23-02-2009, 12:52 AM
Ronald Reagan's eloquence was Obama-esque.
His greatest line, uttered when criticized about his age, was: "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."
Others, these are some of my favorites, my favorites among favorites are in bold
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on 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 what it was once like in the United States when men were free."
"Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other."
"Let it show on the record that when the American people cried out for economic help, Jimmy Carter took refuge behind a dictionary. Well, if it's a definition he wants, I'll give him one. A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his."
(In response to Jimmy Carter claiming Reagan misuses the word 'depression')
"I am paying for this microphone!"
(In response to the moderator at one of his debates ordering his microphone to be turned off)
"With regard to the freedom of the individual for choice with regard to abortion, there's one individual who's not being considered at all. That's the one who is being aborted. And I've noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born."
"Some people work an entire lifetime and wonder if they ever made a difference to the world. But the Marines don't have that problem."
"There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn't mind who gets the credit."
"Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look."
"Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem."
"Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else?"
"The crisis we are facing today does not require of us the kind of sacrifice that Martin Treptow and so many thousands of others were called upon to make. It does require, however, our best effort and our willingness to believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds, to believe that together with God's help we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us. And after all, why shouldn't we believe that? We are Americans."
"You and I, as individuals, can, by borrowing, live beyond our means, but for only a limited period of time. Why, then, should we think that collectively, as a nation, we're not bound by that same limitation? We must act today in order to preserve tomorrow."
"We cannot diminish the value of one category of human life — the unborn — without diminishing the value of all human life."
"If you don't know whether a body is alive or dead, you would never bury it. I think this consideration itself should be enough for all of us to insist on protecting the unborn."
"The abortionist who reassembles the arms and legs of a tiny baby to make sure all its parts have been torn from its mother's body can hardly doubt whether it is a human being."
"The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted, it belongs to the brave."
"Too much SALT isn’t good for you." (Response to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks)
"The other day, someone told me the difference between a democracy and a people's democracy. It's the same difference between a jacket and a straitjacket."
"General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
"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."
"The ten most dangerous words in the English language are 'Hi, I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.'"
"Whatever else history may say about me when I’m gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears; to your confidence rather than your doubts. My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with liberty’s lamp guiding your steps and opportunity’s arm steadying your way."
"Every now and then when I was in government, I would remind my associates that 'When we start thinking of government as 'us' instead of 'them,' we've been here too long.'"
His greatest line, uttered when criticized about his age, was: "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."
Others, these are some of my favorites, my favorites among favorites are in bold
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on 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 what it was once like in the United States when men were free."
"Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other."
"Let it show on the record that when the American people cried out for economic help, Jimmy Carter took refuge behind a dictionary. Well, if it's a definition he wants, I'll give him one. A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his."
(In response to Jimmy Carter claiming Reagan misuses the word 'depression')
"I am paying for this microphone!"
(In response to the moderator at one of his debates ordering his microphone to be turned off)
"With regard to the freedom of the individual for choice with regard to abortion, there's one individual who's not being considered at all. That's the one who is being aborted. And I've noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born."
"Some people work an entire lifetime and wonder if they ever made a difference to the world. But the Marines don't have that problem."
"There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn't mind who gets the credit."
"Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look."
"Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem."
"Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else?"
"The crisis we are facing today does not require of us the kind of sacrifice that Martin Treptow and so many thousands of others were called upon to make. It does require, however, our best effort and our willingness to believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds, to believe that together with God's help we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us. And after all, why shouldn't we believe that? We are Americans."
"You and I, as individuals, can, by borrowing, live beyond our means, but for only a limited period of time. Why, then, should we think that collectively, as a nation, we're not bound by that same limitation? We must act today in order to preserve tomorrow."
"We cannot diminish the value of one category of human life — the unborn — without diminishing the value of all human life."
"If you don't know whether a body is alive or dead, you would never bury it. I think this consideration itself should be enough for all of us to insist on protecting the unborn."
"The abortionist who reassembles the arms and legs of a tiny baby to make sure all its parts have been torn from its mother's body can hardly doubt whether it is a human being."
"The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted, it belongs to the brave."
"Too much SALT isn’t good for you." (Response to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks)
"The other day, someone told me the difference between a democracy and a people's democracy. It's the same difference between a jacket and a straitjacket."
"General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
"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."
"The ten most dangerous words in the English language are 'Hi, I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.'"
"Whatever else history may say about me when I’m gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears; to your confidence rather than your doubts. My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with liberty’s lamp guiding your steps and opportunity’s arm steadying your way."
"Every now and then when I was in government, I would remind my associates that 'When we start thinking of government as 'us' instead of 'them,' we've been here too long.'"