"Protecting the rights of even the least individual among us is basically the only excuse the government has for even existing"
"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 just like show business. You have a hell of an opening, coast for a while, and then have a hell of a close"
"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'"
"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"
"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
"We're in greater danger today than we were the day after Pearl Harbor. Our military is absolutely incapable of defending this country"
"We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone"
"We are never defeated unless we give up on God"
"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help"
"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"
"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!"
"Man is not free unless government is limited"
"We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we will always be free"
"The thought of being President frightens me and I do not think I want the job"
"The greatest security for Israel is to create new Egypts"
"The taxpayer - that's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination"
"My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes"
"There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right"
"There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect"
"Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face"
"While I take inspiration from the past, like most Americans, I live for the future"
"Today, if you invent a better mousetrap, the government comes along with a better mouse"
"Today we did what we had to do. They counted on America to be passive. They counted wrong"
"To sit back hoping that someday, some way, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last - but eat you he will"
"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"
"We have the duty to protect the life of an unborn child"
"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"
"If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under"
"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"
"You can tell alot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans"
"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"
"Welfare's purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence"
"Violence has been Nicaragua's most important export to the world"
"Unemployment insurance is a pre-paid vacation for freeloaders"
"But there are advantages to being elected President. The day after I was elected, I had my high school grades classified Top Secret"
"Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement"
"Approximately 80% of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released by vegetation, so let's not go overboard in setting and enforcing tough emission standards from man-made sources"
"All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk"
"All great change in America begins at the dinner table"
"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"
"A tree's a tree. How many more do you need to look at?"
"A people free to choose will always choose peace"
"Status quo, you know, is Latin for 'the mess we're in'"
