Democracy is not a fragile flower; still it needs cultivating.

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

Some spend their entire lives wondering if they have made a difference in this world. The Marines don’t have that problem.

A bird on a tether, no matter how long the rope, can always be pulled back.

A leader, once convinced a particular course of action is the right one, must have the determination to stick with it and be undaunted when the going gets tough.

If you’ve seen one redwood tree, you’ve seen them all

Every new day begins with possibilities. It’s up to us to fill it with thethings that move us toward progress and peace.

I favor the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and it must be enforced at gunpoint if necessary.

If politics were a musical, it would be “Promises, Promises”.

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:...

Regimes planted by bayonets do not take root.

I wasn’t a great communicator, but I communicated great things, and they didn’t spring full-bloom from my brow — they came from the heart of a great nation.

Nations do not mistrust each other because they are armed; they are armed because they mistrust each other.

A friend of mine was asked to a costume ball a short time ago. He slapped some egg on his face and went as a liberal economist.

Governments don’t reduce deficits by raising taxes on the people; governments reduce deficits by controlling spending and stimulating new wealth.

If I could paraphrase a well-known statement by Will Rogers that he never met a man he didn’t like — I’m afraid we have some people around here who never met a tax they didn’t...

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...

[The most effective president, he told Forbes magazine 11 months ago, was Harry Truman, because] everybody who worked for him worshiped him because he was absolutely trustworthy. … His great strength was not charisma, as...

Money can’t buy happiness but it will get you a better class of memories

An actor knows two important things — to be honest in what he is doing and to be in touch with the audience. That’s not bad advice for a politician either.

If you’ve seen one redwood, you’ve seen them all.

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

Life is one grand sweet song so start the music

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...

My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing will begin in five minutes. – During radio microphone test

I’ve always believed that a lot of the trouble in the world would disappear if we were talking to each other instead of about each other. (April 11, 1984)

Those who would trade our freedom for the soup kitchen of the welfare state have told us that they have a utopian solution of peace without victory. They call their policy “accommodation”. And they say...

Since I came to the White House, I got two hearing aids, a colon operation, skin cancer, a prostate operation, and I was shot. The damn thing is I’ve never felt better in my life.

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

The one irrefutable lesson of the entire postwar period [is] contradicting the notion that rigid government controls are essential to economic development.

My fellow Americans, I’m pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.

One picture is worth 1,000 denials.

Even Albert Einstein reportedly needed help on his 1040 form.

And if you answer all of those questions yes, why then, I think your choice is very obvious as to whom you will vote for. If you don’t agree, if you don’t think this course...

There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder.