Ronald Reagan Quotes

Ronald Reagan was a great man.  He was president when my children were just babies.  It was the beginning of my political journey.  I hadn't paid a lot of attention to the political scene.  I was busy getting my degree, dating, making sense of life and then getting married and starting a family.  I know....I was one of those political short sided late bloomers. But then I had children and all of sudden their future (which was connected to the future of this country) was vitally important to me. 

Add to that the fact that listening to President Reagan was not only informative, but incredibly inspiring.  I felt like I could make a difference.  I felt like it was up to me.  And....I "wanted" to get involved and change the world for the better. 

I don't think he had a deeper insight or was giving us information that wasn't readily available - it was the way he delivered what he had to say.  He owned it.  You knew the words were not being read....but that they were a part of his own life.  He believed in the concepts he promoted.  He truly believed that America was a great country.

Lately, I've found myself quoting President Reagan a lot!  I find comfort and hope in his words.  I enjoy the humor he used to convey his message and I often sit for a moment to reflect on something I've just read.  I thought it might help you today to read his words.  I hope that you will not only find hope and comfort - but that you will see him as the great president and honorable man that he was!

All of the following quotes were made by President Ronald Reagan.  The first one is my favorite and so very true.    All quotes highlighted in red are important for the family.  Enjoy!

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.

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.

A people free to choose will always choose peace.

A tree's a tree. How many more do you need to look at?

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.

All great change in America begins at the dinner table.

Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement.

But there are advantages to being elected President. The day after I was elected, I had my high school grades classified Top Secret.

Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty.

Democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man.

Don't be afraid to see what you see.

Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States.

Facts are stubborn things.

Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.

Going to college offered me the chance to play football for four more years.

Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets.

Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.

Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.

Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.

Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.

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.

Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them.

Heroes may not be braver than anyone else. They're just braver five minutes longer.

History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap.

How can a president not be an actor?

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.

I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself.

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.

I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress.

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.

I never drink coffee at lunch. I find it keeps me awake for the afternoon.

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'.

I've often said there's nothing better for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse.

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.

If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.

If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen.

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.

Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music.

Man is not free unless government is limited.

Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

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!

No mother would ever willingly sacrifice her sons for territorial gain, for economic advantage, for ideology.

Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong.

The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

The problem is not that people are taxed too little, the problem is that government spends too much.

The taxpayer - that's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination.

There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.

There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.

When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat.

While I take inspiration from the past, like most Americans, I live for the future.

Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face.

Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure.

You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans.

Gotta love a man who loves Jelly Beans....

God loves you,

Debbie