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Jesse Ventura
90 quotes
“I believe in the separation of church and state... We all have our own religious beliefs. There are people out there who are atheists, who don't believe at all... They are all citizens of Minnesota and I have to respect that.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Explaining his refusal to sign a "National Day of Prayer" proclamation (6 May 1999)
“We call our country home of the brave and land of the free, but it's not. We give a false portrayal of freedom. We're not free — if we were, we'd allow people their freedom. Prohibiting something doesn't make it go away. Prostitution is criminal, and bad things happen because it's run illegally by dirt-bags who are criminals. If it's legal, then the girls could have health checks, unions, benefits, anything any other worker gets, and it would be far better.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview in Playboy (November 1999)
“Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers. It tells people to go out and stick their noses in other people's business. I live by the golden rule: Treat others as you'd want them to treat you. The religious right wants to tell people how to live.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview in Playboy (November 1999)
“Every fat person says it's not their fault, that they have gland trouble. You know which gland? The saliva gland. They can't push away from the table.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview in Playboy (November 1999)
“If I could be reincarnated as a fabric, I would come back as a 38 double-D bra.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview in Playboy (November 1999)
“I speak my mind. If it offends some people, well, there's not much I can do about that. But I'm going to be honest. I'm going to continue to speak my mind, and that's who I am...”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: NBC's Meet The Press (3 October 1999) responding to criticism of his remarks in Playboy magazine.
“Congratulations, you have a sense of humor. And to those who didn't: Go stick your head in the mud.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speaking in a news conference to reporters, where a few were wearing the "Official Jackal" security passes that he had issued. (23 February 2001)
“I asked him the most important question that I think you could ask — if he had ever seen Caddyshack.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On what he spoke about in his meeting with Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama (9 May 2001); a scene in that film has the character played by Bill Murray telling a story about having caddied for the Dalai Lama.
“I feel used. I feel violated and duped over the fact that that turned into nothing more than a political rally.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: After leaving a memorial ceremony for Democratic US Senator Paul Wellstone. (30 October 2002)
“The current use of the National Guard is wrong... These are men who did not sign up to go occupy foreign nations.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Army Times (6 September 2004)
“I say legalize marijuana because we have a chance to leave this world a better place for our children. Marijuana legalization is job creation, tax dollars, something to rejuvenate our pathetic economy. This is a multibillion-dollar industry. This is about jobs; this is about economics; this is about freedom. This is about taking our country back.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Jesse Ventura's Marijuana Manifesto (2016), Introduction
“I didn't need this job. I ran for governor to find out if the American dream still exists in anyone's heart other than mine. I'm living proof that the myths aren't true. The candidate with the most money isn't always the one who wins. You don't have to be a career politician to serve in public office. You don't have to be well-connected. You don't even have to be a Democrat or a Republican. You can stand on your own two feet and speak your mind, because if people like where you're coming from, they will vote you in. The will of the people is still the most powerful force in our government.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Politics is not my life. I have a career in radio and another career in film. I have a wife who is the sweetest person in the world and two kids who are growing up into terrific, well-rounded people. I don't want to spend the rest of my life in politics. When I'm finished with my term as governor, I'm going back to the life that's waiting for me in the private sector.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I decided to run for governor because I got mad.... I want to make government more directly accountable to the people.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am not a career politician. I'm not a Democrat. I'm not a Republican. I'm a working man with commonsense ideas and goals. I describe myself politically as fiscally conservative and socially moderate-to-liberal.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don't believe we need the government's help as much as some think we do. That belief sets me apart from the Democrats, since their way of dealing with everything is to tax and spend. I also believe that government has no business telling us how we should live our lives. I think our lifestyle choices should be left up to us. What we do in our private lives is none of the government's business. That position rules out the Republican Party for me. As the cliché says, "I don't want Democrats in the boardroom and I don't want Republicans in the bedroom.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are a lot of good causes out there, but they can't possibly all be served by government. The Constitution guarantees us our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That's all. It doesn't guarantee our rights to charity. The government is not a parent. We can't expect the government to always be there, ready to bail us out. When we make decisions in life, we have to be willing to live with the consequences. We can't expect the government to help us get back on our feet every time we make a bad decision.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We've gotten into the bad habit of overlegislating. I believe in the America people's ability to govern themselves. If government would just get out of the way and allow them to lead their lives as they choose, they will succeed.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Remember that government doesn't earn one single dollar it spends. In order for you to get money from the government, that money must first be taken from somebody else.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Government works less efficiently when it begins to grow out of control and takes on more and more of the responsibilities that belong to the citizens.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Develop high expectations.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There's hardly a more effective way to solve the problems we face in our educational system than to reduce class size. A ratio of no more than 17 students per teacher ensures more 1-on-1 contact, better classroom discipline, you name it.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The best chance disabled students have for productive adult lives comes from being mainstreamed among other students. My daughter Jade is living proof of that. She has a disability, but we have made sure that she has gotten the same kind of exposure as other kids her age. There are a few exceptions; there are students whose special needs are such that mainstreaming won't work for them. But in the majority of cases, mainstreaming should be supported, encouraged, and facilitated for disabled students.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Students often approached me about state-paid tuition while I was out campaigning. After I explained to them that if the state pays their tuition now, they will pay higher taxes to pay other people's tuition for the rest of their lives, most of them ended up agreeing with me.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Government's role should be only to keep the playing field level, and to work hand in hand with business on issues such as employment. But beyond this, to as great an extent as possible, it should get the hell out of the way.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm against the draft. I believe we should have a professional military; it might be smaller, but it would be more effective.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There's no question that we need tougher drunk-driving laws for repeat offenders. We need to take a lesson from European countries where driving isn't a right but a privilege. There isn't a person on this planet by this time who doesn't know that when you consume alcohol you shouldn't get behind the wheel of a car. The people who do it anyway should have their privilege to drive taken away.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our government has the weirdest bias against cannabis. There's no reason for everybody to be so afraid of it. It's not the antichrist the DEA makes it out to be. Industrial hemp is a very useful plant. I challenged the attorney general to get rid of the criminal stigma associated with hemp so we can look at it in terms of how it might be useful. And government has no business telling us what we can and can't use for pain relief.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don't support abortion. I could never participate in one. But I think it would be a mistake to make them illegal again. What criminalization will do is force women into garages and back alleys, and then you're going to have two lives in jeopardy. My mom, who was a nurse, used to talk about the messes that would come in after back-alley abortions went wrong. The way to stop abortion is to deal, philosophically and spiritually, with the people who get them. And that's not something government can touch.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I get very disturbed when I see people demonstrating with signs that say "Welfare Rights." There is nothing in the Constitution that says you have a right to welfare! Do you know what welfare is? It's taking money from someone who is working to give to someone who's not!”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A Navy SEAL will defy death at least twice a week. When you get that kind of familiarity with death, barriers go down, and anything else seems insignificant. I don't like what happened in the navy's Tailhook scandal; I think what those officers did was wrong. But I understand why it happened. When you get a force of that many hundreds of warriors together, there's bound to be trouble.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“War isn't civilized. War is failure. It's the ultimate result of a breakdown in public policy, and soldiers are the machines that handle that breakdown. In warfare, you're taught to do whatever you have to, to stay alive.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Even while I was a Navy SEAL, I participated in the 1970s peace movement. I marched at peace rallies. I admit it wasn't so much because of my great love of peace as it was because of my great love of female companionship. To the women in the movement, I was the poor beleaguered victim of the system, sent off against his will to fight this horrible war. They didn't realize that the navy had no draft!”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To this day, I'm against the draft. I believe the military is much stronger if it's an all-volunteer organization.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I believe very strongly that guns are instruments of death. That's all they're used for; there's no purpose for them other than to kill. I think you have to understand that in order to respect them. I have no fear of my teenage son handling weapons, because he has that respect.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm not knocking private schools, but I owe it to my kids to let them grow up in a place where private school isn't required. They're only in school 6-8 hours a day; they have to live in their neighborhood 24 hours a day. I didn't want them growing up in a place where anybody with the means had abandoned their public schools.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I believe I was destined to become mayor of Brooklyn Park. And maybe, by fulfilling that destiny to become mayor, I sealed my destiny to become governor. I hope I'm not destined to become president. I don't say that with arrogance — it's only that everything seemed to fall so easily into place in both of my other races. But I truly wanted to be mayor and governor — I don't want the presidency. I'll never say never, because you never know what will happen. But 99% of me says no.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“While I was mayor, I learned that government is a system of checks and balances — you can't simply walk in and change things. It takes time. I used to joke that it would be nice if a magic wand came with the job, if I could just wave it and make things work the way they're supposed to. But unfortunately it's not that easy. The bureaucracy is so huge that in a lot of situations all I can do is tell people the truth and let the chips fall where they may.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Whenever you take a stand on an issue, people will line up around the block to kick your ass over it. By having an opinion, you make yourself a target. Why do you think Congress likes to hide behind closed doors at decision-making time? I put all the city council meetings on public TV, over the good old boys' objections. Exposure creates an educated, involved public, which isn't in the interests of the old-boy network.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I view the traditional two parties as in some ways very evil. They've become monsters that are out of control. The two parties don't have in mind what's best for Minnesota. The only things that are important to them are their own agendas and their pork. Government's become just a battle of power between the two parties. But now that Minnesota has a governor who truly comes from the private sector, a lot of light's going to be shed on how the system is unfair to people outside the two parties.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Don't look for me to make a run for the White House. I don't want that. I see what happens to everyone who takes that office: They all go in so virile and young, and then in the course of 4 years they age 20. I can get by being governor, but being president would be too much stress, too much responsibility — I'd be the most powerful person in the world! And I don't want to do that to Terry. I won't say absolutely not, but I wouldn't put any money on there ever being a Jesse "The Prez" Ventura.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Over the past few decades, we've gotten into the bad habit of looking to the government to solve every personal and social crisis that comes along. People have really come to misunderstand government's scope. There's only so much it can do. For one thing, it's a terrible social regulator. And morals and values aren't things that legislation can even touch. You can't legislate morality. It doesn't work.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm not disparaging suicides when I call them weak, I'm pointing out that anybody who would consider doing a thing like that needs help. I don't think a normal, mentally healthy person commits suicide. Of course, there are exceptions; people who are terminally ill are a different issue. But in the vast majority of cases, suicide is a tragedy that does unbelievable damage to the family and friends the suicide leaves behind. You don't want to encourage people to do such a thing.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'd like to work on having every fourth year become a year in which no laws are made, but the old laws are reviewed, updated, or deleted as needed. That way we won't get endless, obsolete laws piling up on the books.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They're Crips and Bloods in Brooks Brothers suits.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They could care less about the public. The public comes in third. Number one is keeping their power. Number two are the special interests, the people footing the bill. Finally, the public good might be third — if they can profit from it. If there's no profit, they could care less.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's panhandling. . . That's the system we have, though. It's based on bribery.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A third-party candidate is never treated equally. They look at you as a novelty, as cannon fodder. "This is entertaining," they think, "but we'll go back to the Democrats and Republicans, because only they can run our government." Which is baloney.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Could someone please tell me how this will affect me? Come on, this is Harvard, folks. I came all the way out here to learn this.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some felt I'm not academically qualified, and they're right.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source