There is an old saying, The harder you try the luckier you get. I kind of like that definition of luck.

The future of our nation depends on providing our children with a complete education that includes music.

Our Constitution works; our great republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here, the people rule.

America's leadership is essential. America's resources are vast. America's opportunities are unprecedented.

I do believe that the buck stops here, that I cannot rely upon public opinion polls to tell me what is right.

In a democracy, the public has a right to know not only what the government decides, but why and by what process.

All of us who served in one war or another know very well that all wars are the glory and the agony of the young.

I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our government, but civilization itself.

Sit down before facts as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconceived notion — or you shall learn nothing.

We . . . declared our independence 200 years ago, and we are not about to lose it now to paper shufflers and computers.

A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.

Personal excellence can be achieved by a visionary goal, through planning, dedicated execution, and total follow-through.

Never be satisfied with less than your very best effort. If you strive for the top and miss, you'll still 'beat the pack.'

A great nation cannot abandon its responsibilities. Responsibilities abandoned today return as more acute crises tomorrow.

An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history.

Teddy Roosevelt... once said, 'Speak softly and carry a big stick.' Jimmy Carter wants to speak loudly and carry a fly swatter.

I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots, so I ask you to confirm me with your prayers.

I would like to deny all allegations by Bob Hope that during my last game of golf, I hit an eagle, a birdie, an elk and a moose.

History and experience tell us that moral progress comes not in comfortable and complacent times, but out of trial and confusion.

It feels like getting a back massage from the Grim Reaper: one must get comfortable with the most horrifying things in the world.

I am the first to admit that I am no great orator or no person that got where I have gotten by any William Jennings Bryan technique.

The old question still remains: Can a free people restrain crime without sacrificing fundamental liberties and a heritage of compassion?

Real assistance is to help people to help themselves. We can't do everything for everybody, but there is room for all who try to make it.

The three-martini lunch is the epitome of American efficiency. Where else can you get an earful, a bellyful and a snootful at the same time?

The Federal role in overcoming barriers to needed health care should emphasize health care financing programs-such as Medicare and Medicaid.

For millions of men and women, the church has been the hospital for the soul, the school for the mind and the safe depository for moral ideas.

He was one of the few political leaders I have ever met whose public speeches revealed more than his private conversations. [On Ronald Reagan]

I just don't think we should go hellfire damnation around the globe freeing people, unless it is directly related to our own national security.

In the age-old contest between popularity and principle, only those willing to lose for their convictions are deserving of posterity's approval.

The Constitution is the bedrock of all our freedoms; guard and cherish it; keep honor and order in your own house; and the republic will endure.

Mr. President, putting it bluntly, wouldn't we just be continuing a bloodbath that already exists in Cambodia if we voted the 222 million in aid?

I don't know what the future may hold for me-or for any of us. But I want you to know that I am a man who likes having critics who are not enemies.

We are bound together by the most powerful of all ties, our fervent love for freedom and independence, which knows no homeland but the human heart.

The spirit of seeking understanding through personal contact with people of other nations and other cultures deserves the respect and support of all.

I think that sports, particularly football, gave me an opportunity to be out front, to be a leader, which helped me later on, when I got into politics.

I'm a Ford, not a Lincoln. My addresses will never be as eloquent as Mr. Lincoln's. But I will do my very best to equal his brevity and his plain speaking.

I am determined to seek self-sufficiency in energy as an urgent national priority. My goal is to make America independent of foreign energy sources by 1985.

We must introduce a new balance in the relationship between the individual and the government--a balance that favors greater individual freedom and self-reliance.

All my children have spoken for themselves since they first learned to speak, and not always with my advance approval, and I expect that to continue in the future.

I can assure you the National Federation is an organization of Republican women whose power, prestige, perception, and purpose will never be underestimated by anyone.

The pat on the back, the arm around the shoulder, the praise for what was done right and the sympathetic nod for what wasn't are as much a part of golf as life itself.

I do believe, with all my heart and mind and spirit, that I, not as President but as a humble servant of God, will receive justice without mercy if I fail to show mercy.

Conservatism has always meant more to me than simply sticking up for private property & free enterprise. It has also meant defending our heritage & preserving our values.

Obviously, it's a great privilege and pleasure to be here at the Yale Law School Sesquicentennial Convocation. And I defy anyone to say that and chew gum at the same time.

I believe in friendly compromise. I said over in the Senate hearings that truth is the glue that holds government together. Compromise is the oil that makes governments go.

My commitment to the security and future of Israel is based upon basic morality as well as enlightened self-interest. Our role in supporting Israel honors our own heritage.

If I went back to college again, I'd concentrate on learning to write and to speak before an audience . Nothing is more important than the abillity to communicate effectively.

In all my public and private acts as your president, I expect to follow my instincts of openness and candor with full confidence that honesty is always the best policy in the end.

Government exists to create and preserve conditions in which people can translate their ideas into practical reality. In the best of times, much is lost in translation. But we try.

Today, America can regain the sense of pride that existed before Vietnam... These events, tragic as they are, portend neither the end of the world nor of America's leadership in the world.

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