As one of the most quote politicians in the world, Ronald Reagan had some pretty memorable things to say during his time as President of the United States. Here are some of the most popular Ronald Reagan quotes.
Ronald Reagan – Politician / Actor
Ronald Reagan was the 40th president of the United States, serving from 1981 to 1989. Prior to his presidency, he was a Hollywood actor and governor of California.
He is a conservative icon and one of the most influential presidents in American history. Reagan was known for his sunny disposition, charisma, and communication skills. He also had a deep understanding of politics and public policy.
As one of the most well known world leaders of modern times, he’s also one of the most quoted politicians. Here’s a selection of some of his most famous quotes.
Famous Reagan Quotes
There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder.
– Ronald Reagan
We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.
– Ronald Reagan
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’.
– Ronald Reagan
To grasp and hold a vision, that is the very essence of successful leadership – not only on the movie set where I learned it, but everywhere.
– Ronald Reagan
There is absolutely no circumstance whatever under which I would accept that spot.
– Ronald Reagan
When you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat.
– Ronald Reagan
Protecting the rights of even the least individual among us is basically the only excuse the government has for even existing.
– Ronald Reagan
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!
– Ronald Reagan
Sometimes when I’m faced with an atheist, I am tempted to invite him to the greatest gourmet dinner that one could ever serve, and when we have finished eating that magnificent dinner, to ask him if he believes there’s a cook.
– Ronald Reagan
The problem is not that people are taxed too little, the problem is that government spends too much.
– Ronald Reagan
Today on the NATO line, our military forces face east to prevent a possible invasion. On the other side of the line, the Soviet forces also face east to prevent their people from leaving.
– Ronald Reagan
Optimism comes less easily today, not because democracy is less vigorous, but because democracy’s enemies have refined their instruments of repression.
– Ronald Reagan
Christmas can be celebrated in the school room with pine trees, tinsel and reindeers, but there must be no mention of the man whose birthday is being celebrated. One wonders how a teacher would answer if a student asked why it was called Christmas.
– Ronald Reagan
Related: December Quotes and Captions
There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.
– Ronald Reagan
We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.’ And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying.
– Ronald Reagan
While I take inspiration from the past, like most Americans, I live for the future.
– Ronald Reagan
Inspirational Quotes by Reagan
Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, leave the rest to God.
– Ronald Reagan
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 remember that the strength of our families is vital to the strength of our nation.
– Ronald Reagan
I’ve heard that hard work never killed anyone, but I say why take the chance?
– Ronald Reagan
Related: Hard Work Quotes
We are never defeated unless we give up on God.
– Ronald Reagan
I have spent most of my life as a Democrat. I recently have seen fit to follow another course. I believe that the issues confronting us cross party lines.
– Ronald Reagan
Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States.
– Ronald Reagan
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, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.
– Ronald Reagan
The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.
– Ronald Reagan
It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.
– Ronald Reagan
Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music.
– Ronald Reagan
All great change in America begins at the dinner table.
– Ronald Reagan
The struggle now going on for the world will never be decided by bombs or rockets, by armies or military might. The real crisis we face today is a spiritual one; at root, it is a test of moral will and faith.
– Ronald Reagan
Best Ronald Reagan Quotes about Politics, War and Liberty
– nan
Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.
– Ronald Reagan
You can tell a lot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jellybeans.
– Ronald Reagan
Man is not free unless government is limited.
– Ronald Reagan
Quotes Ronald Reagan
The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.
– Ronald Reagan
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.
– Ronald Reagan
One way to make sure crime doesn’t pay would be to let the government run it.
– Ronald Reagan
Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face.
– Ronald Reagan
Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15.
– Ronald Reagan
If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen.
– Ronald Reagan
A people free to choose will always choose peace.
– Ronald Reagan
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.
– Ronald Reagan
I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress.
– Ronald Reagan
There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.
– Ronald Reagan
A tree’s a tree. How many more do you need to look at?
– Ronald Reagan
Government’s first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.
– Ronald Reagan
If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be one nation gone under.
– Ronald Reagan
My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes.
– Ronald Reagan
Information is the oxygen of the modern age. It seeps through the walls topped by barbed wire, it wafts across the electrified borders.
– Ronald Reagan
Welfare’s purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence.
– Ronald Reagan
Best Ronald Reagan Quotes
I believe the best social program is a job.
– Ronald Reagan
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.
– Ronald Reagan
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.
– Ronald Reagan
Coercion, after all, merely captures man. Freedom captivates him.
– Ronald Reagan
They say we offer simple answers to complex problems. Well, perhaps there is a simple answer — not an easy answer — but simple.
– Ronald Reagan
You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We’ll preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we’ll sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness.
– Ronald Reagan
Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them.
– Ronald Reagan
If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth.
– Ronald Reagan
The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away.
– Ronald Reagan
Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other.
– Ronald Reagan
Let us be shy no longer. Let us go to our strength. Let us offer hope. Let us tell the world that a new age is not only possible but probable.
– Ronald Reagan
There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.
– Ronald Reagan
Related: 300+ Courage Quotes To Help You Face Fears And Overcome Adversity
We the people tell the government what to do. It doesn’t tell us.
– Ronald Reagan
We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we will always be free.
– Ronald Reagan
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.
– Ronald Reagan
I favor the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and it must be enforced at gunpoint if necessary.
– Ronald Reagan
Quotes by Ronald Reagan
Inflation is as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber and as deadly as a hit man.
– Ronald Reagan
The objective I propose is quite simple to state: to foster the infrastructure of democracy – the system of a free press, unions, political parties, universities – which allows a people to choose their own way to develop their own culture, to reconcile their own differences through peaceful means.
– Ronald Reagan
Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty.
– Ronald Reagan
Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.
– Ronald Reagan
Don’t be afraid to see what you see.
– Ronald Reagan
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.
– Ronald Reagan
The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave.
– Ronald Reagan
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.
– Ronald Reagan
We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much.
– Ronald Reagan
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.
– Ronald Reagan
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.
– Ronald Reagan
Some people wonder all their lives if they’ve made a difference. The Marines don’t have that problem.
– Ronald Reagan
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.
– Ronald Reagan
Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure.
– Ronald Reagan
One of the traditional methods of imposing statism or socialism on a people has been by way of medicine. It’s very easy to disguise a medical program as a humanitarian project.
– Ronald Reagan
The ultimate determinate 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 ideas to which we are dedicated.
– Ronald Reagan
Famous Quotes by Ronald Reagan
The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.
– Ronald Reagan
Each generation goes further than the generation preceding it because it stands on the shoulders of that generation. You will have opportunities beyond anything we’ve ever known.
– Ronald Reagan
Never let the things you can’t do stop you from doing what you can.
– Ronald Reagan
I hope we once again have reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There’s a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts.
– Ronald Reagan
I have left orders to be awakened at any time during national emergency, even if I’m in a cabinet meeting.
– Ronald Reagan
Don’t try to make your dreams a reality, they’re only filled with things that don’t make sense and trolls. Things are better in reality.
– Ronald Reagan
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.
– Ronald Reagan
The trouble with our Liberal friends is not that they’re ignorant; it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.
– Ronald Reagan
Facts are stupid things.
– Ronald Reagan
Peace is not absence of conflict; it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.
– Ronald Reagan
Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.
– Ronald Reagan
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.
– Ronald Reagan
They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong.
– Ronald Reagan
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.
– Ronald Reagan
Freedom is the right to question and change the established way of doing things.
– Ronald Reagan
The taxpayer – that’s someone who works for the federal government but doesn’t have to take the civil service examination.
– Ronald Reagan
Let us ask ourselves, ‘What kind of people do we think we are?’ And let us answer, ‘Free people, worthy of freedom and determined not only to remain so but to help others gain their freedom as well.’― Ronald Reagan
– nan
Heroes may not be braver than anyone else. They’re just braver five minutes longer.
– Ronald Reagan
Most Quoted is the home of sayings, words of wisdom and quotes from the most quoted philosophers, writers, artists and thinkers. In addition to this collection of Ronald Reagan Quotes, you will find hundreds of other quotes lists and collections on this site.