All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

The taxpayer – that’s someone who works for the federal government but doesn’t have to take the civil service examination. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

I never drink coffee at lunch. I find it keeps me awake for the afternoon. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Recession is when a neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

How can a president not be an actor? -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Each generation goes further than the generation preceding it because it stands on the shoulders of that generation. You will have opportunities beyond anything we’ve ever known. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

I favor the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and it must be enforced at gunpoint if necessary. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Facts are stubborn things. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Today we did what we had to do. They counted on America to be passive. They counted wrong. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

The problem is not that people are taxed too little, the problem is that government spends too much. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

You can tell alot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jellybeans. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Latinos are Republican. They just don’t know it yet. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Government’s first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

It’s true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance? -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Democracy is worth dying for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Trust, but verify. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

When you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

The trouble with our Liberal friends is not that they’re ignorant; it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Heroes may not be braver than anyone else. They’re just braver five minutes longer. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Don’t be afraid to see what you see. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Some people wonder all their lives if they’ve made a difference. The Marines don’t have that problem. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

All great change in America begins at the dinner table. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

We are never defeated unless we give up on God. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Inflation is as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber and as deadly as a hit man. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Mad or glad, Mr. Reagan is head over heels in love with Mrs. Reagan and can’t even imagine a world without her – He loves her. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

No mother would ever willingly sacrifice her sons for territorial gain, for economic advantage, for ideology. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Regimes planted by bayonets do not take root. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

If the Soviet Union let another political party come into existence, they would still be a one-party state, because everybody would join the other party. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

I noticed words crudely spray-painted upon the wall, perhaps by a young Berliner: ‘This wall will fall. Beliefs become reality.’ Yes, across Europe, this wall will fall. For it cannot withstand faith; it cannot withstand truth. The wall cannot withstand freedom. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

The greatest security for Israel is to create new Egypts. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Protecting the rights of even the least individual among us is basically the only excuse the government has for even existing. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

We don’t hide our space program. We don’t keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That’s the way freedom is, and we wouldn’t change it for a minute. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

The totalitarian world produces backwardness because it does such violence to the spirit, thwarting the human impulse to create, to enjoy, to worship. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

We have the duty to protect the life of an unborn child. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

For the sake of peace and justice, let us move toward a world in which all people are at last free to determine their own destiny. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we will always be free. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Let us not forget who we are. Drug abuse is a repudiation of everything America is. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

No matter what time it is, wake me, even if it’s in the middle of a Cabinet meeting. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Poland is not East or West. Poland is at the center of European civilization. It has contributed mightily to that civilization. It is doing so today by being magnificently unreconciled to oppression. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Let us be sure that those who come after will say of us in our time, that in our time we did everything that could be done. We finished the race; we kept them free; we kept the faith. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

One way to make sure crime doesn’t pay would be to let the government run it. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Violence has been Nicaragua’s most important export to the world. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Going to college offered me the chance to play football for four more years. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

People do not make wars; governments do. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

We might come closer to balancing the Budget if all of us lived closer to the Commandments and the Golden Rule. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

It’s difficult to believe that people are still starving in this country because food isn’t available. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

While I take inspiration from the past, like most Americans, I live for the future. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Optimism comes less easily today, not because democracy is less vigorous, but because democracy’s enemies have refined their instruments of repression. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Let us be shy no longer. Let us go to our strength. Let us offer hope. Let us tell the world that a new age is not only possible but probable. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

One picture is worth 1,000 denials. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

The objective I propose is quite simple to state: to foster the infrastructure of democracy – the system of a free press, unions, political parties, universities – which allows a people to choose their own way to develop their own culture, to reconcile their own differences through peaceful means. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Let us ask ourselves, ‘What kind of people do we think we are?’ And let us answer, ‘Free people, worthy of freedom and determined not only to remain so but to help others gain their freedom as well.’ -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Today, if you invent a better mousetrap, the government comes along with a better mouse. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

A tree’s a tree. How many more do you need to look at? -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Today on the NATO line, our military forces face east to prevent a possible invasion. On the other side of the line, the Soviet forces also face east to prevent their people from leaving. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Unemployment insurance is a pre-paid vacation for freeloaders. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

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  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

A people free to choose will always choose peace. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

You are Mrs. Reagan because Mr. Reagan loves you with all his heart. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

Yes, across Europe, this wall will fall. For it cannot withstand faith; it cannot withstand truth. The wall cannot withstand freedom. -Ronald Reagan  February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004