At the University of Southern California (February 6, 1989) when asked his opinion on gun control after the January 17, 1989 Cleveland Elementary School shooting that killed five schoolchildren in Stockton ([Becklund, Laurie, `Saddled Up' Reagan Vows to Speak on Issues, Los Angeles Times, February 7, 1989, 1]).
Post-presidency (1989–2004)
Ronald Reagan: Trending quotes (page 9)
Ronald Reagan trending quotes. Read the latest quotes in collection
Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine (1961 LP)
1960s
I will continue to support every effort to restore that protection including the Hyde-Jepsen respect life bill. I've asked for your all-out commitment, for the mighty power of your prayers, so that together we can convince our fellow countrymen that America should, can, and will preserve God's greatest gift.
Remarks at the Annual Convention of the National Religious Broadcasters (30 January 1984) http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=40394 · YouTube - Remarks at the Annual Convention of the National Religious Broadcasters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Elph9CfsKs
1980s, First term of office (1981–1985)
1960s, A Time for Choosing (1964)
Republican National Convention http://65.126.3.86/reagan/html/reagan08_17_92.shtml (17 August 1992)
Post-presidency (1989–2004)
“All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk.”
As quoted in Burlington Free Press [Vermont] (15 February 1980)
1980s
“I have a feeling that we are doing better in the war [in Vietnam] than the people have been told.”
As quoted in Los Angeles Times (16 October 1967)
1960s
“Liberals fought poverty and poverty won.”
As quoted in The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America (2004) by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, p. 10
Post-presidency (1989–2004)
“The simple truth is, 'I don't remember — period.”
responding to a question about when he authorized arms shipments to Iran, testimony to the Tower Commission (2 February 1987)
1980s, Second term of office (1985–1989)
This was a signature phrase of Ronald Reagan — he used it dozens of times in public, although he was not the first person known to use it. When Reagan used this phrase, he was usually discussing relations with the Soviet Union and he almost always presented it as a translation of the Russian proverb "doveriai, no proveriai". See also Trust, but verify at Wikipedia.
Misattributed
Variant: Trust, but Verify.
Time (17 May 1976); Reagan adviser Jude Wanniski has indicated http://www.polyconomics.com/searchbase/10-05-99.html that, in 1933, New Dealers as well as much of the world admired Mussolini’s success in avoiding the Great Depression
1970s
Address to Republican National Convention http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1988/081588b.htm. (15 August 1988)
1980s, Second term of office (1985–1989)
Variant: Facts are stupid things — stubborn things, I should say.
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”
Address to the annual meeting of the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce (30 March 1961)
Later variant: Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again.
California Gubernatorial Inauguration Speech http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/govspeech/01051967a.htm (5 January 1967)
1960s
Context: 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 and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.
Speech to the House of Commons (8 June 1982) http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1982/60882a.htm
1980s, First term of office (1981–1985)
Context: From Stettin on the Baltic to Varna on the Black Sea, the regimes planted by totalitarianism have had more than thirty years to establish their legitimacy. But none — not one regime — has yet been able to risk free elections. Regimes planted by bayonets do not take root.... If history teaches anything, it teaches self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly.... Our military strength is a prerequisite to peace, but let it be clear we maintain this strength in the hope it will never be used, for the ultimate determinant in the struggle that's now going on in 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, the ideals to which we are dedicated.
“Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty.”
The New Republic (16 December 1981) ; as cited in War and Conflict Quotations https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1476611483, eds. Michael & Jean Thomsett, McFarland (1997), p. 105
1980s, First term of office (1981–1985)