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John McCain Quotes

Total quotes: 28
“Glory belongs to the act of being constant to something greater than yourself, to a cause, to your principles, to the people on whom you rely, and who rely on you in return. No misfortune, no injury, no humiliation can destroy it.”
— John McCain, Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir
Tagged: glory, Pride
“The most important lesson I learned there was that to sustain my self-respect for a lifetime it would be necessary for me to have the honor of serving something greater than my self-interest.”
— John McCain, Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir
Tagged: Self-Intrest, Life Lessons, Self-Respect, Respect, greater good
“We are taught to understand, correctly, that courage is not the absence of fear, but the capacity for action despite our fears.”
— John McCain, Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life
Tagged: Courage, Fear, What Is Courage?
“America is the greatest force for good in the history of the world.”
— John McCain
“But I discovered in prison that faith in myself alone, separate from other, more important allegiances, was ultimately no match for the cruelty that human beings could devise when they were entirely unencumbered by respect for the God-given dignity of man. This is the lesson I learned in prison. It is, perhaps, the most important lesson I have ever learned.”
— John McCain, Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir
Tagged: Human Dignity, Lessons from Prison, Prisoner of War
“War is wretched beyond description, and only a fool or a fraud could sentimentalize its cruel reality.”
— John McCain
Tagged: War, Wretched, Fraud, Fool, Sentimentalism
“My father and his father believed the best definition of courage was Admiral Lord Nelson’s advice: 'No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy.'”
— John McCain, Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life
Tagged: Courage
“Our society demands that women be treated equally and that we not discriminate against them.”
— John McCain
Tagged: Gender Equality, Equality, discrimination, Misogyny
“The first role of government is to help people who are in crisis or need. That's why we have government.”
— John McCain
Tagged: Government, Crisis
“Whenever America sends its citizens into harm's way, it must do so with eyes wide open.”
— John McCain
Tagged: Military Intervention
“We have the obligation to use our freedom wisely, to select well from all the choices freedom offers. We can accept or reject the obligation, but if we are to preserve our freedom, our honor, we must choose well.”
— John McCain, Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir
Tagged: Freedom, American Life
“All you've ever asked of your government is to stand on your side and not in your way. And that's what I intend to do: stand on your side and fight for your future.”
— John McCain
Tagged: Government, Future
“It is your character, and your character alone, that will make your life happy or unhappy.”
— John McCain, Character Is Destiny: Inspiring Stories Every Young Person Should Know and Every Adult Should Remember
Tagged: character, Happy, Unhappy
“Although human beings often attempt self-delusion, we cannot forever hide the truth about ourselves from ourselves.”
— John McCain
Tagged: Self-Delusion, Truth, Hiding
“I believe in evolution. But I also believe, when I hike the Grand Canyon and see it at sunset, that the hand of God is there also.”
— John McCain
Tagged: Grand Canyon, Evolution, Sunset, God, Hand of God
“Government should take care of those in America who can't care for themselves. That's a role of government.”
— John McCain, The Times Interviews John McCain
Tagged: Government, Underprivileged
“An officer must not confer his responsibilities on the men under his command. They are his alone.”
— John McCain, Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir
Tagged: strategy, Leadership
“If you want politics to be more civil, if you want Congress to argue less and get more done, then show up. Represent.”
— John McCain, John McCain Makes An Appeal For Civility And Humility
Tagged: Politics, American Politcs, Democracy
“Bomb, bomb! Bomb, Iran!”
— John McCain
Tagged: Iran, Bombing
“In prison, I fell in love with my country. I had loved her before then, but like most young people, my affection was little more than a simple appreciation for the comforts and privileges most Americans enjoyed and took for granted. It wasn't until I had lost America for a time that I realized how much I loved her.”
— John McCain, Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir
Tagged: Prison, Love, country, Comfort
“Freedom is America’s honor, and all honor comes with obligations.”
— John McCain, Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir
Tagged: America, Freedom
“Only a fool or a fraud talks tough or romantically about war.”
— John McCain
Tagged: Fool, Fraud, War
“I always had the sense that he was special, a man who had set his mind to accomplishing great things, and had ransomed his life to the task.”
— John McCain, Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir
Tagged: Life
“From both my parents, I learned to persevere. But my mother’s extraordinary resilience made her the stronger of the two. I acquired some of her resilience and her felicity, and that inheritance made an enormous difference in my life.”
— John McCain, Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir
Tagged: Parents, mother, Parental Knowlege
“I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's. I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here. I loved it for its decency, for its faith in the wisdom, justice, and goodness of its people. I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again; I wasn't my own man anymore; I was my country's.”
— John McCain
Tagged: Prison, Patriotism, Decency, Wisdom, Justice, Goodness
“So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none. When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of vision. When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.”
— John McCain, Character Is Destiny: Inspiring Stories Every Young Person Should Know and Every Adult Should Remember
Tagged: Fear, Death, Joy, Religion, Heroism
“We need to recover some perspective about how much someone's politics is a testament to their character. When did politics become the principal or only attribute we use to judge people? Republicans and Democrats can be good neighbors, loving parents, loyal Americans, decent human beings. I don't remember another time in my life when so many Americans considered someone's partisan affiliation a test of whether that person was entitled to their respect.”
— John McCain, John McCain Makes An Appeal For Civility And Humility
Tagged: Republicans vs. Democrats, Respect for Each Other, American Politcs
“The sanctity of personal honor was the only lesson my father felt necessary to impart to me, and he faithfully saw to my instruction, frequently using my grandfather as his model. All my life, he had implored me not to lie, cheat, or steal; to be fair with friend and stranger alike; to respect my superior and my subordinates; to know my duty and devote myself to its accomplishment without hesitation or complaint. All else, he reasoned, would be satisfactorily managed were I to accept, gratefully, the demands of honor.

'There is a term which has slipped somewhat into disuse,' he remarked late in his life, 'which I always used till the moment I retired everything that highest sense of personal honor implies.' ”
— John McCain, Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir
Tagged: Life
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