George J. Mitchell Quotes

• I really owe everything to my parents and their devotion and drive to see to it that their children had the education which led to the opportunities that they never were able to have.

  George J. Mitchell

  Children, Opportunity, Parent

  47 Copy quote

• I believe there's no such thing as a conflict that can't be ended. They're created and sustained by human beings. They can be ended by human beings. No matter how ancient the conflict, no matter how hateful, no matter how hurtful, peace can prevail.

  George J. Mitchell

  Peace, Believe, Hurtful

  "The Sadat Lectures: Words and Images on Peace, 1997-2008". Book edited by Shibley Telhami, 2010.

  23 Copy quote

• In every society in human history, including the United States, those in power seek to imbue themselves with the attributes of religion and patriotism as a way of getting greater support for their policy and insulating themselves from any criticism.

  George J. Mitchell

  Support, Patriotism, Criticism

  11 Copy quote

• My father was the orphaned son of immigrants to the United States from Ireland. My father never knew his parents. His mother died - we're not sure - either at or shortly after his birth, and he and all of his siblings were placed in orphanages in the Boston area.

  George J. Mitchell

  Mother, Father, Sibling

  16 Copy quote

• So my father grew up in an orphanage in Boston. He was then adopted by an elderly childless couple from Maine, who gave him the name of Mitchell. He moved to Maine, and there he met my mother and was married.

  George J. Mitchell

  Mother, Couple, Father

  8 Copy quote

• From my parents, I learned a very strong work ethic, and all of my brothers and sisters all worked from the earliest days of life right through to the present time.

  George J. Mitchell

  Sister, Strong, Brother

  84 Copy quote

• My mother was an immigrant from Lebanon to the United States. She came when she was 18 years old in 1920.

  George J. Mitchell

  Mother, Years, United States

  10 Copy quote

• First, the American legislative process isn't well suited to large and complex measures.

  George J. Mitchell

  Firsts, Process, Wells

  12 Copy quote

• I spent two years in the Army. And my older brother, who was also a great positive influence on me, encouraged me to think about law school, and I said - well, I didn't have any money.

  George J. Mitchell

  Brother, School, Army

  9 Copy quote

• The board is currently undertaking what could be its most important task, ... We are confident that we're going to make a choice that is in the best interest of the company, shareholders and others.

  George J. Mitchell

  Choices, Important, Tasks

  9 Copy quote

• Our firm view is that the president has no legal authority, none whatsoever, to commit American troops to war in the Persian Gulf or anywhere else without congressional authorization.

  George J. Mitchell

  War, Views, President

  11 Copy quote

• I had been involved in U.S. intelligence in Berlin, Germany, while in the military and had worked with a contact with the Central Intelligence Agency office there.

  George J. Mitchell

  Military, Agency, Office

  7 Copy quote

• When I went to college, my goal was to be a college history teacher. I majored in history.

  George J. Mitchell

  Teacher, College, Goal

  9 Copy quote

• As they say, one thing led to another, and, ultimately, the British and Irish governments asked me to serve as chairman of the peace negotiations, which ironically began six years ago this week.

  George J. Mitchell

  Government, Years, Six

  11 Copy quote

• So I developed very early a massive inferiority complex, and I've told the story often about how that inspired me later in life to get involved in other things, because I couldn't out-do my brothers in sports, and it's a very competitive relationship.

  George J. Mitchell

  Relationship, Sports, Brother

  24 Copy quote

• And I spent that time working as an insurance adjuster and going to law school in the evening, and then when I left law school, I joined the Department of Justice in Washington.

  George J. Mitchell

  School, Law, Justice

  7 Copy quote

• I'm glad I made the decision, although the practice of law - and particularly serving as a federal judge - was a part of my life that I really enjoyed and treasured and look back on it with fondness.

  George J. Mitchell

  Law, Practice, Judging

  7 Copy quote

• I was the United States Attorney for Maine for three years, and then was appointed a federal judge.

  George J. Mitchell

  Pregnancy, Years, Judging

  7 Copy quote

• In the spring of 1994 I decided not to seek reelection to the Senate. I had made the decision 12 years earlier, Christmas Day of 1982, just after I had been first elected to a full term, that I would do the best I could for a limited time.

  George J. Mitchell

  Christmas, Spring, Years

  54 Copy quote

• My parents were very poor, but we never felt any sense of need or want. It was a very close, loving, tightly-knit family growing up, and I never felt any sense of deprivation or anything like that.

  George J. Mitchell

  Growing Up, Parent, Needs

  8 Copy quote

• I had a great interest in sports. I had three older brothers who were great athletes. I was not.

  George J. Mitchell

  Sports, Brother, Athlete

  6 Copy quote

• I didn't want to make it a lifetime thing. I don't believe in statutory term limits, but people can limit themselves if they want to, and that's what I decided to do.

  George J. Mitchell

  Believe, People, Term Limits

  52 Copy quote

• I got a job with a law firm in Portland after a couple of years with Senator Muskie. But by then, my interest in politics had been sparked, through meeting Senator Muskie, through seeing what he did.

  George J. Mitchell

  Jobs, Couple, Years

  6 Copy quote

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