Quotes by Everett Dirksen

“When I feel the heat, I see the light.”

“I am a man of principles, and my first principle is flexibility.”

“When all is said and done, the real citadel of strength of any community is in the hearts and minds and desires of those who dwell there.”

“There is no force so powerful as an idea whose time has come.”

“A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money.”

“The U.S. Senate - an old scow which doesn't move very fast but never sinks.”

“Dirksen's Three Laws of Politics: 1. Get elected. 2. Get re-elected. 3. Don't get mad get even.”

“The U.S. Senate - an old scow which doesn't move very fast but never sinks.”

“I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, the first of which is to be flexible at all times.”

“When I face an issue of great import that cleaves both constituents and colleagues, I always take the same approach. I engage in deep deliberation and quiet contemplation. I wait to the last availa...”

“Stronger than all the armies is an idea that's time has come. … The time has come for equality of opportunity in sharing in government, in education, and in employment. It will not be stayed or den...”

“There are gentle men in whom gentility finally destroys whatever of iron there was in their souls. There are iron men in whom the iron corroded whatever gentility they possessed. There are men—not ...”

“We have been through this biennial convulsion four or five different times over the past 10 or 12 years, and now it appears that we are going through this quiet agony all over again.”

“A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon, you're talking real money.”

“Over the course of American history, a handful of U.S. senators have been so consequential that they are remembered better than some presidents. Among them are Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, Robe...”

“All of his senatorial colleagues were present and the galleries were packed on June 10, 1964, when Everett Dirksen rose to speak to the most far-reaching legislative proposal since the New Deal. Th...”

“The attorney general said that you were very helpful and did an excellent job and that I ought to tell you that I admire you. I told him that I had already done that for some time.”

“You're worthy of the Land of Lincoln. And a man from Illinois is going to pass the bill, and I'll see that you get proper attention and credit.”

“When Daniel Webster died more than a century ago, a man who differed strongly with him on many public issues rose in Congress to say this in eulogy: Our great men are the common property of the cou...”

“Little known by many today is the fact that it was Republican Senator Everett Dirksen from Illinois, not Johnson, who pushed through the 1964 Civil Rights Act. In fact, Dirksen was instrumental to ...”