139 Quotes & Sayings By Ronald Reagan

Born in 1911, Ronald Wilson Reagan was raised in a small town near Chicago. His father was a traveling salesman for an electric company. He also worked as a sports announcer before becoming an actor. After graduating from Eureka College in 1932, Reagan began his acting career on stage and then appeared in several movies Read more

As president of the Screen Actors Guild, he led actors' strikes against the studios for better wages and working conditions. Reagan became involved with the Republican Party and campaigned for candidates before being elected governor of California in 1966. Two years later, he was elected president of the United States.

During his presidency, he signed legislation to strengthen Social Security, create Medicare, give amnesty to undocumented immigrants, improve education funding through the Education of All Handicapped Children Act, establish the Department of Housing and Urban Development, create the Peace Corps, raise taxes for the first time since World War II, reduce inflation by curbing spending on domestic programs and military expenditures, negotiate terms on nuclear arms reduction with the Soviet Union, end American involvement in Vietnam by withdrawing U.S. troops (Paris Peace Accords), abolish draft registration (DODD), end federal involvement in education (guaranteed student loans), end price controls (oil industry), and increase support to families with dependent children (Aid to Families with Dependent Children).

Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government...
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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
If we ever forget that we're one nation under God,...
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If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be one nation gone under. Ronald Reagan
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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
There is no limit to the amount of good you...
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There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit. Ronald Reagan
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Status quo, you know, is Latin for 'the mess we're in'. Ronald Reagan
I know in my heart that man is good, that...
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I know in my heart that man is good, that what is right will always eventually triumph, and there is purpose and worth to each and every life. Ronald Reagan
The future doesn't belong to the light-hearted. It belongs to...
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The future doesn't belong to the light-hearted. It belongs to the brave. Ronald Reagan
America is too great for small dreams.
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America is too great for small dreams. Ronald Reagan
I have left orders to be awakened at any time...
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I have left orders to be awakened at any time during national emergency, even if I'm in a cabinet meeting. Ronald Reagan
I've heard that hard work never killed anyone, but I...
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I've heard that hard work never killed anyone, but I say why take the chance? Ronald Reagan
Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there...
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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
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If you're explaining, you're losing. Ronald Reagan
We are never defeated unless we give up on God.
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We are never defeated unless we give up on God. Ronald Reagan
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We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone. Ronald Reagan
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More than a decade ago, a Supreme Court decision literally wiped off the books of fifty states statutes protecting the rights of unborn children. Abortion on demand now takes the lives of up to 1.5 million unborn children a year. Human life legislation ending this tragedy will some day pass the Congress, and you and I must never rest until it does. Unless and until it can be proven that the unborn child is not a living entity, then its right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness must be protected. . Ronald Reagan
Our government needs the church, because only those humble enough...
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Our government needs the church, because only those humble enough to admit they're sinners can bring democracy the tolerance it requires to survive Ronald Reagan
A people free to choose will always choose peace.
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A people free to choose will always choose peace. Ronald Reagan
Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about...
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Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong. Ronald Reagan
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If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. I think conservatism is really a misnomer just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberals – if we were back in the days of the Revolution, so-called conservatives today would be the Liberals and the liberals would be the Tories. The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is. Ronald Reagan
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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. Ronald Reagan
If there's one observation that rings true in today's changing...
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If there's one observation that rings true in today's changing world, it is that freedom and peace go hand in hand. Ronald Reagan
If we lose freedom here, there is no place to...
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If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth. Ronald Reagan
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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
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The miracle of life is given by One greater than ourselves, but once given, each life is ours to nurture and preserve, to foster, not only for today's world but for a better one to come. There is no purpose more noble than for us to sustain and celebrate life in a turbulent world, and that is what we must do now. We have no higher duty, no greater cause as humans. Life and the preservation of freedom to live it in dignity is what we are on this Earth to do. Everything we work to achieve must seek that end so that some day our prime ministers, our premiers, our presidents, and our general secretaries will talk not of war and peace, but only of peace. Ronald Reagan
We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom...
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We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. Ronald Reagan
If freedom, democracy, and the rights of man are to...
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If freedom, democracy, and the rights of man are to be preserved through the ages, free men and women must accept the responsibilities that go with their freedoms. Ronald Reagan
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..Now let's set the record straight. There's no argument over the choice between peace and war, but there's only one guaranteed way you can have peace–and you can have it in the next second–surrender. Admittedly, there's a risk in any course we follow other than this, but every lesson of history tells us that the greater risk lies in appeasement, and this is the specter our well-meaning liberal friends refuse to face–that their policy of accommodation is appeasement, and it gives no choice between peace and war, only between fight or surrender. If we continue to accommodate, continue to back and retreat, eventually we have to face the final demand–the ultimatum. And what then–when Nikita Khrushchev has told his people he knows what our answer will be? He has told them that we're retreating under the pressure of the Cold War, and someday when the time comes to deliver the final ultimatum, our surrender will be voluntary, because by that time we will have been weakened from within spiritually, morally, and economically. He believes this because from our side he's heard voices pleading for "peace at any price" or "better Red than dead, " or as one commentator put it, he'd rather "live on his knees than die on his feet." And therein lies the road to war, because those voices don't speak for the rest of us. You and I know and do not believe that life is so dear and peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery. If nothing in life is worth dying for, when did this begin–just in the face of this enemy? Or should Moses have told the children of Israel to live in slavery under the pharaohs? Should Christ have refused the cross? Should the patriots at Concord Bridge have thrown down their guns and refused to fire the shot heard 'round the world? The martyrs of history were not fools, and our honored dead who gave their lives to stop the advance of the Nazis didn't die in vain. Where, then, is the road to peace? Well it's a simple answer after all. You and I have the courage to say to our enemies, "There is a price we will not pay." "There is a point beyond which they must not advance." And this–this is the meaning in the phrase of Barry Goldwater's "peace through strength." Winston Churchill said, "The destiny of man is not measured by material computations. When great forces are on the move in the world, we learn we're spirits–not animals." And he said, "There's something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty." You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We'll preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we'll sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness.. Ronald Reagan
If politics were a musical, it would be
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If politics were a musical, it would be "Promises, Promises". Ronald Reagan
As government expands, liberty contracts.
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As government expands, liberty contracts. Ronald Reagan
How do you tell a Communist? Well, it’s someone who...
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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've never been able to understand why a Republican contributor...
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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
Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for...
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Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face. Ronald Reagan
The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does...
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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. Ronald Reagan
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Regimes planted by bayonets do not take root.. Our military strength is a prerequisite to peace, but let it be clear we maintain this strength in the hope it will never be used, for the ultimate determinant in the struggle that's now going on in 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, the ideals to which we are dedicated. Ronald Reagan
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Life is one grand sweet song so start the music Ronald Reagan
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It seems to me that America is constantly reinventing what "America" means. Ronald Reagan
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Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his. Ronald Reagan
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The key for any speaker is to establish his own point of view for the audience, so they can see the game through his eyes. Ronald Reagan
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Radio was theater of the mind. Ronald Reagan
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You can’t tax business. Business doesn’t pay taxes. It collects taxes. Ronald Reagan
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We fought a war on poverty, and poverty won Ronald Reagan
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I don't believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing. Ronald Reagan
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Yes, our country has its shortcomings, but there's no moral equivalency between democracy and totalitarianism… There's no moral equivalency between propaganda and the truth. Ronald Reagan
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Why should we subsidize intellectual curiosity? Ronald Reagan
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You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans. Ronald Reagan
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Just think how happy you'd be if you lost everything you have right now & then got it back. Ronald Reagan
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Government does not solve problems. It subsidizes them. Ronald Reagan
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Democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. Ronald Reagan
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In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem, government IS the problem. It isn't so much that liberals are ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so. Ronald Reagan
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You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man's age-old dream -- the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order --or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have embarked on this downward path. . Ronald Reagan
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Nothing lasts longer than a temporary government program. Ronald Reagan
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Let me speak plainly: The United States of America is and must remain a nation of openness to people of all beliefs. Our very unity has been strengthened by this pluralism. That's how we began; this is how we must always be. The ideals of our country leave no room whatsoever for intolerance, anti- Semitism, or bigotry of any kind -- none. The unique thing about America is a wall in our Constitution separating church and state. It guarantees there will never be a state religion in this land, but at the same time it makes sure that every single American is free to choose and practice his or her religious beliefs or to choose no religion at all. Their rights shall not be questioned or violated by the state.-- Remarks at the International Convention of B'nai B'rith, 6 September 1984. Ronald Reagan
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Sometimes when I'm faced with an atheist, I am tempted to invite him to the greatest gourmet dinner that one could ever serve, and when we have finished eating that magnificent dinner, to ask him if he believes there's a cook. Ronald Reagan
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I was not a great communicator, but I communicated great things. Ronald Reagan
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I discovered that night (in his college's student politics) that an audience has a feel to it, and, in the parlance of the theater, that audience and I were together. Ronald Reagan
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I hope we once again have reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There's a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts. Ronald Reagan
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Our natural, inalienable rights are now considered to be a dispensation from government, and freedom has never been so fragile, so close to slipping from our grasp as it is at this moment. Ronald Reagan
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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. Ronald Reagan
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Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty Ronald Reagan
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Getting shot hurts. Still my fear was growing because no matter how hard I tried to breath it seemed I was getting less & less air. I focused on that tiled ceiling and prayed. But I realized I couldn't ask for Gods help while at the same time I felt hatred for the mixed up young man who had shot me. Isn't that the meaning of the lost sheep? We are all Gods children & therefore equally beloved by him. I began to pray for his soul and that he would find his way back to the fold. Ronald Reagan
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They had that special grace, that special spirit that says, 'Give me a challenge and I'll meet it with joy." on Challenger disaster Ronald Reagan
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Heroes may not be braver than anyone else. They're just braver 5 minutes longer. Ronald Reagan
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Christmas can be celebrated in the school room with pine trees, tinsel and reindeers, but there must be no mention of the man whose birthday is being celebrated. One wonders how a teacher would answer if a student asked why it was called Christmas. Ronald Reagan
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...where the preservation of a natural resource like the redwoods is concerned, that there is a common sense limit. I mean, if you've looked at a hundred thousand acres or so of trees – you know, a tree is a tree, how many more do you need to look at? Ronald Reagan
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We do not deny any nation's legitimate interest in security. But protecting the security of one nation by robbing another of its national independence and national traditions is not legitimate. In the long run, it is not even secure. Ronald Reagan
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There is no humanity or charity in destroying self-reliance, dignity, and self-respect. Ronald Reagan
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They preach the supremacy of the state, declare its omnipotence over individual man and predict its eventual domination of all peoples on the Earth. They are the focus of evil in the modern world.. So, in your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to beware the temptation of pride, the temptation of blithely declaring yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil. Ronald Reagan
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Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15. Ronald Reagan
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Socialists ignore the side of man that is the spirit. They can provide you shelter, fill your belly with bacon and beans, treat you when you're ill, all the things guaranteed to a prisoner or a slave. They don't understand that we also dream. Ronald Reagan
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Information is the oxygen of the modern age. It seeps through the walls topped by barbed wire, it wafts across the electrified borders.... The Goliath of totalitarianism will be brought down by the David of the microchip. Ronald Reagan
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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
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I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. Ronald Reagan
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Trees, how many of 'em do we need to look at? Ronald Reagan
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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
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Double-no triple-our troubles and we'd still be better off than any other people on earth. Ronald Reagan
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Abortion is advocated only by persons who have themselves been born. Ronald Reagan
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Money can't buy happiness but it will certainly get you a better class of memories. Ronald Reagan
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Every new day begins with possibilities. It's up to us to fill it with the things that move us toward progress and peace. Ronald Reagan
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God's miracles are to be found in nature itself the wind and waves the wood that becomes a tree - all of these are explained biologically but behind them is the hand of God. Ronald Reagan
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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
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If we love our country we should also love our countrymen. Ronald Reagan
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Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result. Ronald Reagan
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They say hard work never hurt anybody but I figure why take the chance. Ronald Reagan
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We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone. Ronald Reagan
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We should declare war on North Vietnam. We could pave the whole country and put parking strips on it, and still be home by Christmas. Ronald Reagan
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History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap. Ronald Reagan
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If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen. Ronald Reagan
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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
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It's true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance? Ronald Reagan
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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
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The taxpayer - that's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination. Ronald Reagan
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Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music. Ronald Reagan
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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
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There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder. Ronald Reagan
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The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away. Ronald Reagan
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You can tell alot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans. Ronald Reagan
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It's difficult to believe that people are still starving in this country because food isn't available. Ronald Reagan
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Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged. Ronald Reagan
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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
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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