Ronald Reagan: Trending quotes (page 11)

Variant: Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them.

Remarks at the Annual Salute to Congress Dinner http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1981/20481b.htm (4 February 1981)
1980s, First term of office (1981–1985)
Variant: 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.
Context: Thomas Jefferson made a comment about the Presidency and age. He said that one should not worry about one's exact chronological age in reference to his ability to perform one's task. And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying.

Remarks at the National Conference of the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO (30 March 1981)) (source: http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1981/33081b.htm)
1980s, First term of office (1981–1985)

1980s, First term of office (1981–1985), First Inaugural address (1981)
Context: 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. It is a weapon that we as Americans do have. Let that be understood by those who practice terrorism and prey upon their neighbors.

Quoted as an attribution in Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations (2013), p. 268
Attributed

1960s, A Time for Choosing (1964)
Variant: The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn't so.

Some sources indicate the phrase 'government is the problem' was not part of the speech. (E.g. yale.edu http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/reagan1.asp). Live recordings of the address demonstrate that Reagan did indeed use the phrase in question. See Ronald Reagan: First Inaugural Address http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IleiqUDYpFQ; start at 6:08
1980s, First term of office (1981–1985), First Inaugural address (1981)
Variant: In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem
Context: In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. From time to time we've been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden. The solutions we seek must be equitable, with no one group singled out to pay a higher price.

Remarks at a business conference in Los Angeles (2 March 1977)
1970s

1980s, Second term of office (1985–1989), Farewell Address (1989)
Context: 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.