George Bush

“ There is no one more devoted, more committed to the hard work of freedom, than every soldier and sailor, every marine, airman and coastguardsman-- every man and every woman now serving in the Persian Gulf.
Each of them has volunteered to provide for this nation's defense. And now they bravely struggle to earn for America and for the world and for future generations, a just and lasting peace.
Our commitment to them must be equal of their commitment to our country. They are truly America's finest. ”

“ But the love is the life. If you would know what a man's life is, you have only to learn what his ruling love is, and you have an infallible clew to it. Now, as all true religion demands a good love, it must demand a good life of course, for the life is merely an exponent of the love. But the life which a man possesses here is the life, which he carries with him into the other world, and unless that life has been the native product of a pure and heavenly love here, it can by no means be a source of blessedness hereafter. ”

“ Tonight, we work to achieve another victory, a victory over tyranny and savage aggression.
We in this Union enter the last decade of the 20th Century thankful for all our blessings, steadfast in our purpose, aware of our difficulties and responsive to our duties at home and around the world.
For two centuries, America has served the world as an inspiring example of freedom and democracy. For generations, America has led the struggle to preserve and extend the blessings of liberty. And today, in a rapidly changing world, American leadership is indispensable. ”

“ Finally, I am pleased to note that in many schools, teachers and students are planning to observe this Columbus Day with a special celebration of the 100th anniversary of our Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. Written in honor of Columbus Day a century ago, the Pledge has inspired generations of Americans to a greater love of country. As we celebrate the legacy of Columbus and the diverse cultural heritage of the United States, it is fitting that we also recall our many blessings -- and responsibilities -- as "one Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." ”

“ The dispensation of the New Jerusalem, whose character and genius we are now unfolding, has also the merit of making life its great distinguishing feature. Without at all disparaging the theoretical element of religion, it still gives a paramount place to the practical, and it does this too on such grounds—grounds laid in the very structure of our being—that no one who is at all conversant with the system can fail to see that the love-element is the nethermost stratum in the geology of our nature, and that from love flows charity, and from charity good works or neighborly uses. ”

“ Since the birth of our nation, "we the people" has been the source of our strength. What government can do alone is limited, but the potential of the American people knows no limits.
We are a nation of rock-solid realism and clear-eyed idealism. We are Americans. We are the nation that believes in the future. We are the nation that can shape the future.
And we've begun to do just that, by strengthening the power and choice of individuals and families. ”

“ Could we resist the belief that such knowledge, such wisdom, such weight must pertain to the tenant of another sphere? And as this conviction grew upon us, should we not draw closer and closer to him, and drink in with more entranced ear every word that fell from his lips—lips touched as with a live coal from off the altar—and with every new disclosure would not admiration, wonder, awe, delight grow till they scarce knew bounds? How would the soul swell under the undoubting assurance that an angel stood revealed in the venerable Mentor to whom we had been listening? ”

“ Rather, we seek an Iraq that uses its great resources not to destroy, not to serve the ambitions of a tyrant, but to build a better life for itself and its neighbors. We seek a Persian Gulf where conflict is no longer the rule, where the strong are neither tempted nor able to intimidate the weak.
Most Americans know instinctively why we are in the Gulf. They know we had to stop Saddam now, not later. They know this brutal dictator will do anything, will use any weapon, will commit any outrage, no matter how many innocents must suffer. ”

“ The New Church is as far as possible from giving a quietus to the conscience in this way. It plants the essence of religion, not in a faith of imputation, but in a life of genuine charity and active use. If this be not the actual form which the principle assumes—if it do not ultimate itself in a pure, upright, exemplary deportment on the part of the professors of these truths; the fault is theirs, and not that of the system itself. It is because they are unfaithful to its teachings. The system makes the most ample provision, by its innate principles and its superadded revelations. ”

“ Much good can come from the prudent use of power. And much good can come from this: A world once divided into two armed camps now recognizes one sole and pre-eminent power, the United States of America. And this they regard with no dread. For the world trusts us with power, and the world is right. They trust us to be fair, and restrained. They trust us to be on the side of decency. They trust us to do what's right. ”

“ Is it not obvious that here is a powerful attraction to a pure and holy life, which does not exist under any other form of doctrine? Do we not learn a new lesson of love here? Is it not cause of everlasting gratitude to be freed from the perplexity which is felt in addressing worship to three persons instead of one, and then making use of one of the three as a medium, mediator, or intercessor, through whom to approach another? ”

“ The American worker is the most productive worker in the world.
We need to save more. We need to expand the pool of capital for new investments that mean more jobs and more growth. And that's the idea behind the new initiative I call the Family Savings Plan, which I will send to Congress tomorrow.
We need to cut the tax on capital gains, encourage, encourage risk-takers, especially those in small businesses, to take those steps that translate into economic reward, jobs, and a better life for all of us.
We'll do what it takes to invest in America's future. The budget commitment is there. ”

“ It needs but a moment's reflection to see what an immense gain to the cause of Christianity is secured by this unanimity—what a mountain load of reproach is rolled from the profession of a religion of love and charity by the harmonious faith of its disciples. We do not of course affirm that on minor points there may not be shades of difference of opinion, for an absolute identity of understanding or will, of charity or faith, of operation or form, does not exist in the universe. ”

“ But the world has to wonder what the dictator of Iraq is thinking. If he thinks that by targeting innocent civilians in Israel and Saudi Arabia, that he will gain an advantage--he is dead wrong. If he thinks that he will advance his cause through tragic and despicable environmental terrorism--he is dead wrong. And if he thinks that by abusing coalition P.O.W.s, he will benefit--he is dead wrong.
We will succeed in the Gulf. And when we do, the world community will have sent an enduring warning to any dictator or despot, present or future, who contemplates outlaw aggression. ”

“ The system opens a boundless range of doctrinal and ethical truths, and our object will be answered if we can succeed in attracting attention to the works in which it is embodied. We are well aware of the prejudices which array themselves against the candid investigation of the claims of this system. The very name of Swedenborg, the distinguished medium through whom these precious revelations of doctrine and life have been made to the world, has the effect with multitudes of minds, to transform the whole at once into an incoherent medley of visions and vagaries. ”

“ We must reform our health care system for this too, bears on whether or not we can compete in the world. American health costs have been exploding. This year America will spend over $800 billion on health, and that is expected to grow to $1.6 trillion by the end of the decade. We simply cannot afford this. The cost of health care shows up not only in your family budget, but in the price of everything we buy and everything we sell. When health coverage for a fellow on the assembly line costs thousands of dollars, the cost goes into the product he makes. ”

“ It is love that produces faith, and not faith that produces love; for faith pertains to the understanding, and the understanding is evermore secondary to the love, as light is to heat.
The paramount importance of a good life, therefore, as the essential element of a man's hope of eternal blessedness, is a necessary result of the constitution of our being, and there is nothing arbitrary about it. Nor is the doctrine liable to the charge of establishing human merit as the basis of salvation. ”

“ At a workers' rally in a place called Branik on the outskirts of Prague the idea called America is alive. A worker, dressed in grimy overalls, rises to speak at the factory gates. And he begins his speech to his fellow citizens with these words, words of a distant revolution: "We hold these truths to be self-evident. That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, and that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." ”

“ And finally, and finally, where no American is forgotten. Our hearts go out to our hostages, our hostages who are ceaselessly in our minds and in our efforts. That's part of the future we want to see, the future we can make for ourselves. But dreams alone won't get us there. We need to extend our horizon, to commit to the long view. And our mission for the future starts today.
In the tough competitive markets around the world, America faces the great challenges and great opportunities. And we know that we can succeed in the global economic arena of the 90's. ”

“ From the necessary relation between the affectional and the intellectual principles of our nature, or the heart and the head, it makes faith entirely subordinate to love, and stamps as worthless a religion which does not distinguish itself by a life of charitable uses. It is in this that the essence of the religious character consists, and no salvo is found in a fancied provision made in the gospel for a dispensation from the stringent demands of the decalogue. Life, life, and not opinions or faith, is the grand criterion of admissibility to heaven. ”

“ The cornerstones of this free society have already been set in place: democracy, competition, opportunity, private investment, stewardship, and of course, leadership.
And our challenge today is to take this democratic system of ours, a system second to none, and make it better:
A better America where there's a job for whoever wants one;
Where women working outside the home can be confident their children are in safe and loving care, and where Government works to expand child alternatives for parents.
Where we reconcile the needs of a clean environment and a strong economy. ”

“ It is immaterial how much faith he may have, or how much righteousness he may have imputed to him on the ground of his faith, his heaven is a delusion so long as he is lacking in a life's love that is in accordance with the Divine precepts, which are themselves an expression of the Divine love. To say that the works and fruits of a good life are, in the first instance, the effect of faith, is completely to reverse the true order of things, and to put the effect for the cause, and the cause for the effect. ”

“ Education is the one investment that means more for our future, because it means the most for our children. Real improvement in our schools is not simply a matter of spending more. It's a matter of asking more, expecting more, of our schools, our teachers, of our kids, of our parents and of ourselves. And that's why tonight, and that's why tonight, I am announcing America's education goals, goals developed with enormous cooperation from the nation's governors. ”

“ Nothing enters so deeply into the sanctum sanctorum of men’s interests as those views which take hold of God, heaven, hell, the soul, death, and their related themes. And though it may be said that all this with the majority of men comes rather into the category of sentiment than of principle, yet we see in it evidence that the Lord has determined to establish for himself a testimony in the interior recesses of our being, and to give a clear pre-eminence to those mental workings which relate more directly and intimately to Himself. ”

“ We must encourage investment. We must make it easier for people to invest money and make new products, new industries, and new jobs. We must clear away obstacles to new growth: high taxes, high regulation, red tape, and yes, wasteful government spending. None of this will happen with a snap of the fingers, but it will happen. And the test of a plan isn't whether it's called new or dazzling. The American people aren't impressed by gimmicks. They're smarter on this score than all of us in this room. The only test of a plan is, It is sound and will it work? ”

“ But with men the essence of uses, in the most general sense, is the good of the whole human race, both spiritual and civil; in a sense less general the good of their country; in a particular sense the good of society, and in a singular sense the good of each individual; and whereas those goods constitute their essence, love is their life, inasmuch as all good is of love, and in love there is life: in this love is every one who is delighted with the use in which he is for the sake of the use. ”

“ And that's why tonight, I am asking Dr. Sullivan, Lou Sullivan, Secretary of Health and Human Services, to lead a Domestic Policy Council review of recommendations on the quality, accessibility and cost of our nation's health care system. I am committed to bring the staggering costs of health care under control.
The State of the Government does indeed depend on many of us in this very chamber. But the State of the Union depends on all Americans. We must maintain the democratic decency that makes a nation out of millions of individuals. ”

“ And not only so; we now learn by the light of the New Jerusalem that it is a universal law of being—that all the spirits now in the spiritual world, good, bad, and mixed, were once men in bodies, and have passed out of bodies into the grand receptacle of souls, the world beyond the grave. Consequently, if there are sinless beings of the human race in any of the earths of the universe, they will successfully pass out of their corporeal condition into that of disembodied spirits in the world of spirits. ”

“ The New Church would be grossly recreant to her own spirit and genius to pay undue reverence even to a messenger from the Lord of hosts, but it does not hesitate to honor, in his measure, the instrument whom the Most High has especially raised up to serve as the herald of that sublime dispensation that is now entering upon its interminable career. She would fain endeavor to conciliate regard to his person for the sake of his teachings, and with a paramount view to the spiritual behoof of our fellow-men. ”

“ Tonight, I come before this house, and the American people, with an appeal for renewal. This is not merely a call for new government initiatives, it is a call for new initiative in government, in our communities, and from every American--to prepare for the next American century.
America has always led by example. So who among us will set this example? Which of our citizens will lead us in this next American century? Everyone who steps forward today, to get one addict off drugs; to convince one troubled teen-ager not to give up on life ”

“ As we fight crime, we will fully implement our nation strategy for combatting drug abuse. Recent data show we are making progress, but much remains to be done. We will not rest until the day of the dealer is over, forever.
Good health care is every American's right and every American's responsibility. So we are proposing an aggression program of new prevention initiatives--for infants, for children, for adults, and for the elderly-- to promote a healthier America and to help keep costs from spiraling. ”

“ Those who listen to New Church instructions will find, at any rate, that so far from involving a mere farrago of mystical and visionary crudities, they do actually inculcate the necessity of a practical and life-pervading religion, and that our doctrines are not, as the impression often is, a peculiar mode of dispensing with all religion—a sort of quitclaim to all genuine devotion and piety. ”

“ All kids are unique. Yet, all kids are alike. The budding young environmentalist I met this month, who joined me in exploring the Florida Everglades. The Little Leaguers I played catch with in Poland, ready to go from Warsaw to the World Series. And even the kids who are ill or alone--and God bless those boarder babies, born addicted to drugs and AIDS--coping with problems no child should have to face. But, you know, when it comes to hope and the future, every kid is the same: full of dreams, ready to take on the world, all special because they are the very future of freedom. ”

“ The strength of a democracy is not in bureaucracy, it is in the people and their communities. In everything we do, let us unleash the potential of our most precious resource--our citizens. We must return to families, communities, counties, cities, states and institutions of every kind, the power to chart their own destiny, and the freedom and opportunity provided by strong economic growth. ”

“ But our economy is still over twice as large as our closest competitor.
We will get this recession behind us and return to growth soon. We will get on our way to a new record of expansion, and achieve the competitive strength that will carry us into the next American century.
We should focus our efforts today on encouraging economic growth, investing in the future and giving power and opportunity to the individual.
We must begin with control of Federal spending. That's why I'm submitting a budget that holds the growth in spending to less than the rate of inflation. ”

“ It's time to give people more choice in government by reviving the ideal of the citizen politician who comes not to stay, but to serve. One of the reasons there is so much support for term limitations is that the American people are increasingly concerned about big-money influence in politics. We must look beyond the next election, to the next generation. The time has come to put the national interest ahead of the special interest--and totally eliminate political action committees.
That would truly put more competition in elections and more power in the hands of individuals. ”

“ By 1997 we will have cut defense by 30 percent since I took office. These cuts are deep, and you must know my resolve: this deep, and no deeper. To do less would be insensible to progress, but to do more would be ignorant of history. We must not go back to the days of "the hollow army". We cannot repeat the mistakes made twice in this century when armistice was followed by recklessness and defense was purged as if the world was permanently safe.
I remind you this evening that I have asked for your support in funding a program to protect our country from limited nuclear missile attack. ”

“ And finally, my immediate plan calls on Congress to give crucial help to people who own a home, to every one who has a business, a farm or a single investment.
This time, at this hour, I cannot take "No" for an answer. You must cut the capital gains tax on the people of this country. Never has an issue been so demagogued by its opponents. But the demagogues are wrong. They are wrong, and they know it. Sixty percent of people who benefit from lower capital gains have incomes under $50,000. A cut in the capital gains tax increases jobs and helps just about everyone in our country. ”

“ The power of America rests in a stirring but simple idea: that people will do great things if only you set them free. Well, we're going to have to set the economy free, for if this age of miracles and wonders has taught us anything, it's that if we can change the world, we can change America. ”

“ What is at stake is more than one small country, it is a big idea--a new world order, where diverse nations are drawn together in common cause to achieve the universal aspirations of mankind: peace and security, freedom, and the rule of law. Such is a world worthy of our struggle, and worthy of our children's future. ”

“ My plan is to make the R and D tax credit permanent, and to provide record levels of support, over $76 billion this year alone for people who explore the promise of emerging technologies.
And fourth, we must do something about crime and drugs. And it is time for a major renewed investment in fighting violent street crime. Its saps our strength and hurts our faith in our society, and in our future together. Surely a tired woman on her way to work at six in the morning on a subway deserves the right to get there safely. ”