Ronald Reagan Quotes

"The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away."

"We seek a constitutional amendment to permit voluntary school prayer. God should never have been expelled from America's classrooms in the first place."

"[Unlike Bush, Reagan did his White House radio broadcasts live, a habit that got him into trouble in 1984, when he made a now-infamous joke during a sound check into an open microphone.] My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever, ... We begin bombing in five minutes."

"We relax at the ranch, which if not heaven itself, probably has the same zip code."

"Whatever else history may say about me when I'm gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears."

"Our friends in the other party will never forgive us for our success, and are doing everything in their power to rewrite history. Listening to the liberals, you'd think that the 1980s were the worst period since the Great Depression, filled with suffering and despair. I don't know about you, but I'm getting awfully tired of the whining voices from the White House these days. They're claiming there was a decade of greed and neglect, but you and I know better than that. We were there."

"Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

"We must not look to government to solve our problems. Government is the problem."

"The most terrifying words in the English langauge are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

"We've done our part. And as I walk off into the city streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan revolution, the men and women across America who for 8 years did the work that brought America back. My friends: We did it. We weren't just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger, we made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all. (Farewell Address to the Nation, January 20th, 1989)"

"We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone."

"This law gives you the power to seek the release of Wallenberg, ... The law makes no distinction between honorary and other citizens."

"To grasp and hold a vision, that is the very essence of successful leadership - not only on the movie set where I learned it, but everywhere."

"We cannot stop at the foothills when Everest lies ahead."

"I'm not smart enough to lie"

"Recession is when a neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours."

"The future doesn't belong to the faint-hearted; it belongs to the brave"

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction"

"I oppose registration for the draft . . . because I believe the security of freedom can best be achieved by security through freedom."

"One picture is worth 1,000 denials."