. . . And always remember that you are Americans, and it is your birthright to dream great dreams in this sweet and blessed land, truly the greatest, freest, strongest nation on Earth.

If no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capcity to govern someone else.

Two visions of the world remain locked in dispute. The first believes all men are created equal by a loving God who has blessed us with freedom. The second vision believes that religion is opium for the masses. It believes that eternal principles like truth, liberty, and democracy have no meaning beyond the whim of the state. And [Vladimir] Lenin spoke for them.

I never thought it was my style or the words I used that made a difference. It was the content. I wasn't a great communicator, but I communicated great things.

You know, if Nancy Davis hadn't come along when she did, I would have lost my soul.

Some months before I declared, I asked for a meeting and crossed the border to meet with the president of Mexico. I did not go with a plan. I went, as I said in my announcement address, to ask him his ideas - how we could make the border something other than a locale for a nine-foot fence.

The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom...