Ronald Reagan Quotes

There is no security, no safety, in the appeasement of evil.

You know economists; they're the sort of people who see something works in practice and wonder if it would work in theory.

The person who pays an ounce of principle for a pound of popularity gets badly cheated.

The criminal element now calculates that crime really does pay.

If you're explaining, you're losing.

America is still an eagle, and she's ready to soar again.

Together, we'll build a far better future for America -- a future of growth, opportunity, and security, anchored by the values of a people who are confident, compassionate, and whose heart is good.

The Montreal Protocol is a model of cooperation. It is a product of the recognition and international consensus that ozone depletion is a global problem, both in terms of its causes and its effects. The protocol is the result of an extraordinary process of scientific study, negotiations among representatives of the business and environmental communities, and international diplomacy. It is a monumental achievement.

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved good-bye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God.

I think there are some things ... that may even be distorted in the practice, such as some affirmative action programs becoming quota systems. And I'm old enough to remember when quotas existed in the United States for the purpose of discrimination, and I don't want to see that happen again.

I want to talk about political and economic fairy tales.

For decades, we have piled deficit upon deficit, mortgaging our future and our children's future for the temporary convenience of the present. To continue this long trend is to guarantee tremendous social, cultural, political, and economic upheavals. You and I, as individuals, can, by borrowing, live beyond our means, but for only a limited period of time. Why, then, should we think that collectively, as a nation, we are not bound by that same limitation?

After watching the State of the Union address the other night [1994], I'm reminded of the old adage that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Only in this case, it's not flattery, but grand larceny: the intellectual theft of ideas that you and I recognize as our own. Speech delivery counts for little on the world stage unless you have convictions, and, yes, the vision to see beyond the front row seats.

Nations do not distrust each other because they are armed. They are armed because they distrust each other.

A bird on a tether, no matter how long the rope, can always be pulled back.

Elena, my four year old, says to me in all seriousness; "Mommy, you need to buy another baby".

Where others fear trade and economic growth, we see opportunities for creating new wealth and undreamed-of opportunities for millions in our own land and beyond. Where others seek to throw up barriers, we seek to bring them down; where others take counsel of their fears, we follow our hopes.

The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.

The struggle now going on for the world will never be decided by bombs or rockets, by armies or military might. The real crisis we face today is a spiritual one; at root, it is a test of moral will and faith.

Today, if you invent a better mousetrap, the government comes along with a better mouse.

No matter what time it is, wake me, even if it's in the middle of a Cabinet meeting.

A troubled and afflicted mankind looks to us, pleading for us to keep our rendezvous with destiny; that we will uphold the principles of self-reliance, self-discipline, morality, and - above all - responsible liberty for every individual that we will become that shining city on a hill.

With our eyes fixed on the future, but recognizing the realities of today, we will achieve our destiny to be as a shining city on a hill for all mankind to see.

If we get the federal government out of the classroom, maybe we'll get God back in.

I now have absolute proof that smoking even one marijuana cigarette is equal in brain damage to being on Bikini Island during an H-bomb blast

The American dream is not that every man must be level with every other man. The American dream is that every man must be free to become whatever God intends he should become.

Are you better off today than you were four years ago?

If history teaches us anything, it teaches that simple-minded appeasement or wishful thinking about our adversaries is folly.

If we've learned any lessons during the past few decades, perhaps the most important is that preservation of our environment is not a partisan challenge; it's common sense. Our physical health, our social happiness, and our economic well-being will be sustained only by all of us working in partnership as thoughtful, effective stewards of our natural resources.

With freedom goes responsibility, a responsibility that can only be met by the individual himself.

Thomas Jefferson once said. He said , "We should never judge a President by his age, only by his works." And ever since he told me that, I've stopped worrying. There are those who say I've stopped working.

Someday, the realm of liberty and justice will encompass the planet. Freedom is not just the birthright of the few, it is the God-given right of all His children, in every country. It won't come by conquest. It will come, because freedom is right and freedom works. It will come, because cooperation and good will among free people will carry the day.

There can be no greater good than the quest for peace, and no finer purpose than the preservation of freedom.

We have the means to change the laws we find unjust or onerous. We cannot, as citizens, pick and choose the laws we will or will not obey.

Free enterprise has done more to reduce poverty than all the government programs dreamed up by Democrats.

Since the foundation of the State of Israel, the United States has stood by her and helped her to pursue security, peace, and economic growth. Our friendship is based on historic moral and strategic ties, as well as our shared dedication to democracy.

It is my fervent goal and hope... that we will someday no longer have to rely on nuclear weapons to deter aggression and assure world peace. To that end the United States is now engaged in a serious and sustained effort to negotiate major reductions in levels of offensive nuclear weapons with the ultimate goal of eliminating these weapons from the face of the earth.

For the eight years I was president I never let my dream of a nuclear-free world fade from my mind.

We in government should learn to look at our country with the eyes of the entrepreneur, seeing possibilities where others see only problems

The United States trades more with the province of Ontario alone than with Japan.

In Hollywood, as I've often said, if you don't sing or dance, you end up as an after-dinner speaker.

It should be the right of the individual to decide whether he wants to belong to a union.

Perhaps no custom reveals our character as a Nation so clearly as our celebration of Thanksgiving Day.

Government is never more dangerous than when our desire to have it help us blinds us to its great power to harm us.

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.

Freedom prospers only where the blessings of God are avidly sought, and humbly accepted.

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

A leader, once convinced that a particular course of action is the right one, must....be undaunted when the going gets tough.