Manly Quotables

Below are a number of quotes taken from various sources at various times.  They exemplify either the wisdom or brutal honesty inherent in manly men, even if some of them weren't necessarily spoken by the manliest of men (or even men).  Where it seems necessary, I have explained the context of the quotation.  Any recommendations are welcome, as there is only so much I can pull from quote books, newspapers, and the like.  In the meantime, enjoy and ponder the power of the spoken word.


"When I take action I'm not going to fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt. It's going to be decisive."
George W. Bush
September 2001

"I am politically incorrect. I like to drink Budweiser and shoot animals." Kid Rock
the Grammy Awards / February 23, 2000

"They played girls' football.  And I didn't like the way they acted.  They were too nice.  You'd hit them, and they would get up and say, 'Nice play.'" Former University of Oklahoma football star Brian Bosworth after his top-ranked Sooners destroyed #4 UCLA 38-3 In the 1986 season opener.
Norman, OK / September 6, 1986
"Alcohol is nicissary f'r man so that now an' thin he can have a good opinion iv himsilf, ondisturbed by th' facts."
Writer Finley Peter Dunne.
Chicago, IL / April 26, 1914


"A warlike spirit, which alone can create and civilize a state, is absolutely essential to national defense and to national perpetuity."
General Douglas MacArthur.
March 1927


"If you're a Canadian and you come to our state, don't murder anybody."
Texas Governor George W. Bush responding to a Canadian reporter's question about what the first execution of a Canadian citizen in the U.S. in over 45 years says to other Canadians.
 Austin, TX / December 9, 1998
"I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot;  but it takes more than that to kill a bull moose."
Theodore Roosevelt after being shot in the chest  by a would-be assassin.  He refused medical treatment until he could be driven to a campaign stop and allowed to make his speech.  He said the above words, made his speech for an hour and a half, and then let the doctors work on him.
Milwaukee, WI / October 14, 1912


 "It is easier to be critical than to be correct."
Benjamin Disraeli in a speech to the House of Commons.
London, England / January 24, 1860


"If we look to the answer as to why for so many years we achieved so much, prospered as no other people on earth, it was because here in this land we unleashed the energy and individual genius of man to a greater extent than has ever been done before."
Ronald Reagan talking about the greatness of America in his first inaugural address.
Washington, D.C. / January 20, 1981
"Communism has never come to power in a country that was not disrupted by war or corruption, or both."
John F. Kennedy speaking to NATO.
Naples, Italy / July 3, 1963

"The Queen is most anxious to enlist everyone who can speak or write to join in checking this mad, wicked folly of 'Woman's Rights' with all its attendant horrors on which her poor, feeble sex is bent, forgetting every sense of womanly feeling and propriety... God created men and women different-- then let them remain each in their own position."
Queen Victoria.
London, England / May 29, 1870

"Man is more courageous, pugnacious, and energetic than woman, and has a more inventive genius."
Charles Darwin.
Sometime in 1874
"The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; a well armed, and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country:  but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms, shall be compelled to render military service in person."
James Madison in the course of proposing many amendments to the Constitution.  This is what would become the Second Amendment stated in more direct terms (except for the religious scruples part).  Clearly, Madison meant for an armed citizenry to be the "best security" against tyranny.
June 8, 1789

"Common sense...is very uncommon."
Lord Chesterfield in a letter to his son.
September 27, 1748


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