest dropout rate of the city - 1988.
- I do- I do- I do- I do- what any normal person would do at that
age. You call home. You call home to mother and father and say,
'I'd like to get into the National Guard.'
-- Senator Dan Quayle - 1988.
- I was known as the chief grave robber of my state.
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- I have a very strong record on the Environment in the United
States Senate.
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- The future will be a better tomorrow.
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things.
-- Senator Dan Quayle - 1988.
- I'll have to check with my dad.
-- Dan Quayle responding when an Indiana GOP county chairman
asked him to run for Congress in 1976.
- I had not had that question before.
-- Senator Dan Quayle explaining why, during the Bentson
debate, he couldn't say what he would do if he suddenly
became president - 1988.
- In George Bush you get experience, and with me you get- The
Future!
-- Senator Dan Quayle in eastern Illinois - 1988.
- I am the future.
-- Senator Dan Quayle - 1988.
- We don't want to go back to tomorrow, we want to go forward.
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- The loss of life will be irreplaceable.
-- VP Dan Quayle after the San Francisco earthquake - 1989.
- I have made good judgments in the Past.
I have made good judgments in the Future.
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- I would guess that there's adequate low-income housing in this
country.
-- Senator Dan Quayle - 1988.
- I can identify with steelworkers. I can identify with workers
that have had a difficult time.
-- VP Dan Quayle at an Ohio steel plant - 1988.
- Who would have predicted... that Dubcek, who brought the tanks
in Czechoslovakia in 1968 is now being proclaimed a hero in
Czechoslovakia. Unbelievable.
-- VP Dan Quayle. Actually, Dubcek was the leader of the
Prague Spring.
- Japan is an important ally of ours. Japan and the United States
of the Western industrialized capacity, 60 percent of the GNP,
two countries. That's a statement in and of itself.
-- VP Dan Quayle, 1089
- I got through a number of things in the area of defense, like
showing the importance of cruise missiles and getting them more
accurate so that we can have precise precision.
-- Senator Dan Quayle referring to his legislative
accomplishments - 1988.
- May our nation continue to be the beakon of hope to the world.
-- The Quayles' 1989 Christmas card.
- The US has a vital interest in that area of the country.
-- VP Dan Quayle referring to Latin America.
- We should develop anti-satellite weapons because we could not
have prevailed without them in 'Red Storm Rising'.
-- Senator Dan Quayle - 1988
- Quayle Stuff:
Quayle was very enthusiastic about signing author Tom Clancy to
the National Space Council as an unpaid consultant. Clancy,
however, was not Quayle's first choice; that honor went to famed
aviator Clutch Cargo. A plan to approach him and offer him the
position was scuttled when it was discovered that Mr. Cargo is a
fictional character - 1989.
- You all look like happy campers to me. Happy campers you are,
happy campers you have been, and, as far as I am concerned, happy
campers you will always be.
-- VP Dan Quayle, to the American Samoans, whose capital Quayle
pronounces 'Pogo Pogo' - 1989
- That's solid. There, you see how much I learned.
-- VP Dan Quayle when when visiting a welding class at a
vocational school in Union, Missouri. He welded two scraps
of metal together to demonstrate how much he had learned
while in the National Guard - 1988.
- El Salvador is a democracy so it's not surprising that there are
many voices to be heard here. Yet in my conversations with
Salvadorans... I have heard a single voice.
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- I hope I never have to deal with it. But obviously I would
counsel her and talk to her and support her on whatever decision
she made.
-- VP Dan Quayle responding to Larry King's question of how he
would react if his 13-year-old daughter chose to have an
abortion - 1992.
Marilyn Quayle later remarked that her daughter would 'take
the child to term.'
- The President scores much better than Bill Clinton.
-- VP Dan Quayle, comparing Bush's record of marital infidelity
to Clinton's during a televised interview - 1992.
- I'm going to be a vice president very much like George Bush
was. He proved to be a very effective vice president, perhaps
the most effective we've had in a couple of hundred years.
-- Senator Dan Quayle.
- [The US is] naked, absolutely nude, to attack [by Soviets]
-- Senator Dan Quayle - 1988.
- It's rural America. It's where I came from. We always refer to
ourselves as real America. Rural America, real America, real,
real, America.
-- Senator Dan Quayle - 1988.
- I want to be Robin to Bush's Batman.
-- Senator Dan Quayle
- Because. Because I say it isn't.
-- Senator Dan Quayle explaining his parents' ties to the John
Birch Society is not relevant - 1988.
- Let me say it one more time. It is ill-rel-e-vant.
-- Senator Dan Quayle responding to repeated questions about
his parents' involvement in the John Birch Society - 1988.
- If we do not succeed, then we run the risk of failure.
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1990.
- Somewhere between real and real real.
-- Senator Dan Quayle pinpointing their location to reporters
aboard the Quayle campaign plane - 1988.
- The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation's history. I
mean in this century's history. But we all lived in this century.
I didn't live in this century.
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1988.
- One word sums up probably the responsibility of any vice president,
and that one word is 'to be prepared'.
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1989
- I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and
democracy - but that could change.
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1989
- Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother
and child.
-- Senator Dan Quayle - 1988.
- Hawaii is a unique state. It is a small state. It is a state
that is by itself. It is a
-- it is different than the other 49
states. Well, all states are different, but it's got a
particularly unique situation.
-- VP Dan Quayle in response to a question as to whether
Hawaii's universal health-care plan might serve as a
national model - 1992.
- Bobby Knight told me this: 'There is nothing that a good defense
cannot beat a better offense.' In other words a good offense
wins.
-- VP Dan Quayle comparing the offensive capabilities of the
Warsaw Pact with the defensive system of NATO - 1988.
- Welcome to President Bush, Mrs. Bush, and my fellow astronauts.
-- VP Dan Quayle addressing the 20th anniversary celebration
of the moon landing - 1989.
- Those same asteroids which promise material riches can be a
threat as well.
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1990.
- Hawaii has always been a very pivotal role in the Pacific. It
is IN the Pacific. It is a part of the United States that is
an island that is right here.
-- VP Dan Quayle, Hawaii - 1989 .
- Mars is essentially in the same orbit... Mars is somewhat the
same distance from the Sun, which is very important. We have
seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water. If
there is water, that means there is oxygen. If oxygen, that means
we can breathe.
-- VP Dan Quayle -1989.
- Quayle Stuff:
On 6/13/89, Dan Quayle posed in El Salvador holding a grenade
launcher. Unbeknown to him, it was aimed at his elbow - 1992.
- What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind
is being very wasteful. How true that is.
-- VP Quayle speaking to the United Negro College Fund - 1989.
- I can see the hate that was there; I can see the bigotry. I can
see it from his perspective.
-- VP Dan Quayle discussing his impressions of 'The Auto-
biography of Malcolm X' - 1992.
- [The US] condones violence in El Salvador.
-- VP Quayle reveals what people have known for years - 1989.
- My opponent knows less about national defense than I know about
spelling. Even I know it's Cruise missiles, not Patriot missiles
that go through doors and chimneys.
-- VP Dan Quayle correcting a Bill Clinton misstatement - 1992.
(afterward the CNN anchorwoman corrected Quayle.)
- We expect them [Salvadoran officials] to work toward the
elimination of human rights
--the elimination of human rights in
accordance with the pursuit of Justice.
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1989.
- I'm not going to focus on what I have done in the past what I
stand for, what I articulate to the American people. The
American people will judge me on what I am saying and what I
have done in the last 12 years in the Congress.
-- Senator Dan Quayle.
- One learns every day. Experience is a great teacher. By
experience you learn. But as I enter office, I'm prepared now.
Obviously, I will be more prepared as time goes on. I will know
more about the office of the presidency. But I'm prepared now
and I will be more prepared as time goes on.
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1989.
- Quayle Stuff:
Dan Quayle, in April 1991, was concerned that his advisors may
be getting out of touch with 'Real Americans.' In order to
combat this, he suggested that they read People magazine.
- Vietnam is a jungle. You had jungle warfare. Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi
Arabia, you have sand. [There is no need to worry about a
protracted war because] from a historical basis, Middle East
conflicts do not last a long time.
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1990.
- What you guys want, I'm for.
-- Senator Dan Quayle to farmers on a local pork issue - 1988.
- Perestroika is nothing more than refined Stalinism.
-- Senator Dan Quayle - 1988.
- America is great, because America is free.
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to
the polls.
-- VP Dan Quayle
- Sometimes cameras and television are good to people and some-
times they aren't. I don't know if its the way you say it, or
how you look.
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- I just don't believe in the basic concept that someone should
make their whole career in public service.
-- VP (former senator, former congressman, etc..) Dan Quayle
- If you listen to the news, read the news, you'd think we were
still in a recession. Well, we're not in a recession. We've had
growth; people need to know that. They need to be more upbeat,
more positive...
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1991.
- Need any help?
-- VP Dan Quayle 91 addressing GM autoworkers in Southgate
two weeks before GM announced 74,000 layoffs - 1991.
- Senator Bentson talks about recapturing the foreign markets.
Well, I'll tell you one way that we're not going to recapture
the foreign markets, and that is, in fact, we have another
Jimmy Carter grain embargo, Jimmy Carter grain embargo. Jimmy
Carter's grain embargo set the American farmer back.
-- Senator Dan Quayle in a Washington Post transcript - 1988.
- Certainly, I know what to do, and when I am Vice President
--
and I will be
-- there will be contingency plans under different
sets of situations. And I tell you what, I'm not going to go out
and hold a news conference about it. I'm going to put it in a
safe and keep it there! Does that answer your question?
-- Senator Dan Quayle, when asked what he would do if he
assumed the Presidency - 1988.
- Want to hear a sad story about the Dukakis campaign? The governor
of Massachusetts, he lost his top naval advisor last week. His
rubber ducky drowned in the bathtub.
-- Senator Dan Quayle addresses the issues during the 1988
campaign - 1988.
- That is not a yes or no question.
-- Senator Dan Quayle during a somewhat heated exchange with
reporters in 1988. Quayle indicated he would only accept
'yes or no' questions for the rest of the session. Here,
he refuses to answer a question of whether he's offered to
take his name off of the ticket - 1988.
- Lookit, I've done it their way this far and now it's my turn.
I'm my own handler. Any questions? Ask me ... There's not going
to be any more handler stories because I'm the handler ... I'm
Doctor Spin.
-- VP Dan Quayle responding to press reports that his aides
have had to, in effect, 'potty train' him.
- Let me just tell you how thrilling it really is, and how, what
a challenge it is, because in 1988 the question is whether we're
going forward to tomorrow or whether we're going to go past to
the
-- to the back!
-- Senator Dan Quayle - 1988.
- When you get into conflict, and regional conflicts, I mean, you
have to have certain goals, and a goal cannot be really a no-win
situation.
-- Senator Dan Quayle attempting to explain his military
service during the Vietnam war - 1988.
- Okay, I won't open it until then
-- VP Dan Quayle after having been presented with an empty box
that was to contain a gift from a sailing team in South
America. He was told that the gift was not ready yet, but
that it would be presented to him when they arrived in the
United States.
- And it was a very good book of Rasputin's involvement in that,
which shows how people that are really very weird can get into
sensitive positions and have a tremendous impact on history.
-- Senator Dan Quayle gives his opinion of the book 'Nicholas,
and Alexandra,' to Hendrick Hertzberg of the New Republic -
1988.
- I feel that this [1981] is my first year, that next year is an
election year, that the third year is the mid point and that the
fourth year is the last chance I'll have to make a record since
the last two years, I'll be a candidate again. Everything I do
in those last two years will be posturing for the election. But
right now I don't have to do that.
-- Senator Dan Quayle.
- Let me tell you something. As we were walking around in the
store, Marilyn and I were just really impressed by all the
novelties and the different types of little things that you
could get for Christmas. And all the people that would help
you, they were dressed up in things that said 'I believe in
Santa Claus.' And the only thing that I could think is that I
believe in George Bush.
-- Senator Dan Quayle at a garden center and produce store
in Baltimore - 1988.
- Quayle Stuff:
During the White House Easter Egg Roll of 1991, Quayle signed
autographs using only his finger. He had prepared pre-signed
cards which his aides handed out while he made signing gestures.
This allowed him to move briskly and efficiently through the
crowd, said his spokesman.
- Although in public I refer to him as Mr. Vice President, in
private I call him George... When I talked to him on the phone
yesterday. I called him George rather than Mr. Vice President.
But, in public, it's Mr. Vice President, because that's who he
is.
-- Senator Dan Quayle shortly after being named Geo. Bush's
running mate - 1988.
- My position is that I understand from a medical situation,
immediately after a rape is reported, that a woman normally, in
fact, can go to the hospital and have a D and C. At that time...
that is before the forming of a life. That is not anything to
do with abortion.
-- Senator Dan Quayle explaining that Dilatation and Curettage,
a form of abortion which occurs after fertilization, is not
really abortion - 1988.
- Hollywood is the stronghold of the adversary culture. It is on
the other side of the cultural divide from Huntington, and they
don't like it when someone from Huntington, with Midwestern
values, challenges their so-called moral authority.
-- VP Dan Quayle, while campaigning in Kansas City, MO - 1992.
- It was just a job. It wasn't any special interest in consumer
affairs. I needed a paycheck and the Attorney General said that
I would be best to go down there, because he knew I was anti-
consumer.
-- VP Dan Quayle and talking about his job as Chief
investigator, consumer protection division of the Indiana
Attorney General's office from 1970-1971.
- We're all capable of mistakes, but I do not care to enlighten
you on the mistakes we may or may not have made.
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1992.
- Our future competitiveness demands that true environmentalists
and responsible leaders not allow the well-intentioned concerns
of the American public to be manipulated and exploited as a
means to re-establish unnecessary regulatory, economic and
social controls.
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- Unfortunately, the people of Louisiana are not racists.
-- VP Dan Quayle, regarding David Duke's candidacy - 1990.
- I take my children hiking and fishing, walking in the woods.
-- Senator Dan Quayle offering proof of his commitment to the
environment during the VP debate - 1988.
- I'm not so sure that I will miss Johnny Carson, but Johnny
Carson will miss me.
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1992.
- It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the
impurities in our air and water that are doing it.
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- Our values are creating jobs in America.
-- VP Dan Quayle answering Chris Wallace's question: '[The
Council on Competitiveness] has made it easier for
businesses to exceed pollution levels, it has delayed
regulations on aircraft noise, it has weakened regulations
to make apartment buildings more accessible to wheel-
chairs. Are those your values?' - Aug. 1992.
- We lead in exporting jobs.
-- VP Dan Quayle committing a Freudian slip while speaking to
the Chamber of Commerce of Evansville, Indiana. A city
which lost 4 large companies in the last four years. He
quickly changed the word 'jobs' to 'products' - 1992.
- My grandfather... saw where inherited wealth ruined people. And
my grandfather was right.
-- VP Dan Quayle giving an analysis of his own situation: he
has a half-million dollars worth of his family's newspaper
stock holdings - 1992.
- Life has been very good to me. I never had to worry about where
I was going to go. But I do say, 'Dan, you know, sometime in
life there's going to be a tragedy.' There was never anything
where 'I've got to work really hard to get there ...'
-- Senator Dan Quayle engaging in self-reflection while on the
campaign trail - 1988.
- I've heard people say that [I have a short attention span]. I
don't feel I do, because when I'm interested in something I'll
stay in focus as long as it is necessary ... If you get off on
something I'm not very interested in, it's very easy for me to
block it out. It's easy for me to block things out.
-- VP Dan Quayle - Jan. 1992.
- [The book, 'The Satanic Verses'] is obviously not only offensive
but, I would think most of us would say, in bad taste.
-- VP Dan Quayle commenting on the book which caused Salman
Rushdie to be placed under a death sentence. The VP had not
read the book - 1989.
- We will move forward, we will move upward, and yes, we will
move onward.
-- VP Dan Quayle to a group of Chicago students - 1989.
- I am now cashing in on being vice president for others. They'll
remember me. I'll remember them.
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- One thing we're able to do is raise money.
-- VP Dan Quayle on the Republican Party.
- I was a less than serious student in college. If I had it to
do over again, I would be far more serious. I did play a lot
of golf. But I don't think that's any reflection on my ability
to lead this nation.
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- Quayle Stuff:
On 10/11/88 Dan Quayle held a pumpkin next to his head - 1992.
- Looking back, I should have pursued philosophy and economics
and things of that sort in college more, but I didn't.
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- Tobacco exports should be expanded aggressively because
Americans are smoking less.
-- VP Dan Quayle - 1990.
- [I got into law school] through an experimental Indiana
University program intended to offer 'equal opportunity' to
minorities, the economically disadvantaged and other students
of different viewpoints and backgrounds.
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- This is not a bipartisan issue.
-- VP Dan Quayle noting that Democrats and political
independents join Republicans in endorsing term limits,
while speaking before supporters of term-limitation
proposals in 15 states - 1992.
- For more than a month the media have been telling us that Bill
Clinton and Al Gore are 'moderates.' Well, if they're moderates,
I'm a world champion speller.
-- VP Dan Quayle in his acceptance speech during the 1992
Republican National Convention - 1992.
- We shouldn't have to be burdened with all the technicalities
that come up from time to time with shrewd, smart lawyers
interpreting what the laws or what the Constitution may or may
not say.
-- VP Dan Quayle, addressing a police academy in Knoxville,
Tennessee in August 1992.
- My viewpoint is that it's more of a choice than a biological
situation... I think it is a wrong choice. It is a wrong; it
is a wrong choice. I do believe in most cases it certainly is a
choice.
-- VP Dan Quayle discussing his views on homosexuality - 1992.
- Bill Clinton's tax-and-spend policies will create a recession
in America.
-- VP Dan Quayle in New Jersey. He did not go on to distinguish
between the predicted Clinton recession and the current Bush
recession - Oct. 1992.
- He grew up in Washington, D.C., and he's the son of a wealthy
U.S. Senator... He went to the most expensive private schools
in Washington, D.C., and I'm the product of the public schools...
I'm at a big disadvantage, but we'll do all right.
-- VP Dan Quayle while in Detroit. A spokesman later said that
he was joking - 1992.
- Let us get through this week. Let us get through the debate or
debates. Let us see George Bush re-elected this November. And
then we'll talk about 1994.
-- VP Dan Quayle when asked by Bernard Shaw if Bush/Quayle
victory in 1992 would make him the heir apparent in 1996
(A NY Times article started: 'No Comment Yet On Strategy
for '94. But will it be a good year for potatoes?' It
then went on to speculate that Kemp, Baker, Bennett and
Buchanan won't be running in '94)
- Don't forget about the importance of the family. It begins with
the family. We're not going to redefine the family. Everybody
knows the definition of the family. [Meaningful pause] A child.
[Meaningful pause] A mother. [Meaningful pause] A father. There
are other arrangements of the family, but that is a family and
family values.
... I have a very good family. I'm very fortunate to have
a very good family. I believe very strongly in the family. It's
one of the things we have in our platform, is to talk about it.
-- Senator Dan Quayle - 1988.
- Remember the last time we had a Democratic president and a
Democratic Congress? Remember the 21 percent interest rates?
Remember the inflation of 13 percent? Remember the grain
embargo? Remember the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan?
-- VP Dan Quayle in New Jersey to a crowd of teenagers.
During the Carter administration, these teenagers were
probably more interested in diapers and baby formula
than in economics and foreign policy - 1992.
- Target prices? How that works? I know quite a bit about farm
policy. I come from Indiana, which is a farm state. Deficiency
payments - which are the key - that is what gets money into the
farmer's hands. We got loan, uh, rates, we got target, uh,
prices, uh, I have worked very closely with my senior colleague,
(Indiana Sen.) Richard Lugar, making sure that the farmers of
Indiana are taken care of.
-- VP Dan Quayle on being asked to define the term 'target
prices.' Quayle's press secretary then cut short the press
conference, after two minutes and 30 seconds.
- Right now we have a theory of mutually assured destruction that
supposedly provides for peace and stability, and it's worked.
But that doesn't mean that we can't build upon a concept of MAD
where both sides are vulnerable to another attack. Why wouldn't
an enhanced deterrent, a more stable peace, a better prospect to
denying the ones who enter conflict in the first place to have a
reduction of offensive systems and an introduction to defensive
capability. I believe that is the route this country will
eventually go.
-- Senator Dan Quayle discussing nuclear weapons - 1988.
- If Ross Perot runs, that's good for us. If he doesn't run, it's
good for us.
[a reporter then asked him what he meant by that]
That's for you to figure out.
-- VP Dan Quayle answering a reporter's question on what the
effect might be if Perot re-entered the race. The VP later
clarified the remark saying that Perot will raise issues
about the economy, and this is one of the President's
strengths - Sept. 1992.
- I guess you'll have to ask the details to the management, I am
here. The Governor and I are announcing this today. It was just
signed off on by the Secretary of Defense as something that we
have been monitoring, and the Governor obviously has been very
involved in this. And we're making this announcement today.
-- VP Dan Quayle showing just how familiar he was with the
details of a $300 million plan to upgrade the Army's M-1
tanks - 1992.
- [I will describe] where I come from and what kind of a house I
lived in when I was a kid, how many public schools that I went
to - five elementary, two high schools - product of a public
school system, two jobs in college, went to night school, worked
my way through law school.
-- VP Dan Quayle telling an interviewer how he will use his
acceptance speech at the Republican Convention to re-
introduce himself to the public, and to provide details
of his hard-working background - 1992.
- The National Academy of Sciences says that this level [40 MPG]
is not even technically achievable.
-- VP Dan Quayle arguing against suggestions to raise fuel
efficiency standards for American automobiles. But Richard
A. Meserve, who served as the chairman of the academy's
study on fuel efficiency, said that Mr. Quayle had mis-
understood a report by the academy that had discussed
whether cars that efficient would be attractive to
American buyers - 1992.
- When you start talking about sleaze, I think some in the media
ought to look in the mirror ...
There's good journalism and there's bad journalism ...
Good journalism is taking a rumor, taking gossip and going out
and investigating it and finding out if it's true, and if there's
any credibility at all. And when you find something like this
that was investigated and was totally false, you don't print it.
-- VP Dan Quayle defending George Bush against charges of
marital infidelity - 1992.
- [The Prince - by Machiavelli. Lists three classes of leaders:
1st: Someone who can lead without much support.
2nd: Someone who can lead with the right people around him.
3rd: Someone who doesn't 'really know much of anything.
... they just sort of went by whatever they felt like.'
I've tried to figure out where I am. I know I'm not the first
because I don't think I have the creativeness that Machiavelli
talks about. If I go back and reread it I might figure it out
exactly where I put myself. I'm somewhere between two and one.
-- Senator Dan Quayle on the book 'The Prince' - 1988.
- We are leaders of the world of the space program. We have been
the leaders of the world of our... of the space program and
we're not going to continue where we're going to go, not with-
standing the Soviet Union's demise and collapse - the former
Soviet Union - we now have independent republics which used to
be called the Soviet Union ...
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- Space is the next frontier to be explored. And we're going to
explore. Think of all the things we relie upon in space today:
communications from... Japan, detection of potential ballistic
missile attacks. Ballistic missiles are still here. Other
nations do have ballistic missiles. How do you think we were
able to detect some of the Scud missiles and things like that?
Space, reconnaissance, weather, communications - you name it. We
use space a lot today.
-- VP Dan Quayle.
- I've tried to figure out where I am.
-- Senator Dan Quayle [taken out of context, but its still
funny.]