You elected government officials to make decisions and it's about time they started making good ones Bob Riley More Quotes by Bob Riley More Quotes From Bob Riley Hard times don't create heroes. Bob Riley hard-times strength hero Drugs are the enemies of ambition and hope - and when we fight against drugs we are fighting for the future. Bob Riley drug fighting ambition Tolerating evil leads only to more evil. And when good people stand by and do nothing while wickedness reigns, their communities will be consumed. Bob Riley community evil people Perseverance is a virtue that cannot be understated. Bob Riley understated perseverance virtue Nothing is worse, or more of a breach of the social contract between citizen and state, than for government officials, bureaucrats and agencies to waste the money entrusted to them by the people they serve. Bob Riley agency government people The amount of money we spend on education is important, but not nearly as important as how the money is spent. Bob Riley amount education-is-important important I have long believed that sacrifice is the pinnacle of patriotism. Bob Riley memorial-day sacrifice uplifting If my house is on fire, I don't need the fire chief telling me I should not have built the house out of wood. I need somebody to put the fire out. Bob Riley fire house needs If we are going to save this country, if we are going to reestablish that belief in God, it's up to us. If we don't do it, who will? Bob Riley belief believe country One person can make a difference. In fact, its not only possible for one person to make a difference, its essential that one person makes a difference. And believe it or not, that person is you. Bob Riley making-a-difference differences believe We must now view our problems as opportunities - historic opportunities to change the failed systems of the past and do what's right for our future. Bob Riley change opportunity past The opponents of my budget propose taking $200 million out of our classrooms and instead spending it on a larger school employee pay raise. Our focus should be on making sure our children come first. Bob Riley focus children school In a time of tight budgets, difficult choices have to be made. We must make sure our very limited resources are spent on priorities. I believe we should have no higher priority than investing in our children's classrooms and in their future. Bob Riley should-have believe children Ladies and gentlemen: There can be no greater investment in Alabama's future than an investment in education. Bob Riley investment alabama gentleman Change makes us confront the great unknown. It introduces different things into our lives. Different places. Different ideas. Different people. It's all hard to accept at times, and change can often be a little scary. But if there's one fact that I've learned from raising a family, from running several businesses, from serving in Congress and now as Governor, it's that nothing has ever grown without changing. Bob Riley different-ideas change running The men and women who serve in our military have won for us every hour we live in freedom, sometimes at the expense of the very hours of the lifetimes they had hoped to live. Bob Riley afterlife military men I think you'd change Alabama fundamentally if in six years someone said, 'If you want the best education in America, you've got to live in Alabama.' you'd change economic development, change the image of this state, you'd offer these kids an opportunity they otherwise would never have had. Bob Riley change opportunity kids The fight for reform comes down to a simple goal: giving our citizens the confidence that government serves the people first and the people only. Bob Riley confidence fighting simple I ask you: turn a deaf ear to the special interests. Let politics stand down for a while. don't waste anytime thinking about future elections until we've done our jobs here. Bob Riley special jobs thinking No skill shapes a child's future success in school or in life more than the ability to read. Bob Riley skills children school