Ronald Reagan Quotes
"They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Answers, World, Wrong)
"Thomas Jefferson once said, 'We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.' And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Age, President)
"To paraphrase Winston Churchill, I did not take the oath I have just taken with the intention of presiding over the dissolution of the world's strongest economy."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Economy, Intention, World)
"Trust, but verify."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Trust)
"Today we did what we had to do. They counted on America to be passive. They counted wrong."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: America, Today, Wrong)
"There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Imagination, Intelligence, Growth, Limits, Wonder)
"The greatest security for Israel is to create new Egypts."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Israel, Security)
"To sit back hoping that someday, some way, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last - but eat you he will."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Right, Will)
"There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Courage, Answers, Right)
"There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Progress, Mind, Spirit)
"The thought of being President frightens me and I do not think I want the job."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Thought, Being, Job, President, Want)
"The taxpayer - that's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Government, Examination, Service)
"Unemployment insurance is a pre-paid vacation for freeloaders."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Unemployment, Vacation)
"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Government, English, Help, Language, Words)
"We should declare war on North Vietnam. We could pave the whole country and put parking strips on it, and still be home by Christmas."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Home, War, Christmas, Country, Vietnam)
"The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Business, Government)
"Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don't interfere as long as the policy you've decided upon is being carried out."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: People, Policy, Authority, Being)
"Status quo, you know, is Latin for 'the mess we're in'."
- Ronald Reagan
"The problem is not that people are taxed too little, the problem is that government spends too much."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Government, People)
"Welfare's purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Purpose, Existence, Welfare)
"Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: God, Democracy, Will)
"Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Men, Bible, Answers, Problems)
"While I take inspiration from the past, like most Americans, I live for the future."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Inspiration, Americans, Future, Past)
"We might come closer to balancing the Budget if all of us lived closer to the Commandments and the Golden Rule."
- Ronald Reagan
"What we have found in this country, and maybe we're more aware of it now, is one problem that we've had, even in the best of times, and that is the people who are sleeping on the grates, the homeless, you might say, by choice."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: People, Choice, Country, Now)
"Violence has been Nicaragua's most important export to the world."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Violence, World)
"We're in greater danger today than we were the day after Pearl Harbor. Our military is absolutely incapable of defending this country."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Country, Danger, Day, Military, Today)
"We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we will always be free."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Will)
"We should measure welfare's success by how many people leave welfare, not by how many are added."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Success, People, Measure, Welfare)
"We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Society, Time, Idea, Actions, American, Law)
"We have the duty to protect the life of an unborn child."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Life, Duty)
"We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Help)
"We can not play innocents abroad in a world that is not innocent."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Play, World)
"We are never defeated unless we give up on God."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: God)
"When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Light)
"Man is not free unless government is limited."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Government, Man)
"Information is the oxygen of the modern age. It seeps through the walls topped by barbed wire, it wafts across the electrified borders."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Age, Information)
"Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
- Ronald Reagan
"You know, if I listened to Michael Dukakis long enough, I would be convinced we're in an economic downturn and people are homeless and going without food and medical attention and that we've got to do something about the unemployed."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Food, Medical, People, Attention)
"Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Life, Music, Song)
"Let us not forget who we are. Drug abuse is a repudiation of everything America is."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Abuse, America, Forget)
"Latinos are Republican. They just don't know it yet."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Republican)
"It's silly talking about how many years we will have to spend in the jungles of Vietnam when we could pave the whole country and put parking stripes on it and still be home by Christmas."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Home, Christmas, Country, Silly, Talking, Vietnam, Will, Years)
"It's difficult to believe that people are still starving in this country because food isn't available."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Food, People, Country)
"My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Americans, Legislation, Russia)
"It doesn't do good to open doors for someone who doesn't have the price to get in. If he has the price, he may not need the laws. There is no law saying the Negro has to live in Harlem or Watts."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Law, Laws, May, Open, Saying)
"One picture is worth 1,000 denials."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Worth)
"Inflation is as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber and as deadly as a hit man."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Inflation, Man)
"If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Love, Country)
"If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: God, Forget, Nation, Will)
"If the Soviet Union let another political party come into existence, they would still be a one-party state, because everybody would join the other party."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Existence, Party, State)
"It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Politics, First, Profession)
"Politics is just like show business. You have a hell of an opening, coast for a while, and then have a hell of a close."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Politics, Business, Hell)
"If the federal government had been around when the Creator was putting His hand to this state, Indiana wouldn't be here. It'd still be waiting for an environmental impact statement."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Environmental, Government, State, Waiting)
"It's true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?"
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Work, Chance, Hard work)
"You can tell alot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Character, Eating)
"Some people wonder all their lives if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: People, Difference, Marines, Wonder)
"Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: April, Day, Democrats, July, Republicans)
"Recession is when a neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Depression, Job)
"No mother would ever willingly sacrifice her sons for territorial gain, for economic advantage, for ideology."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Mother, Sacrifice, Gain, Ideology, Sons)
"Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Politics, Disgrace, Profession, Succeed)
"My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose - somehow we win out."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Life, Work, Goal, Mind, Philosophy)
"Politics I supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Politics, First, Profession)
"People do not make wars; governments do."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: People)
"Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Peace, Ability, Absence, Conflict)
"One way to make sure crime doesn't pay would be to let the government run it."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Government, Crime)
"Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong."
- Ronald Reagan
"No matter what time it is, wake me, even if it's in the middle of a Cabinet meeting."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Time, Meeting)
"No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!"
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Government, Life)
"Protecting the rights of even the least individual among us is basically the only excuse the government has for even existing."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Government, Rights)
"Approximately 80% of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released by vegetation, so let's not go overboard in setting and enforcing tough emission standards from man-made sources."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Man, Pollution)
"Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Religion, God, Freedom, Law)
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Children, Freedom)
"Facts are stubborn things."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Facts)
"Each generation goes further than the generation preceding it because it stands on the shoulders of that generation. You will have opportunities beyond anything we've ever known."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Will)
"Democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Government, Democracy, Dying, Man, Worth)
"Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Power, Enemy, Liberty)
"Going to college offered me the chance to play football for four more years."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Chance, College, Football, Play, Years)
"Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Questions)
"Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Growth, Entrepreneurs, states, United)
"All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Power, Waste)
"All great change in America begins at the dinner table."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Change, America)
"Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Men, Women, Courage, Today, Will, World)
"A tree's a tree. How many more do you need to look at?"
- Ronald Reagan
"A people free to choose will always choose peace."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Peace, People, Will)
"Let us be sure that those who come after will say of us in our time, that in our time we did everything that could be done. We finished the race; we kept them free; we kept the faith."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Faith, Time, Race, Will)
"I've often said there's nothing better for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Man, Nothing)
"But there are advantages to being elected President. The day after I was elected, I had my high school grades classified Top Secret."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Being, Day, President, School)
"I call upon the scientific community in our country, those who gave us nuclear weapons, to turn their great talents now to the cause of mankind and world peace: to give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Cause, Community, Country, Mankind, Now, Weapons, World)
"I've never been able to understand why a Republican contributor is a 'fat cat' and a Democratic contributor of the same amount of money is a 'public-spirited philanthropist'."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Money, Republican)
"I never drink coffee at lunch. I find it keeps me awake for the afternoon."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Coffee)
"I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there's purpose and worth to each and every life."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Life, Heart, Purpose, Man, Right, Will, Worth)
"Don't be afraid to see what you see."
- Ronald Reagan
"I favor the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and it must be enforced at gunpoint if necessary."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Act, Civil rights)
"Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Government, Money)
"I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Care)
"How do you tell a communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin."
- Ronald Reagan
"How can a president not be an actor?"
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Actor, President)
"Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Government, Problems)
"Heroes may not be braver than anyone else. They're just braver five minutes longer."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Heroes, May)
"Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Problems)
"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Government, Economy, Tax)
"Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Government, People, Duty, First)
"Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Government, Appetite, Baby, End, canal, Responsibility, Sense)
"Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Government, Limits)
"History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: History, War, Aggression)
"I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress."
- Ronald Reagan
(Related: Congress)