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Thomas Jefferson Quotes

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Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government. Was the government to prescribe to us our medicine and diet, our bodies would be in such keeping as our souls are now. I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it. “Laws that forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.” (Quoting Cesare Beccaria) The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it. The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits. No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another, and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain him. To take from one because it is thought that his own industry and that of his father’s has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association—the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it. I think myself that we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious. (Back then!) When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive. Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear. The god who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time: the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them. And the day will come, when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as His Father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva, in the brain of Jupiter. In matters of style, swim with the current; In matters of principle, stand like a rock. What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all. The majority, oppressing an individual, is guilty of a crime, abuses its strength, and by acting on the law of the strongest breaks up the foundations of society. When wrongs are pressed because it is believed they will be borne, resistance becomes morality. Were we directed from Washington when to sow and when to reap, we should soon want bread. The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty.... And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure. Of liberty I would say that, in the whole plenitude of its extent, it is unobstructed action according to our will. But rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add “within the limits of the law,” because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual. It is strangely absurd to suppose that a million of human beings, collected together, are not under the same moral laws which bind each of them separately. Liberty is the great parent of science and of virtue; and a nation will be great in both in proportion as it is free. He who knows nothing is closer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors. I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. I have sworn on the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. I have never been able to conceive how any rational being could propose happiness to himself from the exercise of power over others. To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical. In a government bottomed on the will of all, the...liberty of every individual citizen becomes interesting to all. I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. Say nothing of my religion. It is known to God and myself alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life: if it has been honest and dutiful to society the religion which has regulated it cannot be a bad one. The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. Most bad government has grown out of too much government. Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty. The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first. A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor and bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government. I never will, by any word or act, bow to the shrine of intolerance or admit a right of inquiry into the religious opinions of others. Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? A free people [claim] their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate. The right of self-government does not comprehend the government of others. An elective despotism was not the government we fought for. History, in general, only informs us what bad government is. If there is one principle more deeply rooted in the mind of every American, it is that we should have nothing to do with conquest. It is better to tolerate that rare instance of a parent’s refusing to let his child be educated, than to shock the common feelings by a forcible transportation and education of the infant against the will of his father. The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground. I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just. The man who reads nothing at all is better than educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers. I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature. In every country and every age, the priest has been hostile to Liberty. A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference. Thomas Jefferson A coward is much more exposed to quarrels than a man of spirit. Thomas Jefferson A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine. Thomas Jefferson A superintending power to maintain the Universe in its course and order. Thomas Jefferson A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor and bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government. Thomas Jefferson Advertisements contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper. Thomas Jefferson All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent. Thomas Jefferson All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression. Thomas Jefferson Always take hold of things by the smooth handle. Thomas Jefferson An association of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing which has never yet existed, from the greatest confederacy of nations down to a town meeting or a vestry. Thomas Jefferson An enemy generally says and believes what he wishes. Thomas Jefferson At last now you can be what the old cannot recall and the young long for in dreams, yet still include them all. Thomas Jefferson Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies. Thomas Jefferson Bodily decay is gloomy in prospect, but of all human contemplations the most abhorrent is body without mind. Thomas Jefferson But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine. Thomas Jefferson Commerce with all nations, alliance with none, should be our motto. Thomas Jefferson Conquest is not in our principles. It is inconsistent with our government. Thomas Jefferson Delay is preferable to error. Thomas Jefferson Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition. Thomas Jefferson Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing. Thomas Jefferson Do not bite at the bait of pleasure, till you know there is no hook beneath it. Thomas Jefferson Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you. Thomas Jefferson Don't talk about what you have done or what you are going to do. Thomas Jefferson Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty. Thomas Jefferson Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day. Thomas Jefferson Errors of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it. Thomas Jefferson Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free state. Thomas Jefferson Every generation needs a new revolution. Thomas Jefferson Experience demands that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich on the poor. Thomas Jefferson Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny. Thomas Jefferson Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear. Thomas Jefferson For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia is their best security. Thomas Jefferson For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead. Thomas Jefferson Force is the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism. Thomas Jefferson Friendship is but another name for an alliance with the follies and the misfortunes of others. Our own share of miseries is sufficient: why enter then as volunteers into those of another? Thomas Jefferson Great innovations should not be forced on slender majorities. Thomas Jefferson Happiness is not being pained in body or troubled in mind. Thomas Jefferson He who knows nothing is closer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors. Thomas Jefferson History, in general, only informs us of what bad government is. Thomas Jefferson Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. Thomas Jefferson How much have cost us the evils that never happened! Thomas Jefferson How much pain they have cost us, the evils which have never happened. Thomas Jefferson I abhor war and view it as the greatest scourge of mankind. Thomas Jefferson I am an Epicurean. I consider the genuine (not the imputed) doctrines of Epicurus as containing everything rational in moral philosophy which Greek and Roman leave to us. Thomas Jefferson I am mortified to be told that, in the United States of America, the sale of a book can become a subject of inquiry, and of criminal inquiry too. Thomas Jefferson I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a monied aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs. Thomas Jefferson I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another. Thomas Jefferson I cannot live without books. Thomas Jefferson I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature. Thomas Jefferson I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month, and I feel myself infinitely the happier for it. Thomas Jefferson I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have. Thomas Jefferson I have no ambition to govern men; it is a painful and thankless office. Thomas Jefferson I have recently been examining all the known superstitions of the world, and do not find in our particular superstition (Christianity) one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology. Thomas Jefferson I have sworn upon the alter of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. Thomas Jefferson I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be. Thomas Jefferson I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country. Thomas Jefferson I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion. Thomas Jefferson I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past. Thomas Jefferson I own that I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive. Thomas Jefferson I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. Thomas Jefferson I sincerely believe that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies, and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale. Thomas Jefferson I think with the Romans, that the general of today should be a soldier tomorrow if necessary. Thomas Jefferson I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever. Thomas Jefferson I was bold in the pursuit of knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason to whatever results they led, and bearding every authority which stood in their way. Thomas Jefferson I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it. Thomas Jefferson I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it. Thomas Jefferson If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be. Thomas Jefferson If God is just, I tremble for my country. Thomas Jefferson If the present Congress errs in too much talking, how can it be otherwise in a body to which the people send one hundred and fifty lawyers, whose trade it is to question everything, yield nothing, and talk by the hour? Thomas Jefferson If there is one principle more deeply rooted in the mind of every American, it is that we should have nothing to do with conquest. Thomas Jefferson Ignorance is preferable to error, and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing than he who believes what is wrong. Thomas Jefferson In every country and every age, the priest had been hostile to Liberty. Thomas Jefferson In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. Thomas Jefferson In truth, politeness is artificial good humor, it covers the natural want of it, and ends by rendering habitual a substitute nearly equivalent to the real virtue. Thomas Jefferson It behooves every man who values liberty of conscience for himself, to resist invasions of it in the case of others: or their case may, by change of circumstances, become his own. Thomas Jefferson It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. Thomas Jefferson It is always better to have no ideas than false ones; to believe nothing, than to believe what is wrong. Thomas Jefferson It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself. Thomas Jefferson It is in our lives and not our words that our religion must be read. Thomas Jefferson It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world. Thomas Jefferson It is more dangerous that even a guilty person should be punished without the forms of law than that he should escape. Thomas Jefferson It is neither wealth nor splendor; but tranquility and occupation which give you happiness. Thomas Jefferson It is our duty still to endeavor to avoid war; but if it shall actually take place, no matter by whom brought on, we must defend ourselves. If our house be on fire, without inquiring whether it was fired from within or without, we must try to extinguish it. Thomas Jefferson Leave all the afternoon for exercise and recreation, which are as necessary as reading. I will rather say more necessary because health is worth more than learning. Thomas Jefferson Liberty is to the collective body, what health is to every individual body. Without health no pleasure can be tasted by man; without liberty, no happiness can be enjoyed by society. Thomas Jefferson Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. Thomas Jefferson Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains. Thomas Jefferson Money, not morality, is the principle commerce of civilized nations. Thomas Jefferson My only fear is that I may live too long. This would be a subject of dread to me. Thomas Jefferson My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government. Thomas Jefferson My theory has always been, that if we are to dream, the flatteries of hope are as cheap, and pleasanter, than the gloom of despair. Thomas Jefferson Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Thomas Jefferson Never spend your money before you have earned it. Thomas Jefferson No duty the Executive had to perform was so trying as to put the right man in the right place. Thomas Jefferson No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. Thomas Jefferson No man will ever carry out of the Presidency the reputation which carried him into it. Thomas Jefferson No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden. Thomas Jefferson Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude. Thomas Jefferson Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances. Thomas Jefferson One man with courage is a majority. Thomas Jefferson Only aim to do your duty, and mankind will give you credit where you fail. Thomas Jefferson Our country is now taking so steady a course as to show by what road it will pass to destruction, to wit: by consolidation of power first, and then corruption, its necessary consequence. Thomas Jefferson Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits. Thomas Jefferson Peace and abstinence from European interferences are our objects, and so will continue while the present order of things in America remain uninterrupted. Thomas Jefferson Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it. Thomas Jefferson Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none. Thomas Jefferson Politics is such a torment that I advise everyone I love not to mix with it. Thomas Jefferson Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear. Thomas Jefferson Resort is had to ridicule only when reason is against us. Thomas Jefferson Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual. Thomas Jefferson So confident am I in the intentions, as well as wisdom, of the government, that I shall always be satisfied that what is not done, either cannot, or ought not to be done. Thomas Jefferson Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question. Thomas Jefferson Speeches that are measured by the hour will die with the hour. Thomas Jefferson Taste cannot be controlled by law. Thomas Jefferson That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves. Thomas Jefferson That government is the strongest of which every man feels himself a part. Thomas Jefferson The advertisement is the most truthful part of a newspaper. Thomas Jefferson The boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave. Thomas Jefferson The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government. Thomas Jefferson The Creator has not thought proper to mark those in the forehead who are of stuff to make good generals. We are first, therefore, to seek them blindfold, and then let them learn the trade at the expense of great losses. Thomas Jefferson The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. Thomas Jefferson The earth belongs to the living, not to the dead. Thomas Jefferson The glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than money. Thomas Jefferson The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time. Thomas Jefferson The good opinion of mankind, like the lever of Archimedes, with the given fulcrum, moves the world. Thomas Jefferson The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as they are injurious to others. Thomas Jefferson The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers. Thomas Jefferson The most successful war seldom pays for its losses. Thomas Jefferson The natural cause of the human mind is certainly from credulity to skepticism. Thomas Jefferson The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground. Thomas Jefferson The second office in the government is honorable and easy; the first is but a splendid misery. Thomas Jefferson The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive. Thomas Jefferson The spirit of this country is totally adverse to a large military force. Thomas Jefferson The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government. Thomas Jefferson The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. Thomas Jefferson The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other. Our children see this, and learn to imitate it. Thomas Jefferson The world is indebted for all triumphs which have been gained by reason and humanity over error and oppression. Thomas Jefferson There is a natural aristocracy among men. The grounds of this are virtue and talents. Thomas Jefferson There is not a sprig of grass that shoots uninteresting to me. Thomas Jefferson There is not a truth existing which I fear... or would wish unknown to the whole world. Thomas Jefferson Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty. Thomas Jefferson To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical. Thomas Jefferson To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical. Thomas Jefferson To myself, personally, it brings nothing but increasing drudgery and daily loss of friends. Thomas Jefferson To preserve our independence... We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude. Thomas Jefferson Truth is certainly a branch of morality and a very important one to society. Thomas Jefferson Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very fast. Thomas Jefferson War is an instrument entirely inefficient toward redressing wrong; and multiplies, instead of indemnifying losses. Thomas Jefferson We are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty in a featherbed. Thomas Jefferson We confide in our strength, without boasting of it; we respect that of others, without fearing it. Thomas Jefferson We did not raise armies for glory or for conquest. Thomas Jefferson We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Thomas Jefferson We may consider each generation as a distinct nation, with a right, by the will of its majority, to bind themselves, but none to bind the succeeding generation, more than the inhabitants of another country. Thomas Jefferson We never repent of having eaten too little. Thomas Jefferson Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. Thomas Jefferson When a man assumes a public trust he should consider himself a public property. Thomas Jefferson When angry count to ten before you speak. If very angry, count to one hundred. Thomas Jefferson When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. Thomas Jefferson When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe. Thomas Jefferson When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on. Thomas Jefferson Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on offices, a rottenness begins in his conduct. Thomas Jefferson Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government. Thomas Jefferson Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching. Thomas Jefferson Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe. Thomas Jefferson

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Ronald Reagan Quotes

Ronald Reagan (1911 - 2004) 40th president of USA 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. Ronald Reagan All great change in America begins at the dinner table. Ronald Reagan Coersion, after all, merely captures man. Freedom captivates him. Ronald Reagan Don't be afraid to see what you see. Ronald Reagan Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States. Ronald Reagan 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, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free. Ronald Reagan Freedom is one of the deepest and noblest aspirations of the human spirit. Ronald Reagan 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. Ronald Reagan I call upon the scientific community in our country, those who gave us nuclear weapons, to turn their great talents now to the cause of mankind and world peace: to give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete. Ronald Reagan I don't believe in a government that protects us from ourselves. Ronald Reagan I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency, even if I'm in a cabinet meeting. Ronald Reagan I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there's purpose and worth to each and every life. Ronald Reagan If you're afraid of the future, then get out of the way, stand aside. The people of this country are ready to move again. Ronald Reagan No arsenal ... is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. Ronald Reagan People don't start wars, governments do. Ronald Reagan Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book. Ronald Reagan - More quotations on: [Writing] [Politics] Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first. Ronald Reagan - More quotations on: [Politics] The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them away. Ronald Reagan The 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. Ronald Reagan The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.' Ronald Reagan The ultimate determinant in the struggle now going on for the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas-a trial of spiritual resolve: the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish and the ideals to which we are dedicated. Ronald Reagan There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder. Ronald Reagan 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. Ronald Reagan To sit back hoping that someday, someway, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last--but eat you he will. Ronald Reagan You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done. Ronald Reagan History teaches that wars begin when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap. Ronald Reagan, Address to the Nation, Jan 16, 1984 You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans. Ronald Reagan, quoted in Observer, March 29 1981 My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes. Ronald Reagan, Said during a radio microphone test, 1984 A people free to choose will always choose peace. Ronald Reagan 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. Ronald Reagan All great change in America begins at the dinner table. Ronald Reagan All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk. Ronald Reagan Approximately 80% of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released by vegetation, so let's not go overboard in setting and enforcing tough emission standards from man-made sources. Ronald Reagan Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement. Ronald Reagan But there are advantages to being elected President. The day after I was elected, I had my high school grades classified Top Secret. Ronald Reagan Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty. Ronald Reagan Don't be afraid to see what you see. Ronald Reagan Double, no triple, our troubles and we'd still be better off than any other people on earth. It is time that we recognized that ours was, in truth, a noble cause. Ronald Reagan Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States. Ronald Reagan Facts are stubborn things. Ronald Reagan 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. Ronald Reagan Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged. Ronald Reagan Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets. Ronald Reagan Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them. Ronald Reagan Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other. Ronald Reagan Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives. Ronald Reagan 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. Ronald Reagan Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them. Ronald Reagan History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap. Ronald Reagan How can a president not be an actor? Ronald Reagan 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. Ronald Reagan I call upon the scientific community in our country, those who gave us nuclear weapons, to turn their great talents now to the cause of mankind and world peace: to give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete. Ronald Reagan I couldn't help but say to Mr. Gorbachev just think how easy his task and mine might be in these meetings that we held if suddenly there was a threat to this world from another planet. We'd find out once and for all that we really are all human beings here on this earth together. Ronald Reagan I favor the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and it must be enforced at gunpoint if necessary. Ronald Reagan I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency, even if I'm in a cabinet meeting. Ronald Reagan I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress. Ronald Reagan I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there's purpose and worth to each and every life. Ronald Reagan I never drink coffee at lunch. I find it keeps me awake for the afternoon. Ronald Reagan I've never been able to understand why a Republican contributor is a 'fat cat' and a Democratic contributor of the same amount of money is a 'public-spirited philanthropist'. Ronald Reagan I've often said there's nothing better for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse. Ronald Reagan 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. Ronald Reagan If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen. Ronald Reagan If you've seen one redwood, you've seen them all. Ronald Reagan In Israel, free men and women are every day demonstrating the power of courage and faith. Back in 1948 when Israel was founded, pundits claimed the new country could never survive. Today, no one questions that. Israel is a land of stability and democracy in a region of tryanny and unrest. Ronald Reagan Inflation is as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber and as deadly as a hit man. Ronald Reagan Information is the oxygen of the modern age. It seeps through the walls topped by barbed wire, it wafts across the electrified borders. Ronald Reagan It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first. Ronald Reagan It's silly talking about how many years we will have to spend in the jungles of Vietnam when we could pave the whole country and put parking stripes on it and still be home by Christmas. Ronald Reagan It's true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance? Ronald Reagan Let us ask ourselves; "What kind of people do we think we are?" Ronald Reagan Let us not forget who we are. Drug abuse is a repudiation of everything America is. Ronald Reagan Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music. Ronald Reagan Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall! Ronald Reagan My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes. Ronald Reagan My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose - somehow we win out. Ronald Reagan No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan No matter what time it is, wake me, even if it's in the middle of a Cabinet meeting. Ronald Reagan No mother would ever willingly sacrifice her sons for territorial gain, for economic advantage, for ideology. Ronald Reagan Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong. Ronald Reagan Our forbearance should never be misunderstood. Our reluctance for conflict should not be misjudged as a failure of will. When action is required to preserve our national security, we will act. Ronald Reagan Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means. Ronald Reagan Peace is not the absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means. Ronald Reagan People do not make wars; governments do. Ronald Reagan Politics I supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first. Ronald Reagan Politics is just like show business. You have a hell of an opening, coast for a while, and then have a hell of a close. Ronald Reagan Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book. Ronald Reagan Protecting the rights of even the least individual among us is basically the only excuse the government has for even existing. Ronald Reagan Recession is when a neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. Ronald Reagan Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15. Ronald Reagan Status quo, you know, is Latin for 'the mess we're in'. Ronald Reagan Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don't interfere as long as the policy you've decided upon is being carried out. Ronald Reagan The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away. Ronald Reagan The 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. Ronald Reagan The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help. Ronald Reagan The neutron warhead is a defensive weapon designed to offset the great superiority that the Soviet Union has on the western front against the NATO nations. Ronald Reagan The problem is not that people are taxed too little, the problem is that government spends too much. Ronald Reagan The taxpayer - that's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination. Ronald Reagan The thought of being President frightens me and I do not think I want the job. Ronald Reagan The ultimate determinant in the struggle now going on for the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas - a trial of spiritual resolve: the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish and the ideals to which we are dedicated. Ronald Reagan The United Sates has much to offer the third world war. Ronald Reagan There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right. Ronald Reagan There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder. Ronald Reagan They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong. Ronald Reagan 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. Ronald Reagan To sit back hoping that someday, some way, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last - but eat you he will. Ronald Reagan Today we did what we had to do. They counted on America to be passive. They counted wrong. Ronald Reagan Today, if you invent a better mousetrap, the government comes along with a better mouse. Ronald Reagan Trust, but verify. Ronald Reagan We can not play innocents abroad in a world that is not innocent. Ronald Reagan We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone. Ronald Reagan We have so many people who can't see a fat man standing beside a thin one without coming to the conclusion that the fat man got that way by taking advantage of the thin one! Ronald Reagan We might come closer to balancing the Budget if all of us lived closer to the Commandments and the Golden Rule. Ronald Reagan 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. Ronald Reagan We should measure welfare's success by how many people leave welfare, not by how many are added. Ronald Reagan We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we will always be free. Ronald Reagan We're in greater danger today than we were the day after Pearl Harbor. Our military is absolutely incapable of defending this country. Ronald Reagan Welfare's purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence. Ronald Reagan Well, I learned a lot - I went down to Latin America to find out from them and their views. You'd be surprised. They're all individual countries. Ronald Reagan Well, I learned a lot... I went down to Latin America to find out from them and (learn) their views. You'd be surprised. They're all individual countries. Ronald Reagan What makes him think a middle aged actor, who's played with a chimp, could have a future in politics? Ronald Reagan What we have found in this country, and maybe we're more aware of it now, is one problem that we've had, even in the best of times, and that is the people who are sleeping on the grates, the homeless, you might say, by choice. Ronald Reagan Whatever time I've got left now belongs to the Big Fella Upstairs. Ronald Reagan While I take inspiration from the past, like most Americans, I live for the future. Ronald Reagan Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face. Ronald Reagan You can tell alot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans. Ronald Reagan