John Ashcroft

"The last time I looked at September 11th, an American street was a war zone. There was a street in Virginia that was a war zone."

"Through it all, I've learned to trust that God does indeed have a plan and purpose for me. Trust doesn't come into play when you can figure everything out; that's mere reason. Trust operates when you …"

"Do not allow your sorrow or your rage to become hostility toward people on the basis of their ethnicity or their religious views. That is unacceptable; it is out of bounds, and if you break the law, w…"

"Doing what is right in the face of adversity is not always easy or popular. Critics may assail you, but the critics don't always realize what they don't know or don't understand, because they don't ha…"

"I have to chuckle sometimes when I am painted as "hard-nosed." In truth, our Justice Department wasn't nearly as aggressive as Roosevelt's. And our respect for civil liberties was far more extensive t…"

"I decided this early on at Justice: if the traditional way was the most effective way of doing something, then we'd maintain it. But if it was not functioning at optimum levels, we would be doing the …"

"I'm trying to think of all the reasons that are appropriate for me to refuse to answer that question."

"I was deeply grieved and suddenly depleted by a draining weariness. This day had been a nightmare, and I had not yet been asleep."