The Shining City...
I think a few quotes from our 40th President may be in order:
“I suggest to you there is no left or right, only an up or down. Up to the maximum of individual freedom consistent with law and order, or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism, and regardless of their humanitarian purpose, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have, whether they know it or not, chosen this downward path.”
“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.”
“Ours was the first revolution in the history of mankind that truly reversed the course of government, and with three little words: 'We the people.' 'We the people' tell the government what to do, it doesn't tell us. 'We the people' are the driver, the government is the car. And we decide where it should go, and by what route, and how fast. Almost all the world's constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which 'We the people' tell the government what it is allowed to do. 'We the people' are free. This belief has been the underlying basis for everything I've tried to do these past eight years.”
Not had enough? Be sure to follow the link below to several more quotes!
“The difference between the path toward greater freedom or bigger government is the difference between success and failure; between opportunity and coercion; between faith in a glorious future and fear of mediocrity and despair; between respecting people as adults, each with a spark of greatness, and treating them as helpless children to be forever dependent; between a drab, materialistic world where Big Brother rules by promises to special interest groups, and a world of adventure where everyday people set their sights on impossible dreams, distant stars, and the Kingdom of God. We have the true message of hope for America.”
“Are you willing to spend time studying the issues, making yourself aware, and then conveying that information to family and friends? Will you resist the temptation to get a government handout for your community? Realize that the doctor's fight against socialized medicine is your fight. We can't socialize the doctors without socializing the patients. Recognize that government invasion of public power is eventually an assault upon your own business. If some among you fear taking a stand because you are afraid of reprisals from customers, clients, or even government, recognize that you are just feeding the crocodile hoping he'll eat you last.”
“I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it and see it still.”
“Are you entitled to the fruits of your labor or does government have some presumptive right to spend and spend and spend?”
“Have we the courage and the will to face up to the immorality and discrimination of the progressive tax, and demand a return to traditional proportionate taxation? ...Today in our country the tax collector's share is 37 cents of every dollar earned. Freedom has never been so fragile, so close to slipping from our grasp.”
“Government does not tax to get the money it needs; government always finds a need for the money it gets.”
“An economist is someone who sees something work in practice and wonders if it would work in theory”
“Man is not free unless government is limited...As government expands, liberty contracts.”
“The best view of big government is in the rear view mirror, driving away from it.”
“We must be staunch in our conviction that freedom is not the sole prerogative of a lucky few, but the inalienable and universal right of all human beings.”
“The taxpayer is someone who works for the federal government but doesn’t have to take a civil service examination.”
“Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.”
“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.”
“I don’t believe in government that protects us from ourselves.”
“Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.”
“The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.”
“Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”
“Government is like a baby: An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.”
“Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!”
“A friend of mine was asked to a costume ball a short time ago. He slapped some egg on his face and went as a liberal economist.”
“The taxpayer: That's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination.”
“Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement.”
“Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.”
“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 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.”
“History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap.”
“I hope that when you're my age you'll be able to say, as I have been able to say: we lived in freedom; we lived lives that were a statement, not an apology.”