Nicknamed "the Great Communicator," Ronald Reagan was both one of the best political orators of the 20th Century and a self-deprecating wit. Following is a collection of some classic Reaganisms.
• "I did turn 75 today -- but remember, that's only 24 Celsius."
• "It's true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?"
• "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."
• To wife Nancy after John Hinckley, Jr.'s 1981 assassination attempt: "Honey, I forgot to duck."
• During a 1984 debate with Walter Mondale: "I'm not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience."
• "You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans."
• "Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first."
• In testing the microphone for his weekly radio address, Reagan declared, ''My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today I've just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes.''
• "Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."
• "Mr. President," TV reporter Sam Donaldson yelled out at Reagan after a 1982 press conference, "In talking about the continuing recession tonight, you have blamed the mistakes of the past and you've blamed Congress. Does any of the blame belong to you?" Reagan responded, "Yes, because for many years I was a Democrat."
• "Now, so there will be no misunderstanding, it's not my intention to do away with government. It is rather to make it work -- work with us, not over us; to stand by our side, not ride on our back. Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not stifle it."
• "Well, this administration's objective will be a healthy, vigorous, growing economy that provides equal opportunity for all Americans, with no barriers born of bigotry or discrimination."
• "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."
• "I hope you're all Republicans," he told doctors who were about to operate on his bullet wounds.
• "Did we forget that government is the people's business, and every man, woman and child becomes a shareholder with the first penny of taxes paid?"
• "We do not have a trillion dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough. We have a trillion dollar debt because we spend too much."
• "But with these considerations firmly in mind, 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."
• "Abortion is advocated only by persons who themselves have been born."
• "Politics is a very rewarding profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book."
• "America is too great for small dreams."
• "We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we can always be free."
• "Government growing beyond our consent had become a lumbering giant, slamming shut the gates of opportunity, threatening to crush the very roots of our freedom."
Here are some more quotes
Some quotations from Ronald Reagan
By Associated Press
Saturday, June 5, 2004
Some quotations from Ronald Reagan:
"This is the issue of this election: whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan for ourselves." - Oct. 27, 1964, televised speech for GOP presidential candidate Barry Goldwater.
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"I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Breen." - When someone tried to turn off his microphone at a Reagan-sponsored debate during 1980 New Hampshire primaries.
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"We have to move ahead, but we are not going to leave anyone behind." - Republican National Convention, July 1980
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"There you go again." - Responding to criticism during debate with President Carter, October 1980.
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"Government is not the solution, it's the problem." - Inaugural address, Jan. 20, 1981
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"All of us need to be reminded that the federal government did not create the states, the states created the federal government. ... Steps will be taken aimed a restoring the balance between the various levels of government." - Inaugural address, Jan. 20, 1981.
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"Honey, I forgot to duck." - To Nancy Reagan in the emergency room after he was shot by a would-be assassin, March 30, 1981.
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"It's just plain common sense that there be a waiting period to allow local law enforcement officials to conduct background checks on those who wish to buy a handgun." - Endorsing the Brady handgun control bill, at a March 1991 event commemorating 10th anniversary of assassination attempt.
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"Some argue that we should encourage democratic change in right-wing dictatorships, but not in Communist regimes. Well, to accept this preposterous notion - as some well-meaning people have - is to invite the argument that once countries achieve a nuclear capability, they should be allowed an undisturbed reign of terror over their own citizens. We reject this course." - June 1982 speech to British Parliament.
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"I was pleased last year to proclaim 1983 the year of the Bible. But, you know, a group called the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) severely criticized me for doing that. Well, I wear their indictment like a badge of honor." - January 1984.
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"I've always stated that the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth is a government program." - April 1986
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"A (nuclear weapons) freeze now would be a very dangerous fraud, for that is merely the illusion of peace. The reality is that we must find peace through strength. ...
"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. ...
"I believe that communism is another sad, bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages even now are being written." - Speech to the National Association of Evangelicals, March 1983. (He wrote six years later that "I could not in good conscience today call the Soviet Union an evil empire.")
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"If you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate ... open this gate ... tear down this wall." - June 1987 speech at Brandenberg Gate in Berlin. Remarks addressed to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
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"By 1980, we knew it was time to renew our faith; to strive with all our strength toward the ultimate of individual freedom, consistent with an orderly society.
"We believed then and now: There are no limits to growth and human progress, when men and women are free to follow their dreams. And we were right to believe that. Tax rates have been reduced, inflation cut dramatically and more people are employed than ever before in our history.
"We are creating a nation once again vibrant, robust, and alive. There are many mountains yet to climb. We will not rest until every American enjoys the fullness of freedom, dignity, and opportunity as our birthright. It is our birthright as citizens of this great republic." - Second inaugural address, Jan. 21, 1985
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"The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was the deep knowledge - and pray God we have not lost it - that there is a profound moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest." - On 40th anniversary of Normandy invasion, June 6, 1984.
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"Sending the Marines to Beirut was the source of my greatest regret and greatest sorrow." - About the Lebanon bombing that killed 241 servicemen in 1983, from his 1990 book, "An American Life"
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"The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and `slipped the surly bonds of earth' to `touch the face of God.'" - After shuttle disaster, Jan. 28, 1986.
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"A few months ago I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that is true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not." - March 4, 1987, speech acknowledging dealings with Iran had deteriorated into an arms for hostages deal
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"You know, by the time you reach my age, you've made plenty of mistakes if you've lived your life properly. So you learn. You put things in perspective. You pull your energies together. You change. You go forward. My fellow Americans, I have a great deal that I want to accomplish with you and for you over the next two years. And, the Lord willing, that's exactly what I intend to do." - March 4, 1987, speech acknowledging dealings with Iran had deteriorated into an arms for hostages deal
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"I did not see it as trading arms for hostages because we were dealing with Iranian intermediaries, not the kidnappers themselves. I know it may be a fine line to most people, but it's what I believed then and what I still believe." - About the Iran-Contra affair, from his 1989 book, "Speaking My Mind"
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"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." - Joke while testing microphone, Aug. 11, 1984
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"So, you can see why, to me, the story of these last eight years and this presidency goes far beyond any personal concerns. It is a continuation, really, of a far larger story, a story of a people and a cause. A cause that, from our earliest beginnings, has defined us as a nation and given purpose to our national existence. The hope of human freedom, the quest for it, the achievement of it, is the American saga." - Last weekly radio address as president, Jan. 14, 1989.
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"If I ache, it's because we are apart and yet that can't be because you are inside and a part of me, so we really aren't apart at all. Yet I ache but wouldn't be without the ache, because that would mean being without you and that I can't be because I love you." - 1963 letter to his wife, Nancy, quoted in 2000 book "I Love You, Ronnie."
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"In closing let me thank you, the American people, for giving me the great honor of allowing me to serve as your president. When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future. I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead." - Nov. 5, 1994, announcing he had Alzheimer's disease.