Wednesday, June 09, 2004

Some quotes from the greatest president of my lifetime. Ronald Reagan

"Sometimes when I'm faced with an unbeliever, an atheist, I am tempted to invite him to the greatest gourmet dinner that one could ever serve, and when we finished eating that magnificent dinner, to ask him if he believes there's a cook."

"Let us pray for the salvation of all of those who live in their totalitarian darkness -- pray that they will discover the joy of knowing God. But until they do, let us be aware that while they preach the supremacy of the state, declare its omnipotence over individual man, and predict its eventual domination of all peoples on the earth, they are the locus of evil in the modern world."

"[W]e will never compromise our principles and standards. We will never give away our freedom. We will never abandon our belief in God."

"Families must continue to be the foundation of our nation. Families -- not government programs -- are the best way to make sure our children are properly nurtured, our elderly are cared for, our cultural and spiritual heritages are perpetuated, our laws are observed and our values are preserved. Thus it is imperative that our governments programs, actions, officials and social welfare institutions never be allowed to jeopardize the family. We fear the government may be powerful enough to destroy our families; we know that it is not powerful enough to replace them. The New Republican Party must be committed to working always in the interest of the American family."

"When... our allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy forty years ago they came not as conquerors, but as liberators. When these troops swept across the French countryside and into the forest of Belgium and Luxembourg they came not to take, but to return what had been wrongly seized. When our forces marched into Germany, they came not to prey on a brave and defeated people, but to nurture the seeds of democracy among those who yearned to be free again.

"Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem."

"Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them."

"The federal government has taken too much tax money from the people, too much authority from the states, and too much liberty with the Constitution."

"The best view of big government is in the rearview mirror as you're driving away from it."

"We were poor when I was young, but the difference then was that the government didn't come around telling you you were poor."

"To those who cite the First Amendment as reason for excluding God from more and more of our institutions every day, I say: The First Amendment of the Constitution was not written to protect the people of this country from religious values; it was written to protect religious values from government tyranny."