Jack Abramoff Quotes

As a lobbyist, I thought it only natural and right that my clients should reward those members who saved them such substantial sums with generous contributions. This quid pro quo became one of hallmarks of our lobbying efforts.

- Jack Abramoff

Thought, Clients, Became, Quid

You can't take a congressman to lunch for $25 and buy him a hamburger or a steak or something like that. But you can take him to a fund-raising lunch and not only buy him that steak, but give him $25,000 extra and call it a fund-raiser - and have all the same access and all the same interactions with that congressman.

- Jack Abramoff

Lunch, Give, Access, Fund-Raising

Access is vital in lobbying. If you can't get in your door, you can't make your case.

- Jack Abramoff

Door, Access, Lobbying, Vital

If you chose to serve in Congress or on a congressional staff, you should be barred for life from working for any company, organization, or association which lobbies the federal government.

- Jack Abramoff

Which, Congressional, Chose

The lure of post-public service lobbying employment needs to be eliminated.

- Jack Abramoff

Service, Needs, Eliminated, Employment

I'm an aggressive person.

- Jack Abramoff

Person, Aggressive

When I arrived in prison, they locked the prison down that day because the media was all over the place.

- Jack Abramoff

Over, Because, Arrived, Locked

Many of my e-mails have been maliciously taken out of context, another effort by those assaulting my career.

- Jack Abramoff

Career, Been, Another, Context

I am much chastened and profoundly remorseful. I can only hope that the Almighty and those whom I have wronged will forgive me my trespasses.

- Jack Abramoff

Will, Profoundly, Almighty, Wronged

As a result, I've been portrayed as a cynical barbarian preying on the very clients I was charged to defend.

- Jack Abramoff

Result, Been, Very, Cynical

Lobbying is not a bad thing. I'm not trying to say that we shouldn't have lobbyists or we shouldn't have lobbying to petition our government. It's in the Constitution, and it's something that should be honorable and good.

- Jack Abramoff

Constitution, Bad, Lobbyists, Honorable

A conservative is a liberal who's been mugged, and a libertarian is a conservative who's been indicted.

- Jack Abramoff

Conservative, Been, Mugged, Libertarian

I'm not a complete libertarian. There is a proper role in some areas of the government to have rules and regulations - I'm not an anarchist.

- Jack Abramoff

Government, Some, Role, Libertarian

A senator will come off Capitol Hill and they'll be barred from two years from lobbying in the Senate. So they'll pick the phone up and they'll call their buddy, the senator, their old buddies, and they'll say, 'Listen, I'm here at this law firm now. I can't lobby you, but my new partner, Jack, can lobby you.'

- Jack Abramoff

Two, Here, Law Firm, Jack

I try to avoid saying anything positive about any presidential candidate for fear that if I actually like them then I will kill their campaign.

- Jack Abramoff

Will, Like, About, Presidential

This is really high on the priority list of tribal concerns. This is a cash cow in many circumstances, and tribes are concerned about protection of tribal assets.

- Jack Abramoff

Circumstances, Concerned, Tribes

Well, I don't think most Americans are playing the super-PAC game. I think what you have is elites on both sides playing the super-PAC game.

- Jack Abramoff

Game, Think, I Think, Elites

Having gone through what I went through, watching my family be torn to shreds and my children suffer immensely, I can't be the agent of doing that to someone else. I can't be the agent of causing someone to go to prison.

- Jack Abramoff

Through, Torn, Agent, Causing

Well, I try to not view things through a prism of anti-Semitism, because often, people will use that as a sort of knee-jerk reaction to any criticism of Jews.

- Jack Abramoff

Will, Through, Reaction, Prism

As a lobbyist, I was completely against term limits, and I know a lot of people are against term limits, and I was one of the leaders, because why? As a lobbyist, once you buy a congressional office, you don't have to re-buy that office in six years, right?

- Jack Abramoff

Against, Buy, Congressional, Limits

I support myself by public speaking and trying to work on as many appropriate and legitimate ventures as I can.

- Jack Abramoff

Work, Myself, Appropriate, Ventures

I don't pay much attention to sports.

- Jack Abramoff

Sports, Attention, Pay, Much Attention

I mean, money is a tool.

- Jack Abramoff

Money, Mean, Tool

I did this within a philosophical framework, and a moral and legal framework. And I have been turned into a cartoon of the greatest villain in the history of lobbying.

- Jack Abramoff

Villain, Been, Turned, Philosophical

Well, I think the great tragedy in American politics is what is legal, not what is illegal.

- Jack Abramoff

Politics, Think, I Think, Illegal

I got into lobbying kind of against my will at first. I frankly didn't want to be a lobbyist, but I realized that in lobbying I could do things politically that were interesting to me and do some what I thought would be good. I'm not sure it all turned out like that, but at least that was some of the initial thinking.

- Jack Abramoff

Thought, Some, Turned, Lobbyist

I know I'm intellectually capable of finding a series of things and making hundreds of millions. I have to get there and do it. Carefully. Legally.

- Jack Abramoff

Making, Intellectually, Hundreds

If I read the articles about me, and I didn't know me, I would think I was Satan.

- Jack Abramoff

Think, Satan, Read, Articles

I'm trying to avail myself of the various technologies to get the message that Washington needs to be cleaned up, that the system that's in place is not what's beneficial in the country.

- Jack Abramoff

Country, Needs, Avail, Beneficial

Words will not be able to ever express how sorry I am for this, and I have profound regret and sorrow for the multitude of mistakes and harm I have caused.

- Jack Abramoff

Regret, Will, Harm, Multitude

In the past few years I have begun the process of becoming a new man.

- Jack Abramoff

Process, New, In The Past, Past Few Years

In my religion it's actually better to know you're doing wrong and try to improve that wrong than to think philosophically that what you're doing is right and in fact it is wrong.

- Jack Abramoff

Doing, Think, Fact, Philosophically

No one wants a domain with their name on it owned by somebody else.

- Jack Abramoff

Name, Owned, Else, Domain

The reason there are tens of thousands of lobbyists is because the ever-expanding federal government creates ever-increasing opportunities for abuse. The more the federal government does, the more lobbyists there will be to protect special interests at the expense of the common interest.

- Jack Abramoff

Reason, Abuse, Tens, Lobbyists

I'm not exactly the endorsement people are seeking.

- Jack Abramoff

People, Endorsement, Exactly, Seeking

Being somebody who wants to be religious doesn't make me perfect and doesn't make me necessarily any better than anybody else. It maybe makes me better than I would have been if I didn't have that level.

- Jack Abramoff

Perfect, Been, Religious, Anybody Else

I think the American people deserve somebody telling them what is really happening in Washington.

- Jack Abramoff

Think, Deserve, Telling, American People

I can't vote again ever, so political party is not a relevant thing for me.

- Jack Abramoff

Me, Again, Ever, Relevant

I can't afford to be a member of a golf course.

- Jack Abramoff

Golf, Course, Afford, Member

Democrats don't react the same way Republicans do, because they are not forced to react the same way Republicans are forced to react. They get to be as corrupt as, basically, they want, and just ignore it.

- Jack Abramoff

Democrats, Republicans, Corrupt

All I want is for people not to see me as this cartoon monster.

- Jack Abramoff

Me, Want, See, Cartoon

I'm not asking people to feel sorry for me.

- Jack Abramoff

Me, Asking, Feel, Sorry

They realize that spending millions to save billions is just good business.

- Jack Abramoff

Business, Save, Spending, Billions

The hope in radio is to build an audience over a number of years, a slow build to see if something works.

- Jack Abramoff

Audience, Number, Over, Slow

If you make the choice to serve the public, public service, then serve the public, not yourself.

- Jack Abramoff

Service, Yourself, Public, Public Service

Human beings are weak.

- Jack Abramoff

Human, Human Beings, Beings, Weak

I'm a human being. I'm not perfect.

- Jack Abramoff

Perfect, Human Being, Being, Not Perfect

All I have, really, is my creativity.

- Jack Abramoff

Really, Creativity

In Hollywood, they put the knife in your front; in D.C., they put it in your back. I found far fewer duplicitous people in Hollywood.

- Jack Abramoff

Back, Hollywood, Your, Fewer

One of my personality defects, perhaps, is that I'm rather ADD, and I work on a bunch of things at once.

- Jack Abramoff

Work, Add, Rather, Defects

Class envy is dangerous.

- Jack Abramoff

Class, Dangerous, Envy

I might dream, but I am no dreamer.

- Jack Abramoff

I Am, Dream, Might, Dreamer

Washington's a dangerous place.

- Jack Abramoff

Place, Washington, Dangerous, Dangerous Place

If you're searching for quotes on a different topic, feel free to browse our Topics page or explore a diverse collection of quotes from various Authors to find inspiration.

Powerful Jack Abramoff for Daily Growth