“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.”
“Information is the oxygen of the modern age. It seeps through the walls topped by barbed wire, it wafts across the electrified borders.”
“The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away.”
“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.”
“What we have found in this country, and maybe we're more aware of it now, is one problem that we've had, even in the best of times, and that is the people who are sleeping on the grates, the homeless, you might say, by choice.”
“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.”
“All great change in America begins at the dinner table.”
“There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.”
“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.”
“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.”
“We are never defeated unless we give up on God.”
“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.”
“You can tell alot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans.”
“It's difficult to believe that people are still starving in this country because food isn't available.”
“You know, if I listened to Michael Dukakis long enough, I would be convinced we're in an economic downturn and people are homeless and going without food and medical attention and that we've got to do something about the unemployed.”
“Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.”
“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.”
“Recession is when a neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours.”
“Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement.”
“One picture is worth 1,000 denials.”
“While I take inspiration from the past, like most Americans, I live for the future.”
“If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”
“Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure.”
“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.”
“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 law saying the Negro has to live in Harlem or Watts.”
“Man is not free unless government is limited.”
“Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.”
“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!”
“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.”
“Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.”
“The problem is not that people are taxed too little, the problem is that government spends too much.”
“The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.”
“Government does not solve problems it subsidizes them.”
“Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.”
“Democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man.”
“The taxpayer - that's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination.”
“Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets.”
“One way to make sure crime doesn't pay would be to let the government run it.”
“Protecting the rights of even the least individual among us is basically the only excuse the government has for even existing.”
“Today, if you invent a better mousetrap, the government comes along with a better mouse.”
“There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder.”
“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.”
“History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap.”
“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.”
“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 can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone.”
“Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music.”
“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.”
“We have the duty to protect the life of an unborn child.”
“If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen.”
“Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face.”
“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'.”
“A people free to choose will always choose peace.”
“Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.”
“Inflation is as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber and as deadly as a hit man.”
“It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.”
“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 not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.”
“Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty.”
“All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk.”
“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 measure welfare's success by how many people leave welfare, not by how many are added.”
“No matter what time it is, wake me, even if it's in the middle of a Cabinet meeting.”
“Trust, but verify.”
“It's true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?”