Quotes by Ronald Reagan

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

"It's true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?"

"There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right."

"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."

"We are never defeated unless we give up on God."

"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."

"The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave."

"While I take inspiration from the past, like most Americans, I live for the future."

"Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives."

"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."

"The taxpayer - that's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination."

"Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them."

"Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other."

"Democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man."

"Protecting the rights of even the least individual among us is basically the only excuse the government has for even existing."

"The British people know that, given strong leadership, time, and a little bit of hope, the forces of good ultimately rally and triumph over evil."

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

"Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music."

"If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen."

"Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means."

"A people free to choose will always choose peace."

"It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first."

"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."

"We should measure welfare's success by how many people leave welfare, not by how many are added."

"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."

"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."

"Information is the oxygen of the modern age. It seeps through the walls topped by barbed wire, it wafts across the electrified borders."

"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."