Return-Path: From: goldsman@cc.gatech.edu (Mike Goldsman) Subject: quayle quote list To: bzs@world.std.com Date: Thu, 8 Oct 92 13:35:33 EDT X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11] I think this might be appropriate for your site... -Mike ============================================================================ Quayle Quotes Last updated October 5, 1992 **SPECIAL VICE-PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE ISSUE** ============================================================================ Notes 1. There are sure to be typoes and bugoes throughout, and I would appreciate it if people would tell me about them. 2. Eventually I would like to "sort" these quotes into some reasonable categories. Any volunteers for this job? 3. If anyone has sources for any of the quotes without sources, please tell me. 4. Could someone with old issues of "The Quayle Quarterly" go through and see if they may have published quotes which I don't yet have. (I am toying with the idea of shelling out $36 for a complete set...) 5. Not all of these quotes, are "funny" per se, but each, in its own unique way, does define and help us better understand the complex person we know as Mr. Vice President. ============================================================================ Thanks to: James Allenspach jima@buhub.bradley.edu Patrick Anderson patricka@gandalf.rutgers.edu Marc Andreessen marca@ncsa.uiuc.edu Tim Antonsen antonsen@hpcndaw.CND.HP.COM Daniel Ashlock danwell@iastate.edu Subodh Bapat mailrus!uflorida!rm1!bapat@uunet.uu.net Pushpak Bapat psbapat@mtu.edu William C. Barwell popec@unkaphaed.UUCP Patricia Bender bender@riscee.pko.dec.com John Berger jberger@novell.com Howard Black cfthb@ux1.cts.eiu.edu Heather Blair h431@midway.uchicago.edu Dan Bloomberg bloomber@parc.xerox.com Forrest Cahoon cahoon@cs.umn.edu Emil Chuck eyc@acpub.duke.edu Al Clark clark@netcom.com Michael L. Cole mlcole@nevada.edu Phil Corless apucorle@idbsu.idbsu.edu Jerry Cox sasjec@asimov.unx.sas.com Brian Curran brian@meaddata.com Richard Darsie darsie@eecs.ucdavis.edu Ron Dippold rdippold@drzeus.qualcomm.com Tim Dodge dodgeT%moravian.edu@relay.cs.net Jeff Frane gummitch@techbook.com Dave Goldsman sman@zomboy.isye.gatech.edu Maddi Hausmann madhaus@netcom.com JV Heiskanen jvh@mits.mdata.fi Jeff Helgesen jmh@morgana.pubserv.com Lisa Henn lisa@boa.cis.ohio-state.edu Jeff Henning jeh@redwood.cray.com Daniel Hinojosa hinojosa@hpwrc07.hp.com Ynua Huh yuna@athena.mit.edu Peter Klausler pmk@craycos.com Elizabeth G. Levy egl1@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu Jeff Luck jeff@testmac.ces.psu.edu Craig MacFarlane craigm@chateau-rouge.ics.uci.edu Eric McCaughrin mccaughe@cad.berkeley.edu Stephen C. Miller stcmille@copper.ucs.indiana.edu Shamim Z. Mohamed sham@cs.arizona.edu John Murray dylan@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu D. Alex Neilson neilson@skat.usc.edu Alex Orenshteyn alexo+@cs.cmu.edu Patrick Pape pape@miller.cs.uwm.edu Jan Peerson peerson@neyman.ucdavis.edu David K. Poulsen poulsen@csrd.uiuc.edu Jim Puccio puccio@media.mit.edu Yngve Raustein raustein@athena.mit.edu Dave Regan regan@jacobs.cs.orst.edu Ken Richards kenr@cabezon.uucp David Ruderman ruderman@sbcs.sunysb.edu Herbert Rutledge train@gvls2.gvl.unisys.com Scott Safier corwin+@cmu.edu Jeffrey Shallit shallit@graceland.uwaterloo.ca Eric Smith erics@sco.com Sierra Sponaugle sponaugl@silver.ucs.indiana.edu Dave Stephenson dstephen@cmsa.gmr.com Jim Summers summers@asylum.cs.utah.edu Matt Thomas tbirds@atlas.unm.edu Ken Tubman dprkmt@arco.com Julio Vidal vidal@mitvma.mit.edu Matthew Wall wall@cc.swarthmore.edu Marc Wasserman mwasserm@diana.cair.du.edu Rod Williams rjwill6@pacbell.com Rick Zaccone zaccone@rigel.cs.bucknell.edu Japan Info Soc jis@sfsuvax1.sfsu.edu dwhitney@hamp.hampshire.edu dascoser.bbs@cybernet.cse.fau.edu HRGST2@vms.cis.pitt.edu and me: Mike Goldsman goldsman@cc.gatech.edu 36004 Ga Tech Station Atlanta, GA 30332 (404) 894-7302 (w) (404) 872-5146 (h) Please send me any additions/corrections to this list. It seems to be growing faster than I can keep up !!! ============================================================================ Bobby Knight told me this: "There is nothing that a good defense cannot beat a better offense." In other words a good offense wins. -- Vice President Dan Quayle comparing the offensive capabilities of the Warsaw Pact with the defensive system of NATO, 9/8/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child. -- Vice President Dan Quayle Welcome to President Bush, Mrs. Bush, and my fellow astronauts. -- Vice President Dan Quayle addressing the 20th anniversary celebration of the moon landing, 7/20/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 8/11/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) Those same asteroids which promise material riches can be a threat as well. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 5/1/90 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, Hawaii, 4/25/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is. -- Vice President Dan Quayle winning friends while speaking to the United Negro College Fund, 5/9/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) [ alternate quote: What a terrible thing to have lost one's mind. Or not to have a mind at all. How true that is. I'm not sure which one is right.. does anyone know for sure? ] I can see the hate that was there; I can see the bigotry. I can see it from his perspective. -- Vice President Dan Quayle discussing his impressions of "The Autobiography of Malcom X." (The Wall Street Journal, 6/8/92 - taken from The Quayle Quarterly, Summer/Fall 1992) 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, to the American Samoans, whose capital Quayle pronounces "Pogo Pogo," 4/25/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 9/15/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92, The New Yorker, 10/10/88, p.102) [The US] condones violence in El Salvador. -- Vice President Dan Quayle reveals what people have known for years. 1/31/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) We expect them [Salvadoran officials] to work toward the elimination of human rights. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 2/3/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and democracy - but that could change. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 5/22/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) One word sums up probably the responsibility of any vice president, and that one word is 'to be prepared'. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 12/6/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) If we do not succeed, then we run the risk of failure. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, to the Phoenix Republican Forum, 3/23/90 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 10/20/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) Because. Because I say it isn't. -- Vice President Dan Quayle explaining why questions about his parent's ties to the John Birch Society aren't relevant, 10/9/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) 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. -- Vice President 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. 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle I want to be Robin to Bush's Batman. -- Vice President Dan Quayle We should develop anti-satellite weapons because we could not have prevailed without them in 'Red Storm Rising'. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 9/8/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) [The US is] naked, absolutely nude, to attack [by Soviets] -- Vice President Dan Quayle at the Ohio State Fair, 8/20/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 10/2/90 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) The US has a vital interest in that area of the country. -- Vice President Dan Quayle Referring to Latin America. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brought to you by Michael Goldsman goldsman@cc.gatech.edu --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 10/2/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) Who would have predicted... that Dubcek, who brought the tanks in in Czechoslovakia in 1968 is now being proclaimed a hero in Czechoslovakia. Unbelievable. -- Vice President Dan Quayle Actually, Dubcek was the leader of the Prague Spring. May our nation continue to be the beakon of hope to the world. -- The Quayles' 1989 Christmas card. [Not a beacon of literacy, though.] Well, it looks as if the top part fell on the bottom part. -- Vice President Dan Quayle referring to the collapsed section of the 880 freeway after the San Francisco earthquake of 1989. [this may be a joke; the source is unclear. but it's still funny] getting [cruise missiles] more accurate so that we can have precise precision. -- Vice President Dan Quayle referring to his legislative work dealing with cruise missiles I can identify with steelworkers. I can identify with workers that have had a difficult time. -- Vice President Dan Quayle addressing workers at an Ohio steel plant, 1988 [I will never have] another Jimmy Carter grain embargo, Jimmy, Jimmy Carter, Jimmy Carter grain embargo, Jimmy Carter grain embargo. -- Vice President Dan Quayle during the Bentsen debate 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? -- Vice President Dan Quayle, when asked what he would do if he assumed the Presidency, 10/10/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) I had not had that question before. -- Vice President Dan Quayle explaining why, during the Bentson debate, he couldn't say what he would do if he suddenly became president, 10/6/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle addresses the issues during the 1988 campaign, 9/13/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) [It is] not a yes or no question. -- Vice President Dan Quayle refuses to answer a question of whether he's offered to take his name off of the ticket, 8/19/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle responding to press reports his aides having to, in effect, "potty train" him. I would guess that there's adequate low-income housing in this country. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 10/27/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 11/30/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) 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! -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 8/17/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) We don't want to go back to tomorrow, we want to go forward. -- Vice President Dan Quayle I am the future. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 10/18/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) I have made good judgements in the Past. I have made good judgements in the Future. -- Vice President Dan Quayle The future will be better tomorrow. -- Vice President Dan Quayle I have a very strong record on the Environment in the United States Senate. -- Vice President Dan Quayle I was known as the chief grave robber of my state. -- Vice President Dan Quayle We will invest in our people, quality education, job opportunity, family, neighborhood, and yes, a thing we call America. -- Vice President 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle to students at a high school in Miami with the highest dropout rate of the city, 10/26/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) We're going to have the best-educated American people in the world. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 9/21/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) This election is about who's going to be the next President of the United States! -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 9/2/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) 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." -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 8/19/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) I did not know in 1969 that I would be in this room today. -- Vice President Dan Quayle justifying his decision to join the National Guard, 8/17/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) Obviously, if you join the National Guard, you have less of a chance of going to Vietnam. I mean it goes without saying. -- Vice-President Dan Quayle discussing his draft record on NBC's "Meet the Press," 9/20/92. (reported in the Houston Chronicle 9/21/92) 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've been very blessed with wonderful parents and a wonderful family, and I am proud of my family. Anybody turns to their family. 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 8/27/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) 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. And time and time again, I'm often reminded, especially in this Presidential campaign, of the importance of a family, and what a family means to this country. And so when you pay thanks I suppose the first thing that would come to mind would be to thank the Lord for the family. -- Vice President Dan Quayle on the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, 11/6/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) ...Buzz Lukens took that fateful step... -- Vice President Dan Quayle confusing the sexual assaulter/Congressman with Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, 7/15/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) Okay, I won't open it until then -- Vice President 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. You always learn something by reading the classics. Particularly The Prince. I go through and look at this from this intellectual point of view. Machiavelli had these three classes of mind. The first class was the person that was creative enough to be leader and be able to lead a great nation without much help. The second class of mind was one that wasn't creative but could take ideas, put people around him, and be able to lead nations foward. And the third class of people didn't really know much of anything. And they were the worst kind of leaders, because not only were they not creative, but they didn't know what was right or wrong, and 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle gives his opinion of the book "The Prince," 9/28/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) People that are really very weird can get into sensitive positions and have a tremendous impact on history. -- Vice President Dan Quayle gives his opinion of the book "Nicholas, and Alexandra," 9/28/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) I stand by all the misstatements that I've made. -- Vice President Dan Quayle to Sam Donaldson, 8/17/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 5/4/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle I would like to express my sympathy to all those impacted by this disaster. -- Vice President Dan Quayle standing in front of the collapsed section of highway caused by the Loma Preta quake. (CNN) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brought to you by Michael Goldsman goldsman@cc.gatech.edu --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The loss of life will be irreplaceable. -- Vice President Dan Quayle after the San Francisco earthquake, 10/19/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) I couldn't help but be impressed by the magnitude of the earthquake. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, stepping out of the helicopter upon arrival at Alameda Naval Air Station. 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle at a garden center and produce store in Baltimore (from the Los Angeles Times, Douglas Jehl, November 6, 1988) It's a very valuable function and requirement that you're performing, so have a great day and keep a stiff upper lip. -- Vice President Dan Quayle speaking to oil spill clean-up workers at Prince William Sound, May, 1989 The President is going to benefit from me reporting directly to him when I arrive. -- Vice President Dan Quayle speaking to oil spill clean-up workers at Prince William Sound, May, 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle discussing federal involvement in the Chicago floods. (Chicago Tribune, 4/24/92 - taken from The Quayle Quarterly, Summer/Fall 1992) 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle I could take this home, Marilyn. This is something teenage boys might find of interest. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, when purchasing a South American Indian Doll that, when lifted, displays an erection, 3/11/90 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) 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 -- Vice President Dan Quayle defending himself (LA Herald Examiner 10/3/88) Public speaking is very easy. -- Vice President Dan Quayle to reporters in 10/88 The mike works. That's very important to make sure the mike works, and ours is working well. -- Vice President Dan Quayle informing reporters of a successful sound check before the VP debate, 10/5/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) I am not part of the problem. I am a Republican. -- Vice President Dan Quayle I happen to be a Republican president- ah, the vice president. -- Vice President Dan Quayle (Newsweek 4/9/90) I'm the Vice-President. They know it, and they know that I know it. -- Vice President Dan Quayle talking about his political enemies, 3/13/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) I've never professed to be anything but an average student. -- Vice President Dan Quayle during the VP debate in Omaha, Nebraska (10/88) 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? -- Vice President Dan Quayle asking Roger Ailes's advice on a debating gesture, 10/5/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) 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? -- Vice President Dan Quayle (LA Times 5/21/89) In George Bush you get experience, and with me you get- The Future! -- Vice President Dan Quayle in eastern Illinois (LA Times 10/19/88) I've been told to keep my remarks relatively brief. I understand Quayle-hunting season begins at noon. -- Vice President Dan Quayle to a crowd in Eau Claire, Wisc. (LA Times 10/16/88) The destruction, it is just very heart-rendering. -- Vice President Dan Quayle attempting to say the SF earthquake wreckage was heart-rending (Newsweek 10/30/89) 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle defending himself (Tampa Tribune-Times 1/7/90) 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle shortly after being named Geo. Bush's running mate, 8/27/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92, The NY Times, 8/28/88 ). Sam, had a great time this weekend but the golf was lousey. -- Vice President Dan Quayle in a handwritten note written to Sam Snead in the summer of 1991, after they had played a round of golf. (Herald-Times, Bloomington, IN, July 15, 1992) I'm glad you asked me that. This gives me the perfect opportunity to talk about the problems with this Congress... -- Vice President 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle telling a guest at his house why his dog, Breezy, wear a special collar that emits a painful jolf of electricity should the dog try to run away. (reported in the NY Daily News, 6/30/92 - taken from The Quayle Quarterly, Summer/Fall 92) [I support efforts] to limit the terms of members of Congress, especially member of the House and members of the Senate. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 9/26/90 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) I love California, I practically grew up in Phoenix -- Vice President Dan Quayle My friends, no matter how rough the road may be, we can and we will never, never surrender to what is right -- Vice President Dan Quayle speaking to the Christian Coalition about the need for abstinence to avoid AIDS, 11/15/91 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) Maybe you guys will get lucky this year and face the Orioles in the World Series -- Vice President Dan Quayle encouraging the Milwaukee Brewers after throwing out the opening pitch of the season. (5/3/92 Sunday Detroit News) Are they taking DDT? -- Vice President Dan Quayle asking doctors at a Manhattan AIDS clinic about their treatments of choice, 4/30/92 (reported in Esquire, 8/92, and NY Post early May 92) 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 withstanding the Soviet Union's demise and collapse - the former Soviet Union - we now have independent republics which used to be called the Soviet Union. Space is the next frontier to be explored. And we're going to explore. Think of all the things we rely 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle What you guys want, I'm for. -- Vice-President Dan Quayle to farmers on a local pork issue (08/25/88) (from the Book "The Cloths have No Emperor") Perestroika is nothing more than refined Stalinism. -- Vice-President Dan Quayle (09/04/88) (from the Book "The Cloths have No Emperor") America is great, because America is free. -- Vice President Dan Quayle A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls. -- Vice President Dan Quayle Sometimes cameras and television are good to people and sometimes they aren't. I don't know if its the way you say it, or how you look. -- Vice President Dan Quayle I just don't believe in the basic concept that someone should make their whole career in public service. -- Vice President (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... -- Vice President Dan Quayle in October 91 Need any help? -- Vice President Dan Quayle in October 91 addressing GM autoworkers in Southgate two weeks before GM announced 74,000 layoffs 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle I do have a political agenda. It's to have as few regulations as possible. -- Vice President Dan Quayle 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 Hollywood, network TV, the national newspapers routinely jeer at them, I think that most of us in this room know that some things are good, and other things are wrong. Now it's time to make the discussion public. -- Vice President Dan Quayle addressing the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco and criticizing Murphy Brown's decision to NOT have an abortion and to be a single (highly successful) mother, 5/19/92. When told about Quayle's comments, 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" And for those concerned about children growing up in poverty, we should know this: marriage is probably the best anti-poverty program of all. -- Vice President Dan Quayle addressing the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, 5/19/92 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle giving an intelligent, in-depth analysis of the LA riots. (during the Commonwealth Club speech 5/19/92) 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. -- Vice President 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. (Reported by AP 5/1/92, taken from the Quayle Quarterly, Summer/Fall 1992) I think especially in her position, a highly successful professional woman, it would be a real exception to have an unwed child. -- Vice President Dan Quayle to The Chron's Jerry Roberts. I don't watch it, but I know enough to comment on it. -- Vice President Dan Quayle defending his opinions about the TV show "Murphy Brown" [Las Vegas RJ 21 May 92] The intergenerational poverty that troubles us so much today is predominantly a poverty of values. -- Vice President Dan Quayle Illegitimacy is something we should talk about in terms of not having it. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 5/20/92 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) 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." -- Vice President Dan Quayle to those who had compared his attacks on the "cultural elite" to Agnew's denunciations of "effete intellectuals." (The Los Angeles Daily News, 6/28/92 - taken from the Quayle Quarterly, Summer/Fall 1992) Murphy Brown is doing better than I am. At least she knows she still has a job next year. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 8/18/92, (reported on KRXX News) Speaking as a man, it's not a woman's issue. Us men are tired of losing our women -- Vice President Dan Quayle talking about breast cancer I want to show you an optimistic sign that things are beginning to turn around. -- Vice President Dan Quayle trying to convince reporters that the economy was doing better because a Burger King had a "now hiring" sign in the window. He was campaigning for reelection in Ontario, CA, 1/17/92 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) You have a part-time job and that's better to no job at all -- Vice President 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle trying to encourage teenage students in Salinas, California to push themselves in school. (The Fresno Bee, 5/19/92, taken from The Quayle Quarterly, Summer/Fall 1992) Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a cure for AIDS in the marketplace before Magic Johnson gets AIDS? -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 11/13/91 (CNN) I'm ready. -- Vice President Dan Quayle describing his ability to take over the presidency after President Bush vomits and collapses in Tokyo, 1/8/92 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) We're in Florida. -- Vice President 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. (The Sunstenial) I hope there's some respect and dignity for things I did not do. -- Vice President Dan Quayle defending himself against allegations of involvement with Paula Parkinson, 8/23/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) 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 I don't have to experience tragedy to understand it. -- Vice President 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." (WRAL 6/23/92) 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 -- Vice President Dan Quayle explaining that Dilatation and Curettage, a form of abortion which occurs after fertilization, is not really abortion. (the Washington post, 11/03/88) 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle telling an 11-year-old girl why he would want her to have the baby if she were raped by her father, 10/18/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) Add one little bit on the end... Think of 'potato,' how's it spelled? You're right phonetically, but what else...? There ya go...alright! -- Vice President Dan Quayle correcting a student's correct spelling of the word "potatoe" 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." -- Vice President Dan Quayle, actually quoting from President Andrew Jackson. I should have remembered that was Andrew Jackson who said that, since he got his nickname "Stonewall" by vetoing bills passed by Congress. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, confusing Andrew Jackson with Confederate General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, who actually got his nickname at the first Battle of Bull Run. People who Bowl Vote. Bowlers are not the cultural elite. -- Vice President Dan Quayle while at a Las Vegas bowling alley. the Vice-President bowled 5 times, and knocked down 19 pins. (6/25/92, San Jose Mercury News) The American Bowling Congress projected his score for a full game to be 76. The Detroit average for amateur players is 163 (USA Today, 7/6/92) I wear their scorn as a badge of honor. -- Vice President Dan Quayle discussing how he copes with criticism from the media elite, 6/9/92 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) It would be a serious mistake to replace a seasoned statesman with a temperamental tycoon who has no respect for the constitution. -- Vice President 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle at a campaign stop at CA State University, Fresno, 1/17/92 (The Quayle Quarterly, Spring/Summer 1992) We have to do more than just elect a new president if we truly want to change this country." -- Vice President Dan Quayle Absolutely. I certainly hope I am. - Vice President Dan Quayle on whether he is still on the Republican ticket. (Newsweek, August 10, 1992.) We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur. -- Vice President Dan Quayle talking about the Mideast situation, 9/22/90 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) For NASA, space is still a high priority. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, talking to NASA employees, 9/5/90 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) [The U.S. victory in Gulf war was] a stirring victory for the forces of aggression. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 4/11/91 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle responding to Larry King's question of how he would react if his 13-year-old daughter chose to have an abortion. (CNN, July 22, 1992) Marilyn Quayle later remarked that her daughter would "take the child to term." [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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle to reporters while flying back to Washington on September 23. [From the Associated Press 9/24/92] It's a good Supreme Court. They're lawyers... they're judges... they're appointed for life. -- Vice President Dan Quayle on being asked about the verdict in the Supreme Court ruling on the PA abortion law case. (Broadcast on ABC's "Prime Time Live," August 10, 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. -- Vice President 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. (CNN, July 22, 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle describing who he is talking about when he refers to the cultural elite, 6/19/92 The McNeil/Lehrer Report. (taken from the Quayle Quarterly, Summer/Fall 1992) It shows "us vs. them," and I'm on the "us" side. -- Vice President Dan Quayle explaining the strategy behind his twitting of "cultural elites." (The Indianapolis Star, 6/14/92 - taken from the Quayle Quarterly, Summer/Fall 1992) We have had a number of discussions and, believe me, if I thought I was hurting the ticket, I'd be gone. -- Vice President Dan Quayle on Larry King Live when asked if he'd offered to remove himself from the ticket, (CNN, July 22, 1992) I just have one thing to say: Murphy, you owe me! -- Vice President 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! -- Vice-President Dan Quayle in a television commercial for KTLA's Murphy Brown reruns. (reported in the San Jose Mercury News, 9/10/92) 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. -- Vice-President Dan Quayle, while campaigning in Kansas City, MO, 9/2 (reported by the NY times, 9/3/92) 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, on how to act in front of the press. Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our children. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 9/18/90 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) This isn't a man who is leaving with his head between his legs -- Vice President Dan Quayle discussing John Sununu's resignation and apparent lack of flexibility, 12/6/92 The American people would not want to know of any misquotes that Dan Quayle may or may not make. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, in a speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, April 1991 We're all capable of mistakes, but I do not care to enlighten you on the mistakes we may or may not have made. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, (USA Today 4/22/92 - taken from The Quayle Quarterly, Summer/Fall 1992) Unfortunately, the people of Louisiana are not racists. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, regarding David Duke's candidacy, 10/12/90, (reported in Esquire, 8/92) I'm not so sure that I will miss Johnny Carson, but Johnny Carson will miss me. -- Vice President Dan Quayle (reported in the Houstan Chronicle, 5/22/92 - taken from The Quayle Quarterly, Summer/Fall 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle and talking about his job as Chief investigator, consumer protection division of the Indiana Attorney General's office from 1970-1971 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle I take my children hiking and fishing, walking in the woods. -- Vice President Dan Quayle offering proof of his commitment to the environment during the VP debate, 10/5/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) The National Academy of Sciences says that this level [40 MPG] is not even technically achievable. -- Vice President Dan Quayle arguing against suggestions to raise fuel efficiency stadards for American autobiles. But Richard A. Meserve, who served as the chairman of the academy's study on fuel efficiency, said that Mr. Quayle had misunderstood a report by the academy that had discussed whether cars that efficient would be attractive to American buyers. (New York Times, 8/29/92) It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it. -- Vice President Dan Quayle 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle defending his lambasting of Democrats on the Spotted Owl/ Endangered Species issue. (In an interview on Prime Time Live, August 10, 1992. Reported in the NY Times, August 12, 1992) Our values are creating jobs in America. -- Vice President 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 wheelchairs. Are those your values?" (ABC's "Prime Time Live," August 10, 1992) We lead in exporting jobs. -- Vice President Dan Quayle committing a Freudian slip while speaking to the Chamber of Commerce of Evensville, Indiana, a city which lost 4 large companies in the last four years. He quickly changed the word "jobs" to "products." (NY Newsday 7/26/92 - taken from The Quayle Quarterly, Summer/Winter, 1992) My grandfather... saw where inherited wealth ruined people. And my grandfather was right. -- Vice-President Dan Quayle giving an analysis of his own situation: he has a half-million dollars worth of his family's newspaper stock holdings. (ABC's "Prime Time Live," August 10, 1992) I didn't pay a lot of attention as I should have in college. -- Vice President Dan Quayle 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 12-JAN-92 [The book, "The Satanic Verses"] is obviously not only offensive but, I would think most of us would say, in bad taste. -- Vice President Dan Quayle commenting on the book which caused Salman Rushdie to be placed under a death sentence. The Vice-President had not read the book, 3/16/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) Great American sport. Horseshoes is a very great game. I love it. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 4/5/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) We will move forward, we will move upward, and yes, we will move onward. -- Vice President Dan Quayle to a group of students at a Chicago school, 4/24/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92) I am now cashing in on being vice president for others. They'll remember me. I'll remember them. -- Vice President Dan Quayle One thing we're able to do is raise money. -- Vice President Dan Quayle on the Republican Party [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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle telling an interviewer how he will use his acceptance speech at the Republican Convention to reintroduce himself to the public, and to provide details of his hard-working background. (reported in the NY Times 8/15/92) When you start talking about sleaze, I think some in the media ought to look in the mirror. Now what's the motivation of this? I can't think of any other motivating factor other than you want to hurt the President and help Bill Clinton. There's good journalism and there's bad journalism. And I want to say something to you good journalists. You are being overwhelmed by the bad journalism and the bad journalists of America. 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle at a news conference in Huntington Beach, CA, defending George Bush against charges of marital infidelity. (reported in the NY Times 8/13/92) 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." -- Vice President Dan Quayle Looking back, I should have pursued philosophy and economics and things of that sort in college more, but I didn't." -- Vice President Dan Quayle [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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle when asked by Bernard Shaw if Bush/Quayle victory in 1992 would make him the heir apparent in 1996, 8/17/92, on CNN. (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) Tobacco exports should be expanded aggressively because Americans are smoking less. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, 1990 (reported by IPS, 8/14/92) This is not a bipartisan issue. -- Vice President 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, 8/20/92 (reported in the NY Times, 8/21/92) 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle in his acceptance speech during the 1992 Republican National Convention, 8/20/92. We will never give Bill Clinton the opportunity to be the President of the United States. -- Vice President Dan Quayle (9/19/92) We are doing the right thing and we do not see the bad things. -- Vice President Dan Quayle pretending he is one of the wise monkeys. 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. -- Vice-President Dan Quayle, addressing a police academy in Knoxville, Tennessee in August 1992 (from the AP wire) Most women do not want to be liberated from their essential natures as women. -- Vice-President Dan Quayle, while campaigning in Kansas City, MO, 9/2/92 (reported in the NY times, 9/3/92) 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.' " -- Vice-President Dan Quayle discussing his views on homosexuality while on "This Week with David Brinkley" 9/13/92. (reported in the San Francisco Chronicle, 9/14/92) 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. -- Vice-President Dan Quayle answering a reporter's question on what the effect might be if Perot reentered the race. He was campaigning in Rockford, Ill., 9/29/92. The Vice-President later clarified the remark saying that Perot will raise issues about the economy, and this is one of the President's strengths. (reported in the NY Times, 9/30/92) 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle while in Detroit, 9/30/92 A spokesman later said that he was joking. (reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer 10/1/92): [It's] time for the human race to enter the solar system. -- Vice President 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. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, on the Rush Kumbaugh show. (Reported in the NY Times, 7/8/92 - from the Quayle Quarterly, Summer/Fall 1992) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dan Quayle had a trip planned to Beijing, but was worried because of the turmoil at that end. His security adviser however informed him that it was pretty safe for D.Q. as, "They are only harassing intellectuals." 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 quiped, "I'm twice-divorced and "Murphy Brown" is my favorite TV show" (reported July, 92 by the Orange County Register) On 10/11/88 Dan Quayle held a pumpkin next to his head. (reported in Esquire 8/92) On 6/13/89, Dan Quayle posed in El Salvador holding a grenade launcher. Unbeknown to him, it was aimed at his elbow. (reported in Esquire 8/92) 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. 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. On 8/13/91 lawyer Dan Quayle tells the American Bar Association that the US has too many lawyers. (reported in Esquire 8/92) 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. (reported in The NY Times, 10/6/92) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brought to you by Michael Goldsman goldsman@cc.gatech.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------------