Howard Baker

“If you don't have a plan, you become part of somebody else's plan.”

“You have to be able to compromise to be a good senator.”

“The observation of a single fact will often lead to a result of the utmost importance.”

“We have to look at the world as it is, not as we would like it to be.”

“What did the President know and when did he know it?”

“It is always the simple things that change our lives. And these things never happen when you are looking for them. They happen when you are not.”

“The single most important ingredient of leadership is character.”

“Remember, you can't make a souffle rise twice.”

“The most lasting legacy of the Watergate affair is that it has restored to the American people a sense of the importance of the ethical dimension of our political life.”

“I have always been a moderate. I am a Republican because I believe that the Republican party is the best instrument for the moderate to affect the national destiny.”

“I believe that the foundation of a free and just society is the ability of its people to speak, write, and publish freely, without fear of government censorship.”

“The business of the Congress is to do the people's business. That's our job.”

“My father told me that the only way you can make a man listen to you is to get his attention first.”

“I am an optimist. I believe that people are inherently good and that if you give them a chance, they will do the right thing.”