A damn independent boy; independent as a hog on ice.
Sam Rayburn

A jackass can kick a barn down, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
Sam Rayburn

Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a good carpenter to build one.
Sam Rayburn

Do not wait for extraordinary circumstances to do good action; try to use ordinary situations.
Sam Rayburn

I like power and I like to use it.
Sam Rayburn

If a man has common sense, he has all the sense there is.
Sam Rayburn

If you want to get along, go along.
Sam Rayburn

No one has a finer command of language than the person who keeps his mouth shut.
Sam Rayburn

Son, always tell the truth. Then you'll never have to remember what you said the last time.
Sam Rayburn

The real actor has a direct line to the collective heart.
Sam Rayburn


Too many critics mistake the deliberations of the Congress for its decisions.
Sam Rayburn

When you get too big a majority, you're immediately in trouble.'
Sam Rayburn

You cannot be a leader, and ask other people to follow you, unless you know how to follow, too.
Sam Rayburn

You'll never get mixed up if you simply tell the truth. Then you don't have to remember what you have said, and you never forget what you have said.
Sam Rayburn