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To say America can have strong leadership without strong character is to say we can get water without the wet.

J. C. Watts

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J. C. Watts
Age: 66
Born: 1957
Born: November 18
American Football Player
Canadian Football Player
Former U.S. Representative
Politician
Eufaula
Oklahoma
Leadership
Water
Strong
America
Character
Without
Wet

More quotes by J. C. Watts

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As an Oklahoma quarterback, you learn to perform under pressure.
J. C. Watts
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The more I ponder some of the boneheaded decisions GOP candidates have made of late, I can't bring myself to believe that they are serious about capturing more than about 8 percent of the black vote.
J. C. Watts
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I would love to be associated with some sports organization. I was a journalism major. That's kind of intriguing, to do something in the political-commentary arena.
J. C. Watts
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I was taught to respect everyone for the simple reason that we're all God's children. I was taught, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.... to judge a man not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character. And I was taught that character...is simply doing what's right when nobody's looking.
J. C. Watts
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I think Newt Gingrich has a proven track record of changing Washington and getting results.
J. C. Watts
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I embrace my blackness, just as I do my conservatism and my Christianity, but I don't want to be defined or pigeonholed by any one of the many elements that make up my character.
J. C. Watts
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I'm not one that believes that affirmative action should be based on one's skin color or one's gender, I think it should be done based on one's need, because I think if you are from a poor white community, I think that poor white kid needs a scholarship just as badly as a poor black kid.
J. C. Watts
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My work in the House of Representatives, at this time in my life, is completed. It is time to return home.
J. C. Watts
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In 2008, as a matter of fact, I had people accusing me of being a Senator Obama supporter because I wouldn't slam him. I said, 'Well, consider the fact that I voted for impeachment for President Clinton, but it wasn't a personal vote. I voted based on the facts and the law and the Constitution and what we were dealing with.'
J. C. Watts
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It doesn't take a lot of strength to hang on. It takes a lot of strength to let go.
J. C. Watts
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I think in politics, in Congress, you often do things that are Republican, or you do things because you're a Democrat. Sometimes that's good, obviously, and sometimes that's obviously bad. But in the news business, there's no such thing as Republican or Democratic news. News is news.
J. C. Watts
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You saw the exodus of many people on the business council, who resigned, who said those are not my personal values, those are not our corporate values, and those - we don't believe - are the values of our country.
J. C. Watts
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Individual responsibility, hard work, paying attention in school, faith, family all these things are important.
J. C. Watts
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Most of all, however, critics of black conservatives say we've forgotten where we came from. I may forget a federal budget number or, God forbid, to set the alarm clock for my weekly 6 a.m. flight to Washington, but I know exactly where I came from.
J. C. Watts
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Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught.
J. C. Watts
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I'm secure in who I am. I don't need the validation of those that would say, you have to be a certain thing in order to be accepted. I'm comfortable going against the grain if I need to.
J. C. Watts
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Consider in Washington, around the country today we are talking about balanced budgets, paying down our national debt, getting the economy going, defending ourselves, activist judges. Newt Gingrich did all those things when he was speaker. We got tax relief. We got balanced budgets. We got, you know, job creation. We paid down our national debt.
J. C. Watts
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Governor is not the position to have in Oklahoma. It is the head coach of Oklahoma or Oklahoma State or Tulsa.
J. C. Watts
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The past two decades revolutionized the way we access information. You and I can have our questions answered with the click of a mouse at any time of day. If America, both corporation and citizen alike, can use these services to solve problems, why can't Washington?
J. C. Watts
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Some might think that George W. Bush had his shortcomings, but let me tell you something - history's going to be kind to George W. Bush.
J. C. Watts