Great Throughts Treasury

"I couldn’t help but say to Mr. Gorbachev just think how easy his task and mine might be in these meetings that we held if suddenly there was a threat to this world from another planet. We’d find out once and for all that we really are all human beings here on this earth together"

"I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing."

"I consider all proposals for government action with an open mind before voting 'no.'"

"I do not want to go back to the past; I want to go back to the past way of facing the future."

"I don't believe in a government that protects us from ourselves."

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

"I have left orders to be awakened at any time during national emergency, even if I'm in a cabinet meeting."

"I have noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born."

"I have come to the conclusion that the 22nd Amendment limiting the presidency to two terms was a mistake. Shouldn't the people have the right to vote for someone as many times as they want to vote for him."

"I have only one thing to say to the tax increasers. Go ahead-make my day."

"I know in my heart that man is good, that what is right will always eventually triumph, and there is purpose and worth to each and every life."

"I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress."

"I know it's hard when you're up to your armpits in alligators to remember you came here to drain the swamp."

"I know you have been critically looking at the mores and customs of the past and questioning their value. Every generation does that. But don't discard the time-tested values upon which civilization has been built just because they are old."

"I know you receive many letters like this, and I recognize that over time they must come to seem fairly routine... Please understand, however, that my years in your service will always be very special to me. The inspiration you have given me will burn brightly in my heart long after I have left the lights of the White House behind."

"I notice that all of the people who support abortion are already born."

"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."

"I like photographers; you don't ask questions."

"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."

"I oppose registration for the draft . . . because I believe the security of freedom can best be achieved by security through freedom."

"I urged the Soviet leader, Mr. Gorbachev, to send a new signal of openness to the world by tearing down that wall."

"I recently learned something quite interesting about video games. Many young people have developed incredible hand, eye, and brain coordination in playing these games. The air force believes these kids will be our outstanding pilots should they fly our jets."

"I think the presidency is an institution over which you have temporary custody."

"I used to say that politics was the second-oldest profession. I have come to know that it bears a gross similarity to the first."

"I want to talk about political and economic fairy tales"

"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."

"I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience."

"I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future."

"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 was raised to believe that God has a plan for everyone and that seemingly random twists of fate are all a part of His plan."

"If history teaches anything, it teaches that self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly."

"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 like."

"I’ve noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born."

"If the Soviet Union let another political party come into existence, they would still be a one-party state, because everybody would join the other party."

"If there's one observation that rings true in today's changing world, it is that freedom and peace go hand in hand."

"I will veto again and again until spending is brought under control."

"If we don't want to see the map of Central America covered in a sea of red, eventually lapping at our own borders, we must act now."

"If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth."

"If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be one nation gone under."

"If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. I think conservatism is really a misnomer just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberals -- if we were back in the days of the Revolution, so-called conservatives today would be the Liberals and the liberals would be the Tories. The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is."

"If you think you can - you can!"

"If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen."

"If you're afraid of the future, then get out of the way, stand aside. The people of this country are ready to move again."

"If you're explaining, you're losing."

"I'm from the government and I’m here to help."

"I'm not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself."

"In America, our origins matter less than our destination, and that is what democracy is all about."

"In the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards of health, even want of the most basic kind -- too little food. Even today, the Soviet Union still cannot feed itself. . . . East and West do not distrust each other because we are armed; we are armed because we distrust each other. And our differences are not about weapons but about liberty. . . . The most fundamental distinction of all between East and West (sic.) [is that] the totalitarian world produces backwardness because it does such violence to the spirit, thwarting the human impulse to create, to enjoy, to worship. The totalitarian world finds even symbols of love and of worship an affront."

"In raising and instructing our children, in providing personal and compassionate care for the elderly, in maintaining the spiritual strength of religious commitment among our people-- in these and other ways, America's families make immeasurable contributions to America's well-being. Today, more than ever, it is essential that these contributions not be taken for granted and that each of us remembers that the strength of our families is vital to the strength of our nation."

"In opening our hearts, we hope this might promote greater awareness of this condition. Perhaps it will encourage a clearer understanding of the individuals and families who are affected by it."