Quotessence
Home / Authors / Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan Quotes

40th U.S. President

Filter quotes by topic

AllGovernmentPeoplePoliticsIfsAmericaWorldMenNationsWarBelieveStatesLibertyKnowsCountryShouldYearsPoliticalFunnyHas BeensIndividual

Famous Ronald Reagan Quotes

“The United States remains the last best hope for a mankind plagued by tyranny and deprivation. America is no stronger than its people -- and that means you and me. Well, I believe in you, and I believe that if we work together, then one day we will say, "We fought the good fight. We finished the race. We kept the faith." And to our children and our children's children, we can say, "We did all what could be done in the brief time that was given us here on earth.".”

PeopleIfsInspirationalBelieveWellsMeanChildrenStatesDoneEarthTogetherLastsAmericaFightingGivenI BelieveUnitedRaceUnited StatesMankindOne DayStrongerOur ChildrenRemainsI Believe InFinishedTyrannyWorking TogetherBelieve In YouDeprivationHoping For The BestGood FightI Believe In You
Author:Ronald Reagan
Create image

“There are many well-meaning people today who work at placing an economic floor beneath all of us so that no one shall exist below a certain level or standard of living, and certainly we don't quarrel with this. But look more closely and you may find that all too often these well-meaning people are building a ceiling above which no one shall be permitted to climb and between the two are pressing us all into conformity, into a mold of standardized mediocrity.”

PeopleWellsLooksMayTwoTodayCertainLevelsEconomicBuildingStandardsEconomicsOppressionClimbsConformityMediocrityQuarrelsMoldCeilingsStandards Of Living
Author:Ronald Reagan
Create image

“I intend to go right on appointing highly qualified individuals of the highest personal integrity to the bench, individuals who understand the danger of short-circuiting the electoral process and disenfranchising the people through judicial activism.”

PeopleIndividualProcessDangerIntegrityHighestActivismQualifiedBenchesJudicialPersonal IntegrityElectoral ProcessJudicial Activism
Book:Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Ronald Reagan, 1985
Create image

“We cannot escape our destiny, nor should we try to do so. The leadership of the free world was thrust upon us two centuries ago in that little hall of Philadelphia. In the days following World War II, when the economic strength and power of America was all that stood between the world and the return to the dark ages, Pope Pius XII said, 'The American people have a great genius for splendid and unselfish actions. Into the hands of America God has placed the destinies of an afflicted mankind.' We are indeed, and we are today, the last best hope of man on earth.”

PeopleMenWorldShouldTryingLittlesSaidTwoWarHandsAgeTodayActionEarthLastsAmericaDarkDestinyEconomicMankindCenturyReturnGeniusFollowingWar Of The WorldsHallsWorld War IiWorld War IPopeOur DestinySplendidThrustDark AgesPhiladelphiaUnselfishHoping For The BestFree World
Author:Ronald Reagan
Create image

“Our Founding Fathers well understood that concentrated power is the enemy of liberty and the rights of man. They knew that the American experiment in individual liberty, free enterprise and republican self-government could succeed only if power were widely distributed. And since in any society social and political power flow from economic power, they saw that wealth and property would have to be widely distributed among the people of the country. The truth of this insight is immediately apparent.”

PeopleIfsMenWellsSelfCountryWisdomGovernmentPoliticalFatherPoliticsIndividualSocialWealthLibertyEnemyEconomySawsRightsEconomicRepublicanSucceedUnderstoodFlowPropertyInsightExperimentsLiberalismEnterpriseFoundingOur Founding FathersPolitical PowerFree EnterpriseIndividual LibertySelf-governmentEconomic Power
Author:Ronald Reagan
Create image

“The people of Central America - and, in a broader sense, the entire developing world - need to know first-hand that freedom and opportunity are not just for the elite, but the birthright of every citizen; that property is not just something enjoyed by a few, but can be owned by any individual who works hard and makes correct decisions.”

PeopleKnowsWorldNeedsFirstsHardHandsAmericaOpportunityPoliticsIndividualDecisionEconomyHard WorkCitizensPropertyEnjoyedDevelopingLiberalismElitesBirthrightCentral America
Book:Ronald Reagan
Create image

“This is the real task before us: to reassert our commitment as a nation to a law higher than our own, to renew our spiritual strength. Only by building a wall of such spiritual resolve can we, as a free people, hope to protect our own heritage and make it someday the birthright of all men.”

PeopleMenRealSpiritualLawNationsBuildingWallHigherProtectCommitmentTasksSomedayResolveHeritageBirthrightSpiritual Strength
Book:Speaking my mind: selected speeches
Create image

“We must realize that no arsenal or no weapon in 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. It is a weapon that we as Americans do have. Let that be understood by those who practice terrorism and prey upon their neighbors. As for the enemies of freedom, those who are potential adversaries, they will be reminded that peace is the highest aspiration of the American people. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it; We will not surrender for it, now or ever. We are Americans.”

PeopleMenWorldTodayRealizingMoralEnemyPracticeSacrificeWeaponsHighestUnderstoodMen And WomenTerrorismNeighborSurrenderAspirationPreyAdversariesFree ManArsenalFormidableMoral CourageToday's World
Author:Ronald Reagan
Create image

“Our problems are both acute and chronic, yet all we hear from those in positions of leadership are the same tired proposals for more government tinkering, more meddling and more control---all of which led us to this state in the first place... We must have the clarity of vision to see the difference between what is essential and what is merely desirable, and then the courage to bring our government back under control and make it acceptable to the people.”

PeopleFirstsStatesProblemGovernmentDifferencesVisionPositionEssentialsTiredClarityAcceptableDesirableProposalMeddlingTinkeringClarity Of Vision
Author:Ronald Reagan
Create image

“There are those, of course, who claim we must give up freedom in exchange for economic progress. Well, pardon me, but anyone trying to sell you that line is no better than a three-card-trick man. One thing becoming more clear every day is that freedom and progress go hand in hand. Throughout the developing world, people are rejecting socialism because they see that it doesn't empower people, it impoverishes them.”

PeopleMenWorldGivingTryingWellsHandsThreeCoursesLinesClearProgressOne ThingEconomicBecomingGiving UpClaimsSellsTricksSocialismCardsDevelopingEmpoweringPardonHand In HandBecoming MoreRejectingPardon MeEconomic ProgressCard Tricks
Author:Ronald Reagan
Create image

“Americans are not going to tolerate intimidation, terror and outright acts of war against this nation and its people. And we are especially not going to tolerate these attacks from outlaw states run by the strangest collection of misfits, Looney Tunes and squalid criminals since the advent of the Third Reich ... There can be no place on earth where it is safe for these monsters to rest,or train or practice their cruel and deadly. We must act together - or unilateraly, if necessary - to ensue that these terrorists have no sanctuary, anywhere.”

PeopleIfsWarStatesRunningEarthTogetherNationsPracticeSafeThirdsTrainTerrorCriminalsMonstersTerroristCollectionsTunesTolerateDeath PenaltySanctuaryIntimidationOutlawAdventMisfitsLooney Tunes
Author:Ronald Reagan
Create image

“The American taxing structure, the purpose of which was to serve the people, began instead to serve the insatiable appetite of government. If you will forgive me, you know someone has once likened government to a baby. It is an alimentary canal with an appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.”

PeopleIfsKnowsEndsGovernmentPurposeResponsibilityBabyStructureForgivingAppetiteForgive MeInsatiableCanalsSense Of Responsibility
Book:Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Ronald Reagan, 1981
Create image

“Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem. ... Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them. 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. If it stops moving, subsidize it. ... The problem is not that people are taxed too little, the problem is that government spends too much.”

PeopleIfsLittlesDoeProblemGovernmentMovingViewsEconomyToo MuchTaxesSolutionsSolvePhrasesKeep Moving
Author:Ronald Reagan
Create image

“I want you to know that this administration is motivated by a political philosophy that sees the greatness of America in you, her people, and in your families, churches, neighborhoods, communities - the institutions that foster and nourish values like concern for others and respect for the rule of law under God.”

PeopleKnowsWantPhilosophyAmericaLawPoliticalValuesCommunityChurchGreatnessConcernInstitutionsAdministrationOur FamilyNeighborhoodMotivatedI Want YouPolitical PhilosophyRule Of LawConcern For OthersGreatness Of America
Author:Ronald Reagan
Create image

“We are not a warlike people. Nor is our history filled with tales of aggressive adventures and imperialism, which might come as a shock to some of the placard painters in our modern demonstrations. The lesson of Vietnam, I think, should be that never again will young Americans be asked to fight and possibly die for a cause unless that cause is so meaningful that we, as a nation, pledge our full resources to achieve victory as quickly as possible.”

PeopleThinkingShouldMightYoungDiesFightingNationsCausesModernAchieveAdventureVictoryLessonsResourcesFilledMeaningfulTalesPainterShockAggressiveVietnamImperialismDemonstrationPledge
Author:Ronald Reagan
Create image

“The First Amendment of the Constitution was not written to protect the people from religion; that amendment was written to protect religion from government tyranny. . . But now we're told our children have no right to pray in school. Nonsense. The pendulum has swung too far toward intolerance against genuine religious freedom. It is time to redress the balance.”

PeopleFirstsChildrenGovernmentSchoolReligiousWrittenPrayingBalanceProtectConstitutionOur ChildrenGenuineTyrannyNonsenseAmendmentsIntoleranceFirst AmendmentReligious FreedomPendulumsRedressGovernment Tyranny
Author:Ronald Reagan
Create image

“Someone asked me whether I was aware of all the people out there who were praying for the President. And I had to say, "Yes, I am. I've felt it. I believe in intercessory prayer." But I couldn't help but say to that questioner after he'd asked the question that - or at least say to them that if sometimes when he was praying he got a busy signal, it was just me in there ahead of him.”

PeopleIfsBelieveSometimesHelpingI BelieveFeltPresidentPrayerPrayingBusyI Believe InSignalsIntercessory Prayer
Author:Ronald Reagan
Create image

“We must remove government's smothering hand from where it does harm; we must seek to revitalize the proper functions of government. We do these things to set loose again the energy and the ingenuity of the American people. We do these things to reinvigorate those social and economic institutions which serve as a buffer and a bridge between the individual and the state - and which remain the real source of our progress as a people.”

PeopleDoeRealStatesHandsGovernmentIndividualEnergySocialProgressEconomicSourceFunctionInstitutionsHarmBridgesRemoveIngenuity
Book:Speaking my mind: selected speeches
Create image

“We don't lump people by groups or special interests. And let me add, in the party of Lincoln there is no room for intolerance and not even a small corner for anti-Semitism or bigotry of any kind. Many people are welcome in our house, but not the bigots.”

PeopleKindHouseInterestRoomsPartyGroupsSpecialLet MeAddCornersWelcomeBigotryIntoleranceSpecial InterestsLumpsAnti SemitismBigots
Book:Speaking my mind: selected speeches
Create image

“One day, a pretty, fresh-faced young lady - intelligent and sincerely concerned - asked me if abortion wasn't preferable to making a young, unmarried girl have a baby she didn't want and which would, therefore, grow up unloved and probably turn out to be a criminal. I gave an answer which apparently she hadn't considered. I told her there were literally millions of people in this country who wanted but could not have children and who waited eagerly, sometimes for years, to adopt the baby she had described.”

PeopleIfsWantYearsChildrenCountrySometimesWantedYoungTurnsGirlGrowsAnswersMillionsGrowing UpBabyOne DayConcernedIntelligentCriminalsAbortionSincerelyUnlovedUnmarriedYoung Ladies
Author:Ronald Reagan
Create image