Joe Biden quotes: former VP drops dimes about compassion, kids, happiness, hard work, makin’ millions, and more.
“But all of you have one thing in common: you will all seek to find that sweet spot that satisfies your ambition and success and happiness.”
“Those who are the most successful and the happiest – whether they’re working on Wall Street or Main Street, as a doctor or nurse, or as a lawyer, or a social worker… about the ones who from my observation wherever they were in the world were able to find that sweet spot between success and happiness. Those who balance life and career, who find purpose and fulfillment, and where ambition leads them.”
“That’s the stuff that fosters relationships. It’s the only way to breed trust in everything you do in your life.”
“Build real relationships – even with people with whom you vehemently disagree. You’ll not only be happier. You will be more successful.”
“A lucky person gets up in the morning, puts both feet on the floor, knows what they’re about to do and thinks it still matters.”
“If the problem is fear, the answer is knowledge.”
“I believe the measure of a man isn’t just the road he’s traveled; it’s the choices he’s made along the way.”
“The art of living is simply getting up after you’ve been knocked down.”
“My own father had always said the measure of a man wasn’t how many times or how hard he got knocked down, but how fast he got back up. I made a pledge to myself that I would get up and emerge from this debacle better for having gone through it. I would live up to the expectation I had for myself. I would be the kind of man I wanted to be.”
“True bravery is when there is very little chance of winning, but you keep fighting.”
“Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget and I’ll tell you what you value.”
“Failure at some point in your life is inevitable, but giving up is unforgivable.”
“The greatest gift is the ability to forget – to forget the bad things and focus on the good.”
“Life is a matter of really tough choices.”
“Never doubt your capacity to make a difference.”
“You’re not better than anybody, but nobody is better than you.”
“I was first in my family to go to college.”
“My father used to have an expression. He’d say, ‘Joey, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It’s about your dignity. It’s about respect. It’s about your place in your community.'”
“Every single morning since I’ve been 27 years old, I’ve got up and someone’s handed me a card like the one I have in my pocket with the schedule on it, of all the things I’m gonna do. I don’t know what to do if I didn’t have that card.”
“My mother believed and my father believed that if I wanted to be President of the United States, I could be, I could be Vice President!”
“You know you’re a success when you look at your kids and realize they turned out better than you.”
“If you do politics the right way, I believe, you can actually make people’s lives better. And integrity is the minimum ante to get into the game.”
“Our future cannot depend on the government alone. The ultimate solutions lie in the attitudes and the actions of the American people.”
“Everything from your marriage, to your job, to your neighborhood, to your country… works better when we actually take time to look out for the other guy.”
“There will come a day, I promise you, when the thought of your son, or daughter, or your wife or your husband, brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye. It will happen. My prayer for you is that day will come sooner than later.”
“It’s not that all that difficult, folks, to be compassionate when you’ve been the beneficiary of compassion in your lowest moments not only from your family, but from your friends and total strangers. Because when you know how much it meant to you, you know how much it mattered. It’s not hard to be compassionate.”
“So I try to be mindful, at all times, of what a difference a small human gesture can make to people in need. What does it really cost to take a moment to look someone in the eye, to give him a hug, to let her know, ‘I get it. You’re not alone.’”
“The only thing I know is I ain’t changing my brand. I know what I believe. I’m confident in what I know. And I’m gonna say it. And if folks like it, wonderful. If they don’t like it, I understand.”
“So how do I want to spend the rest of my life? I want to spend as much time with my family, and I want to help change the country and the world for the better. That duty does much more than give me purpose; it gives me something to hope for. It makes me nostalgic for the future.”
“I’ve been really, really fortunate.”
“I was kind of secretly hoping one of my kids would go out and make a million bucks. So when they put me in a home, at least I’ll have a window with a view.”
“I know what I believe, I know what I want to do, and I’m just comfortable saying it, and laying it out there.”
“There’s so many opportunities. I’m so optimistic about your generation and I’m optimistic about this country. The United States has ever been better positioned to lead the world than we are at this moment.”
“But all of you have one thing in common you will all seek to find that sweet spot that satisfies your ambition and success and happiness.”
“So be successful. I sincerely hope some of you become millionaires and billionaires. I mean that. But engage the world around you because you will be more successful and happier. And you can absolutely succeed in life without sacrificing your ideals or your commitments to others and family. I’m confident that you can do that, and I’m confident that this generation will do it more than any other.”
