Walter F. Mondale Quotes
Born: January 5, 1928
Walter F. Mondale, the 42nd Vice President of the United States and a steadfast champion of progressive ideals, dedicated his life to the quiet, unyielding power of principled resilience. Known for his unwavering focus on social justice and civic duty, Mondale’s philosophy was rooted in the belief that integrity and persistence can weather any political storm. His legacy, forged in both triumph and defeat, teaches that true strength lies not in avoiding failure but in rising from it with renewed purpose. Mondale’s quotes resonate because they speak to the enduring fight for fairness, reminding us that focus is the anchor in a turbulent world.
Walter F. Mondale Quotes (31)
"If you are sure you understand everything that is going on, you are hopelessly confused."
— Walter F. Mondale"What do we want our kids to do? Sweep up around Japanese computers?"
— Walter F. Mondale"The overarching problem is one of the survival of humanity in the face of the growing nuclear menace. If those bombs go off, nothing else would matter."
— Walter F. Mondale"I believe in the Camp David accords."
— Walter F. Mondale"Modern politics today requires a mastery of television. I've never really warmed up to television and, in fairness to television, it's never warmed up to me."
— Walter F. Mondale"There's a lot of bad consequences that flow from segregation. The kids don't do as well. We live separately. We don't learn about each other. We're all Americans. And yet, we separate based on, basically, race. And I believe it's got to stop."
— Walter F. Mondale"I don't want to spend the next two years in Holiday Inns."
— Walter F. Mondale"President Reagan likes to say Uncle Sam is a kindly old man with a spine of steel, and that he is. But I want to see Uncle Sam as well with a mind and with a heart and with a soul and a conscience."
— Walter F. Mondale"The course of nationalism, once it's attached to a cause opposite yours, is still the strongest force in the world."
— Walter F. Mondale"Running for President is physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually the most demanding single undertaking I can envisage unless it's World War III."
— Walter F. Mondale"Do you want to tear your life apart and get rid of everything you've known as a lifestyle? Like seeing your family? Being with your friends? A fishing trip? A hunting trip? A night's sleep?"
— Walter F. Mondale"Pick somebody who knows what it's like to live on an average income and to deal with the problems that most Americans face. Pick somebody who's traveled this country and who will remember who put him in the White House - not to be a king but to be a public servant."
— Walter F. Mondale"I earned my spurs in the civil rights movement. All my life, not for political but for religious reasons, moral reasons, that's where I've been, and I'm proud of it, and I'll always be there."
— Walter F. Mondale"I said I didn't want to spend most of my life in Holidays Inns, but I've checked and they've all been redecorated. They're marvelous places to stay and I've thought it over and that's where I'd like to be."
— Walter F. Mondale"In our system, at about 11:30 on election night, they just push you off the edge of the cliff-and that's it. You might scream on the way down, but you're going to hit the bottom, and you're not going to be in elective office."
— Walter F. Mondale"Obviously, the domestic need is to shape an economic policy that assures long-term healthy economic growth and a reassertion of American competitiveness in international competition."
— Walter F. Mondale"The most important thing I would do is to try to institutionalize U.S.-Soviet summits."
— Walter F. Mondale"I think we need a public, strategic, cooperative relationship with Israel."
— Walter F. Mondale"I believe that Reagan's a radical on arms control."
— Walter F. Mondale"One of the phenomenons of American political life is that it all stops one day. One day, you've got 200 reporters and cameras, and everybody is hanging on you. And three days later, you're alone. And it's quite a transition."
— Walter F. Mondale"I believe there were things I probably should have done differently. But I'm not going to spend a lot of time crying over spilt milk."
— Walter F. Mondale"I think the Reagan people are superb marketers. Their whole approach to polling, to television, to the symbolism and the rest approaches genius."
— Walter F. Mondale"I have no doubt the Japanese leadership and most Japanese see the importance of a strong U.S.-Japan relationship. I certainly have no doubt that the American view is the same."
— Walter F. Mondale"There's no question that history will record that I took a helluva shellacking."
— Walter F. Mondale"I will not lobby. I will not be an influence-type lawyer. I'm a professional lawyer."
— Walter F. Mondale"When I was a young man, I used to dream maybe someday I could be an alderman. Instead of that I became an attorney general, a senator, a vice president, a Democratic nominee."
— Walter F. Mondale"I will end the lawlessness that's destroying our environment. I will take polluters to court, not to lunch."
— Walter F. Mondale"We have no right to poison, to eat up, to chew, to pollute this wonderful country of ours. We are required to save it and purify it and protect it."
— Walter F. Mondale"The more the American people see the sharp differences between Mr. Reagan and me and the visions we have of our future, the better off the American people will be."
— Walter F. Mondale"My father was a minister, and my mother was a music teacher."
— Walter F. Mondale