Quotes by Ralph Nader

“A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy to get it done.”

“Your best teacher is your last mistake.”

“There can be no daily democracy without daily citizenship.”

“The use of solar energy has not been opened up because the oil industry does not own the sun.”

“When strangers start acting like neighbors... communities are reinvigorated.”

“Addiction should never be treated as a crime. It has to be treated as a health problem. We do not send alcoholics to jail in this country. Over 500,000 people are in our jails who are nonviolent drug users.”

“Turn on to politics, or politics will turn on you.”

“A society that has more justice is a society that needs less charity.”

“This country has far more problems than it deserves and far more solutions than it applies.”

“Most of them (Democrats and Republicans) are politicians with fingers to the wind, ... And if I win, well be giving them a lot of wind.”

“If Al Gore does not change the spectrum of his agenda and broaden it out, he is going to lose California,”

“To shut out legitimate third-party candidates from these debates is to limit the competitive democratic process on which the American electoral system is supposed to be built,”

“Why are these two men afraid? They should overcome their fear of facing new ideas and alternative voices, and open the process for the American people,”

“Day after day on television, Mr. Bush comes on and goes after [Iraqi President] Saddam Hussein,”

“But youve heard him speak about Saddam. For every question we put to the president about domestic needs he has one answer: attack Iraq, attack Iraq, attack Iraq. Psychologists would call this the obsessive-compulsive syndrome.”

“You can have a lot more leverage in this country in another way, and that is by determining the margin of victory between Democrats and Republicans. Its not a spoiler role, its a leverage role.”

“Theyre going to have to reach out or theyre going to lose votes.”

“What good is [Al] Gore if he cant beat Bush? I mean, Gore is beating Gore.”

“I think the American people are going to fall asleep watching the drab debate the dreary.”

Members of Congress are like the voters in one respect -- they want to go with the winners.