- Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall. 1987
[1]
- The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, “I'm
from the government and I'm here to help.” 1976
- The size of the federal budget is not an appropriate barometer of
social conscience or charitable concern. 1981
- I hope we have once again reminded people that man is not free unless
government is limited. There's a clear cause and effect here that is
as neat and predictable as a law of physics: as government expands,
liberty contracts.
- Insanity is hereditory, you catch it from your kids.
- Getting shot hurts.
- The Founding Fathers knew a government can’t control the economy
without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out
to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose. 1964
- The best social program is a productive job for anyone who’s
willing to work.
- Welfare’s purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible,
the need for
its own existence. 1970
- I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national
emergency - even if I’m in a Cabinet meeting.
- I don't know. I've never played a governor.
1966 When asked by a reporter what kind of governor he would be.
- Cures were developed for which there were no known diseases.
1981 Commenting on Congress and the federal budget.
- We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t
taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much.
1982
- Government is the people’s business and every man, woman and
child becomes a shareholder with the first penny of tax paid. 1982
- I have seen the rise and fall of Nazi tyranny, the subsequent Cold
War and the nuclear nightmare that for fifty years haunted the dreams
of children everywhere. During that time my generation defeated totalitarianism.
As a result, your world is poised for better tomorrows. What will you
do on your journey?
- Let us beware that while they [Soviet rulers] preach the supremacy
of the state, declare its omnipotence over individual man, and predict
its eventual domination over all the peoples of the earth, they are
the focus of evil in the modern world [...] I urge you to beware the
temptation [...] to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses
of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding
and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong,
good and evil. 1983
- It is the Soviet Union that runs against the tide of history [...
It is] the march of freedom and democracy which will leave Marxism-
Leninism on the ash heap of history as it has left other tyrannies which
stifle the freedom and muzzle the self-expression of the people. 1982
- The years ahead will be great ones for our country, for the cause
of freedom and the spread of civilization. The West will not contain
Communism, it will transcend Communism. 1981
- There are no such things as limits to growth, because there are no
limits on the human capacity for intelligence, imagination and wonder.
1983
- 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. 1986
- The other day, someone told me the difference between a democracy
and a people’s democracy. It’s the same difference between
a jacket and a straitjacket. 1986
- 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. 1987
- Freedom is the right to question and change the established way of
doing things. It is the continuous revolution of the marketplace. It
is the understanding that allows to recognize shortcomings and seek
solutions. 1988
- Public servants say, always with the best of intentions, “What
greater service we could render if only we had a little more money and
a little more power.” But the truth is that outside of its legitimate
function, government does nothing as well or as economically as the
private sector. 1964 [see
also Keynes on government]
- Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority,
and don’t interfere. 1986
- We are for aiding our allies by sharing our material blessings with
nations which share our fundamental beliefs, but we are against doling
out money government to government, creating bureaucracy, if not socialism,
all over the world. 1964
- I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care
of itself.
- I hope you’re all Republicans.1981
To surgeons as he entered the operating room following an assassination
attempt.
- Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when
you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.
- I'm afraid I can’t use a mule. I have several hundred up on
Capitol Hill.
Refusing a gift of a mule.
- What makes him think a middle-aged actor, who’s played with
a chimp, could have a future in politics? On
Clint Eastwood’s bid to become mayor of Carmel [Once, Reagan also
played in a film with a chimp, in Bedtime with Bonzo.]
- When asked, “How could an actor become
president?”
How can a president not be an actor?
- From his letter to the American people revealing
his Alzheimer’s diagnosis:
In closing, let me thank you, the American people, for giving me the
great honor of allowing me to serve as your president. When the Lord
calls me home, whenever that day may be, I will leave with the greatest
love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future. I
now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life.
I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead. November
5, 1994
- Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because America was
too strong.
End notes
- From a speech made near the
Berlin Wall in 1987:
General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for
the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here
to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this
wall.
|