How to Test Negative for Stupid Quotes

“Ask Americans how many senators it takes to solve a problem, and they’ll say, “We don’t know. It’s never happened.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“I would describe the atmosphere as a circus without a tent.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“Schools are for education, not indoctrination.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“the brain is an amazing organ—it starts working in the mother’s womb and doesn’t stop until you get elected to Congress.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“Don’t be part of the problem—be the whole problem.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“It’s been almost nine years since those warnings, and I haven’t stopped talking. Why? Because only dead fish go with the flow. Because every advancement in art, science, philosophy, medicine, technology, cooking, and golf happened after someone challenged the rules and said, There’s a better way. Because my people sent me to this place to solve problems, not make new friends.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“Clockwork Orange.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“The job isn’t just about advancing good ideas—it’s also about killing bad ones.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“Governor Edwards quipped, “The only way I can lose this election is if I’m caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“What you do is what you believe and everything else is just cottage cheese.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“An eye for an eye just leaves both sides blind. Nobody wins.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“One day I got a call from a dentist in Denham Springs, just east of Baton Rouge, about an advertisement I had placed in the real estate section of the newspaper for my father, whose health was failing. My father owned a small office building in Zachary with two suites. He worked out of one and rented the other. “I’ve been to the office,” said the dentist, “and I’m very interested.” We agreed on the price and he told me to send him a draft of the lease. I did, but when I called him about it he had no changes. I remember thinking that this was odd, because my leases are tough, but I just figured he was anxious to move in. After he signed the lease and mailed it back to me, he called me and said, “Mr. Kennedy, there’s just one more thing. I lost my dental license because of some spurious and unfounded allegations against me, and in order for me to move into the building and pay your dad rent, I’m going to need my dental license back. Can you help?” I was dumbstruck. But that’s when I knew. Right away, I told him the deal was off. I told him I was going to tear up the lease and he should never call me again. I was embarrassed at how gullible I had been. But I didn’t know better back then. When you have no firsthand experience with graft, you don’t see it coming. I had always been an optimist. I had always tried to see the best in people. After that, I became a slightly paranoid optimist.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“My dad always told me, “Son, you’ll never know love until you have a child. It’s not like the love for a parent, or a spouse, or a sibling.” At the time, I had no frame of reference, so I didn’t get it. Preston reminds me every day of my dad’s wisdom. He was, of course, correct. I probably would have spent my career in New Orleans, practicing and teaching law—if not for one phone call.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“If you ever have to operate a forklift, the first thing you do after starting it is LOWER THE FORKS. I also learned another lesson: Life is hard, but it’s harder when you’re stupid. Dad worked my brothers and me assiduously to teach us the value of work and to incentivize us to go to and do well in college. But I know he worried about us, because some of the work we did could be dangerous. It was also exhausting.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“Because my people sent me to this place to solve problems, not make new friends.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“The interview ended, and I didn’t think much about what I said. Looking back, I think it was actually a pretty tame way to describe my initial feelings about Washington. But soon it became clear that some of my Senate colleagues did not appreciate me talking this way about the Senate and, by extension, about them. It was nothing mean or really overt, just a few casual comments from my colleagues reminding me of the importance of tradition, custom, and decorum in the United States Senate, called by many the world’s greatest deliberative body. In other words, this is not a place where you’re supposed to say the quiet part out loud.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“Senators aren’t like most teenagers; they are all over forty.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“If you hate cops just because they’re cops”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“Life has taught me that when you get so tired you feel like you can’t go on”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“Welfare”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“People talk about the University of Oxford like it’s one big place”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“took an hour and a half to watch 60 Minutes.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“I had to work harder than an ugly stripper—”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“tough as a boiled owl.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“Graduate from high school, get a job, wait until you’re twenty-one to get married, and don’t have kids until after you’re married. If you do those things, your chance of being poor drops to 3 percent. That’s true no matter your race.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“I believe in lifting people up through jobs and opportunity. Others keep trying to do it through welfare and fear. Many”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“The book of Matthew got it right: “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Or, if you prefer, and in the words of the iconic recording artist Meat Loaf, “I would do anything for love, but I won’t do that.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“Now, sitting contentedly in my twenty-fourth-floor office with a nice view of the Mississippi River, just a few weeks after the election, I wondered what the newly elected governor might want from me. I had a passing thought that he might want to tap me for a position. At the time, I had a reputation around New Orleans as a young, relatively bright lawyer who’d been educated out of state. Like the governor, I abhorred corruption (and still do). I wasn’t part of the vast political network that had come to swallow state-level politics during the Edwards years. That meant I might be one of the people who could help Governor Roemer, who had campaigned hard against the political status quo, get up and running before he took office the following March.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“The endorsements helped Roemer to rocket from last place to first on election night, winning the election outright after his runoff opponent Edwards quit. (There’s no question that the newspaper endorsements helped Roemer. In today’s world, most voters trust newspapers like they trust gas station sushi, but not then.) Many people, including me, did not expect Roemer to win. You also might find it interesting that a young, bright, and affable guy named Mark McKinnon was a Roemer political consultant on his campaign. McKinnon would go on to also advise presidents, senators, and governors; to be a cable TV star and columnist; and to cofound the No Labels political movement. President Bush calls McKinnon “M-Kat.” He’s what cool looks like. See his Wikipedia photo. I met Mark shortly after joining the Roemer team. I’ve known him a long time. Here’s how long: I knew him when he was poor.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will

“We don’t need more multicultural specialists or self-esteem experts. We need two hours of reading. Two hours of math. An hour of science, history, and social studies. And homework. If you don’t pass, you don’t get promoted. If a kid is late to school and it’s his fault, he should have to sit on the floor. Cell phones should be forbidden. And every principal should be a cross between Socrates and Dirty Harry.”
― John Kennedy, How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will