73+ Best Richard Nixon Quotes: Exclusive Selection

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until 1974. A member of the Republican Party, Nixon previously served as the 36th vice president from 1953 to 1961, having risen to national prominence as a representative and senator from California. Profoundly inspirational Richard Nixon quotes will challenge the way you think, change the way you live and transform your whole life.

If you’re searching for famous presidential quotes that perfectly capture what you’d like to say or just want to feel inspired yourself, browse through an amazing collection of best Bill Clinton quotes, powerful Joe Biden quotes and greatest George W. Bush quotes.

Famous Richard Nixon Quotes

Never forget, the press is the enemy. The establishment is the enemy. The professors are the enemy. Professors are the enemy. Write that on a blackboard 100 times and never forget it. Richard M. Nixon

Had the Senate or House, or both, censured or somehow warned Richard Nixon, the tragedy of Watergate might have been prevented. Hopefully the Senate will not sit by while even more serious abuses unfold before it. John Dean

When the President does it, that means that it’s not illegal. Richard M. Nixon

It was a Greek tragedy. Nixon was fulfilling his own nature. Once it started it could not end otherwise. Henry A Kissinger

I was not lying. I said things that later on seemed to be untrue. Richard M. Nixon

 The whole country did take part in quite a genuine sense in passing judgment on Richard Nixon. Archibald Cox

There are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have a black and a white. Richard M. Nixon

He lied to his wife, his family, his friends, his colleagues in the Congress, lifetime members of his own political party, the American people and the world. Barry Goldwater

I know you heard what you thought I said, but what I said isn’t what I meant. Richard M. Nixon

The Vietnam War required us to emphasize the national interest rather than abstract principles. What President Nixon and I tried to do was unnatural. And that is why we didn’t make it. Henry A Kissinger

Nothing would please the Kremlin more than to have the people of this country choose a second rate president. Richard M. Nixon

President Nixon thought we were making a fool out of a good man. Carroll O’Connor

Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain. Richard M. Nixon

Look, we understood we couldn’t make it illegal to be young or poor or black in the United States, but we could criminalize their common pleasure. We understood that drugs were not the health problem we were making them out to be, but it was such a perfect issue for the Nixon White House that we couldn’t resist it. John Ehrlichman

I didn’t do anything wrong and I promise to never do it again. Richard M. Nixon

Nixon has the audacity to tell me to do nothing in the interest of my country until he dictates where that interest lies. At the same time he threatens me that failure to follow his so called advice will jeopardize the special relations between our two countries. I say to hell with such special relations. Mohammed Reza Pahlavi

Defeat doesn’t finish a man, quit does. A man is not finished when he’s defeated. He’s finished when he quits. Richard M. Nixon

I remember going through the cafeteria line and telling every kid that Nixon was in favor of school on Saturdays. It was my first political trick. Roger Stone

We cannot learn from one another until we stop shouting at one another until we speak quietly enough so that our words can be heard as well as our voices. Richard M. Nixon

Richard Nixon was not the lesser evil, he was the greater evil, but in his administration the war was finally brought to an end, because he had to deal with the power of the anti war movement as well as the power of the Vietnamese movement. I will vote, but always with a caution that voting is not crucial, and organizing is the important thing. Howard Zinn

I don’t think a woman should be in any government job whatever. I mean, I really don’t. The reason why I do this is mainly because they are erratic and emotional. Richard M. Nixon

I once told Nixon that the Presidency is like being a jackass caught in a hail storm. You’ve got to just stand there and take it. Lyndon B. Johnson

Capitalism works better than it sounds, while socialism sounds better than it works. Richard M. Nixon

Washington couldn’t tell a lie, Nixon couldn’t tell the truth, and Reagan couldn’t tell the difference. Mort Sahl

There may be some truth in that if the Arabs have some complaints about my policy towards Israel, they have to realize that the Jews in the U. S. control the entire information and propaganda machine, the large newspapers, the motion pictures, radio and television, and the big companies, and there is a force that we have to take into consideration. Richard M. Nixon

Tell the FBI that the kidnappers should pick out a judge that Nixon wants back. William O. Douglas

We must always remember that America is a great nation today not because of what the government did for people but because of what people did for themselves and for one another. Richard M. Nixon

Did you know Richard Nixon is the only president whose formal portrait was painted by a police sketch artist? Johnny Carson

I don’t mind the homosexuality. I understand it. Nevertheless, goddamn, I don’t think you glorify it on public television, homosexuality, even more than you glorify whores. We all know we have weaknesses. But, goddammit, what do you think that does to kids? You know what happened to the Greeks! Homosexuality destroyed them. Sure, Aristotle was a homo. We all know that. So was Socrates. Richard M. Nixon

If you look at the poll numbers, people knew Nixon was deeply involved in Watergate and stayed with him for a long time. It’s a natural tendency. John Dean

Remember, always give your best. Never get discouraged. Never be petty. Always remember, others may hate you. But those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself. Richard M. Nixon

The biggest difference between Kennedy and Nixon, as far as the press is concerned, is simply this: Jack Kennedy really liked newspaper people and he really enjoyed sparring with journalists. Ben Bradlee

The three most difficult words to speak are, I was wrong. Richard M. Nixon

Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain. Richard M. Nixon

The important thing is that we maintain plausible deniability. Richard M. Nixon

If you take no risks, you will suffer no defeats, but if you take no risks, you win no victories. Richard M. Nixon

The worst thing a politician can be is dull. At least I’m interested. Richard M. Nixon

Defeat doesn’t finish a man, quit does, A man is not finished when he’s defeated, he’s finished when he quits. Richard M. Nixon

With all the power that a president has, the most important thing to bear in mind is this: You must not give power to a man unless, above everything else, he has character. Character is the most important qualification the president of the United States can have. Richard Nixon Quotes

If an individual wants to be a leader and isn’t controversial, that means he never stood for anything. Richard M. Nixon

If you take no risks, you will suffer no defeats. But if you take no risks, you win no victories. Richard M. Nixon

 Don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines. Richard M. Nixon

The press is the enemy. Richard M. Nixon, Richard Nixon quotes on press

Those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself. Richard M. Nixon

You don’t know how to lie. If you can’t lie, you’ll never go anywhere. Richard M. Nixon

You must never be satisfied with losing, you must get angry, terribly angry, about losing. Richard M. Nixon

Look at the Justice Department, it’s full of Jews The lawyers in government are damn Jews. Richard M. Nixon

We cannot learn from one another until we stop shouting at one another. Richard M. Nixon

The Jews are an irreligious, atheistic, immoral bunch of bastards. Richard M. Nixon

The mark of the good loser is that he takes his anger out on himself and not his victorious opponents or on his teammates. Richard M. Nixon

Any nation that decides the only way to achieve peace is through peaceful means is a nation that will soon be a piece of another nation. Richard M. Nixon

Life is one crisis after another. Richard M. Nixon

When the strongest nation in the world can be tied up for years in a war with no end in sight, when the richest nation in the world can’t manage its own economy, when the nation with the greatest tradition of the rule of law is plagued by unprecedented lawlessness, and when the President of the United States cannot travel abroad or to any major city at home without fear of a hostile demonstration then it’s time for new leadership for the United States of America. Richard M. Nixon

You’ve got to learn to survive a defeat, that’s when you develop character. Richard M. Nixon

No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now. Richard M. Nixon

Government can provide opportunity, but opportunity means nothing unless people are prepared to seize it. Richard M. Nixon

The Bohemian Grove, which I attend from time to time  it is the most faggy goddamned thing you could ever imagine. Richard M. Nixon

 Never let your head hang down, never give up and sit down and grieve, find another way. Richard M. Nixon

Communism denies God, enslaves men, and destroys justice. Richard M. Nixon

If the President does it, it can’t be illegal. Richard M. Nixon

I can take it, the tougher it gets, the cooler I get. Richard M. Nixon

Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines. Richard M. Nixon

 If you take no risks, you will suffer no defeats, but if you take no risks, you win no victories. Richard M. Nixon

The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word crisis. One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. Richard M. Nixon

If an individual wants to be a leader and isn’t controversial, that means he never stood for anything. Richard M. Nixon

Well, I screwed it up real good, didn’t I? Richard M. Nixon

You must never be satisfied with losing, you must get angry, terribly angry, about losing. Richard M. Nixon

The greatness comes not when things go always good for you. But greatness comes when you’re really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes. Because only if you’ve been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain. Richard M. Nixon

The mark of the good loser is that he takes his anger out on himself and not his victorious opponents or on his teammates. Richard M. Nixon

Well, I’m not a crook. Richard M. Nixon

Life is one crisis after another. Richard M. Nixon