Protecting the rights of even the least individual among us is basically the only excuse the government has for even existing.

Trust, but verify.

Don't be afraid to see what you see.

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.

Politics I supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.

Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure.

Facts are stubborn things.

We should declare war on North Vietnam. We could pave the whole country and put parking strips on it, and still be home by Christmas.

It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.

Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.

All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk.

Man is not free unless government is limited.

We have the duty to protect the life of an unborn child.

You can tell alot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans.

Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.

Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty.

One way to make sure crime doesn't pay would be to let the government run it.

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.

No matter what time it is, wake me, even if it's in the middle of a Cabinet meeting.

Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.

I never drink coffee at lunch. I find it keeps me awake for the afternoon.

We're in greater danger today than we were the day after Pearl Harbor. Our military is absolutely incapable of defending this country.

Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.

My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes.

History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap.

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!

It doesn't do good to open doors for someone who doesn't have the price to get in. If he has the price, he may not need the laws. There is no law saying the Negro has to live in Harlem or Watts.

The thought of being President frightens me and I do not think I want the job.

All great change in America begins at the dinner table.

We can not play innocents abroad in a world that is not innocent.

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.

Recession is when a neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours.

The taxpayer - that's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination.

I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress.

I favor the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and it must be enforced at gunpoint if necessary.

Latinos are Republican. They just don't know it yet.

Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States.

Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

We might come closer to balancing the Budget if all of us lived closer to the Commandments and the Golden Rule.

The greatest security for Israel is to create new Egypts.

If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen.

Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.

How can a president not be an actor?

A tree's a tree. How many more do you need to look at?

Status quo, you know, is Latin for 'the mess we're in'.

One picture is worth 1,000 denials.

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.

Politics is just like show business. You have a hell of an opening, coast for a while, and then have a hell of a close.

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'.