Ronald Reagan

There is no foundation like the rock of honesty and fairness, and when you begin to build your life on that rock, with the cement of the faith in God that you have, then you have a real start.

You know economists; they're the sort of people who see something works in practice and wonder if it would work in theory.

Government is the people's business and every man, woman and child becomes a shareholder with the first penny of tax paid.

No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size.

I believe the best social program is a job.

We've been a free people living under the law, with faith in our Maker and in our future. I've said before that the most sublime picture in American history is of George Washington on his knees in the snow at Valley Forge. That image personifies a people who know that it's not enough to depend on our own courage and goodness; we must also seek help from God, our Father and Preserver.

Anybody from any corner of the world can come to America to live and become an American.

In a world wracked by hatred, economic crisis, and political tension, America remains mankind's best hope.

The American dream is not that every man must be level with every other man. The American dream is that every man must be free to become whatever God intends he should become.

This democracy of ours, which sometimes we've treated so lightly, is more than ever a comfortable cloak, so let us not tear it asunder, for no man knows, once it is destroyed, where or when he will find its protective warmth again.

Good citizenship and defending democracy means living up to the ideals and values that make this country great.

Regimes planted by bayonets do not take root.

Freedom is the right to question and change the established way of doing things. It is the continuing revolution of the marketplace. It is the understanding that allows us to recognize shortcomings and seek solutions. It is the right to put forth an idea, scoffed at by the experts, and watch it catch fire among the people. It is the right to follow your dream, or stick to your conscience even if you're the only one in a sea of doubters.

Once people who have been deprived of basic freedom taste a little of it, they want all of it.

We've been blessed with the opportunity to stand for something - for liberty and freedom and fairness. And these are things worth fighting for, worth devoting our lives to.

Our loyalty lies with little taxpayers, not big spenders. What our critics really believe is that those in Washington know better how to spend your money than you, the people, do. But we're not going to let them do it, period.

It is the Soviet Union that runs against the tide of history . . . . [It is] the march of freedom and democracy which will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash heap of history, as it has left other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the self-expression of the people.

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.

The best view of big government is in the rearview mirror as we leave it behind.

Individual liberty depends upon keeping government under control.

Either you will control your government, or government will control you.