Google
|
The quotations are arranged by author name.
Current counts: Authors: 8,146. Quotations: 38,970
Select the first character of the author's last name that you want to look at:
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
|
| Ronald Reagan
A baby is an alimentary canal with a loud voice at one end and no responsibility at the other. 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's true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not. 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. A hippie is someone who looks like Tarzan, walks like Jane and smells like Cheetah. A tree is a tree. How many more do you have to look at? Abortion is advocated only by persons who have themselves been born. 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 the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk. Approximately eighty percent of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released by vegetation, so let's not go overboard in setting and enforcing tough emissions standards from man-made sources. 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. Cures were developed for which there were no known diseases. Depression is when you're out of work. a recession is when your neighbor's out of work. Recovery is when [Jimmy] Carter's out of work. Double, no triple, our troubles and we'd still be better off than any other people on earth. It is time that we recognized that ours was, in truth, a noble cause. Economists are people who see something that works in practice and wonder if it would work in theory. Facts are stupid things. Fascism was really the basis for the New Deal. 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 is like a baby. an alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other. 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, subsidise it. Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them. He said he'd do something about unemployment. He did. In april, 825,000 americans lost their jobs. History teaches that wars begin 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. Human beings are not animals, and I do not want to see sex and sexual differences treated as casually and amorally as dogs and other beasts treat them. I believe this could happen under the ERa. I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself. I don't know – I've never played governor before. I favor the Civil Rights act of 1964 and it must be enforced at gunpoint if necessary. I have a feeling that we are doing better in the war than the people have been told. I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency, even if I'm in a cabinet meeting. I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress. I hope you're all Republicans. I know I'm not in government anymore. In fact I'm out of work. I know what it's like to pull the Republican lever for the first time, because I used to be a Democrat myself, and I can tell you it only hurts for a minute, and then it feels great. I never drink coffee at lunch. I find it keeps me awake for the afternoon. I regard voting as the most sacred right of free men and women. I want to talk about political and economic fairy tales. I will stand on, and continue to use, the figures I have used, because I believe they are correct. Now, I'm not going to deny that you don't now and then slip up on something; no one bats a thousand. I would have voted against the Civil Rights act of 1964. I'm convinced more than ever that man finds liberation only when he binds himself to God and commits himself to his fellow man. I'm not smart enough to lie. 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 adults want to take such chances [with marijuana] that is their business. If it takes a bloodbath, let's get it over with! 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. If this has been a honeymoon, then I've been sleeping alone. If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen. If you’ve seen one redwood, you’ve seen them all. In England, if a criminal carried a gun, even though he didn't use it, he was not tried for burglary or theft or whatever he was doing. He was tried for first degree murder and hung if he was found guilty. In the first place, I said that [a balanced budget] was our goal, not a promise. Inflation is as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber and as deadly as a hit man. Information is the oxygen of the modern age. Is it news that some fellow out in South Succotash someplace has just been laid off, that he should be interviewed nationwide? It doesn't do good to open doors for someone who doesn't have the price to get in. If he has the price, he may not need the laws. There is no saying the Negro has to live in Harlem or Watts. It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first. It is an infatuation that won't hold up once the play is over and you each go back to playing yourselves. It would be a user fee. It's been a very wonderful day. I guess I can go back to California. Can't I? It's difficult to believe that people are still starving in this country because food isn't available. 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. It's true, hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance? Keeping up with Gov. [Edmund G. "Pat"] Brown's promises is like reading Playboy magazine while your wife turns the pages. Let us be aware that while they preach the supremacy of the state, declare its omnipotence over individual man, predict its eventual domination of all peoples of the Earth, they are the focus of evil in the modern world. Let us not forget who we are. Drug abuse is a repudiation of everything america is. Maybe we should not have humored them. [when they asked to live on reservations]. Maybe we should have said, "No, come join us. Be citizens along with the rest of us." My fellow americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes. 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 Nancy and [Chief of Staff] Don [Regan] at one point tried to patch things up. They met privately over lunch. Just the two of them and their food tasters. 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. 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 matter what time it is, wake me, even if it's in the middle of a Cabinet meeting. Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong. Our family didn't exactly come from the wrong side of the tracks, but we were certainly always within the sound of the train whistles. Our forbearance should never be misunderstood. Our reluctance for conflict should not be misjudged as a failure of will. When action is required to preserve our national security, we will act. Our Nation's motto – "In God We Trust" – was not chosen lightly. It reflects a basic recognition that there is a divine authority in the universe to which this nation owes homage. People don't start wars, governments do. Politics I supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first. 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. Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book. Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.Poverty is a career for lots of well paid people. Recession is when a neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but Democrats believe every day is april 15. Sometimes our right hand doesn't know what our far right hand is doing. Status quo, you know, that is Latin for "the mess we're in." 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. Taxpayer: that's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination. The afghan Mujaheddin are the moral equivalent of the Founding Fathers of america. The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away. The city itself scared the bejesus out of me. Everybody seemed to know where they were going and what they were doing, and I could get lost just looking for a men's room. The current tax code is a daily mugging. The entire graduated income tax structure was created by Karl Marx. The 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. The most terrifying words in the English langauge are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help. The movies that we sent overseas sometimes – well, they weren't always successful. I had one called Cattle Queen of Montana. It lost something in Japanese. The neutron warhead is a defensive weapon designed to offset the great superiority that the Soviet Union has on the western front against the NaTO nations. The only money I ever got was $10 for diving for an old man's upper plate that he lost going down our slide. The statisticians in Washington have funny ways of counting. The taxpayer – that's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination. The thought of being President frightens me and I do not think I want the job. The ultimate determinant in the struggle now going on for 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 and the ideals to which we are dedicated. The United Sates has much to offer the third world war. Their signs said make love, not war, but they didn't look like they could do either. There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder. There is today in the United States as much forest as there was when Washington was at Valley Forge. They reserve unto themselves the right to commit any crime; to lie; to cheat. They say hard work never hurt anybody, but I figure why take the chance. They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong. This administration is committed to a balanced budget, and we will fight to the last blow to achieve it by 1984. This fellow they've nominated claims he's the new Thomas Jefferson. Well, let me tell you something: I knew Thomas Jefferson. He was a friend of mine, and, governor ... you're no Thomas Jefferson! 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. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, I did not take the oath I have just taken with the intention of presiding over the dissolution of the world's strongest economy. Today we did what we had to do. They counted on america to be passive. They counted wrong. Today, if you invent a better mousetrap, the government comes along with a better mouse. True, lasting peace cannot be secured through the strength of arms alone. Among free peoples, the open exchange of ideas ultimately is our greatest security. Unemployment insurance is a pre-paid vacation for freeloaders. We can not play innocents abroad in a world that is not innocent. We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone. We did not condone and do not condone the shipment of arms [to Iran]. We have a spin-off from our "Star Wars" research. It's a helmet for me to wear at press conferences. all I do is push a button, and it shoots down incoming questions. We have so many people who can't see a fat man standing beside a thin one without coming to the conclusion that the fat man got that way by taking advantage of the thin one! We might come closer to balancing the Budget if all of us lived closer to the Commandments and the Golden Rule. 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. 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. We should measure welfare's success by how many people leave welfare, not by how many are added. We'll have to get four bedpans and have a reunion. We're getting a little used to it now, but I have to tell you, the first time I came to this place, to Camp David, Ed Meese sewed name tags in my undershorts and T-shirts. We're in greater danger today than we were the day after Pearl Harbor. Our military is absolutely incapable of defending this country. We're the party that wants to see an america in which people can still get rich. Welfare's purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence. Well, he's good to his family. He's put a lot of relatives on the payroll. Well, I learned a lot... I went down to Latin america to find out from them and (learn) their views. You'd be surprised. They're all individual countries What makes him think a middle aged actor [Clint Eastwood], who's played with a chimp, could have a future in politics? Where would this country be without this great land of ours? While I take inspiration from the past, like most americans, I live for the future. 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. You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by the way he eats jelly beans. You know, your nose looks just like Danny Thomas'. [Evolution] is a scientific theory only, and it has in recent years been challenged in the world of science and is not yet believed in the scientific community to be as infallible as it was once believed. |
|
Sports Quotations.
Show Business Quotations.
|