Bob Kerrey

Like Jonah, the whale had swallowed me; unlike him, I believed I would spend eternity inside the belly of the beast.

The only medal that I am certain I deserved is the Purple Heart.

There is no force more liberating than the knowledge that you are fighting for others.

The idea that somebody who has done something horrible in a war is not willing to talk about it for 32 years is hardly a shocking idea. Quite the contrary.

When you're fighting for economic and social justice, you're always fighting for the minority.

If you look beyond the short term violence and instability, you do see significant activities on the part of the Iraqi people that indicate they understand the commitment necessary to govern themselves. It's not clear how they will do it, but it never is.

The problem is you tend to look back and identify mistakes, and as a consequence of feeling terrible about mistakes you say you bungled this so bad, let's get out of here.

But on the big things, I'm not going to trim in order to win public opinion. Because I really don't want to serve in the Senate if I arrive there without permission to do the things I think need to be done.

It's not clear in the U.S. at the moment, either. We're going through another election.

Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly and most underrated agent of human change.

Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change.

Cuba wants to get rid of a dictator, and baseball needs a dictator.

I've been a Yankees fan since I was six.

I value public service and I'm relatively good at organizing political causes.