Reagan Quotes

“Reagan to son: how really great is the challenge of proving your masculinity and charm with one woman for the rest of your life. Any man can find a twerp here and there who will go along with cheating, and it doesn’t take all that much manhood. It does take quite a man to remain attractive and to be loved by a woman who has heard him snore, seen him unshaven, tended him while he was sick and washed his dirty underwear. Do that and keep her still feeling a warm glow and you will know some very beautiful music.”
― H.W. Brands, Reagan: The Life

“The audience perked up the more. American conservatives were a combative tribe who didn’t speak of liberals as their “friends,” but here Reagan did. His tone was serious, but it wasn’t angry, the way Goldwater’s often was. Reagan criticized Democratic leaders, but he didn’t criticize Democrats. He condemned the direction the American government was going, but he professed confidence in the American people.”
― H.W. Brands, Reagan: The Life

“We have so many people who can’t see a fat man standing beside a thin one without coming to the conclusion the fat man got that way by taking advantage of the thin one,”
― H.W. Brands, Reagan: The Life

“Warner Studios official in the era of silent movies: Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?”
― H.W. Brands, Reagan: The Life

“mute rape victim in the 1948 Johnny Belinda, for which she won an Academy Award without speaking a single line of dialogue.”
― H.W. Brands, Reagan: The Life

“He quoted William Penn: “If we will not be governed by God, we must be governed by tyrants.” And Thomas Jefferson: “The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.” And George Washington: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.”
― H.W. Brands, Reagan: The Life

“Nixon's opening to Moscow had permitted a grain sale that sent millions of tons of American wheat and corn to Russia at below-market prices. Critics called it the "Great Grain Robbery," but their ranks didn't include the midwestern farmers who were delighted at the boost the sale gave to prices for the rest of their crops. General Ford extended the deal in 1975, following a new shortfall in the Soviet harvest.”
― H.W. Brands, Reagan: The Life

“The term domino theory very simply describes what happens to our allies of we back down and let one ally be taken over by the communists because we don't want to be bothered. The enemy decides it's safe to go after others - that we represent no threat to his aggression. But even worse, our allies, no longer able to trust us, start making deals.”
― H.W. Brands, Reagan: The Life

“The Soviets don't want to win by war but by threat of war. They want to issue ultimatums to which we have to give in.”
― H.W. Brands, Reagan: The Life

“As individuals, we have a moral obligation no to endanger others, and that can mean endangering others with a gun, with a car, or with a virus. If a person has reason to believe that he or she may be a carrier, that person has a moral duty to be tested for AIDS; human decency requires it. And the reason is very simple: Innocent people are being infected by this virus, and some of them are going to acquire AIDS and die.”
― H.W. Brands, Reagan: The Life

“He quoted William Penn: "If we will not be governed by God, we must be governed by tyrants." And Thomas Jefferson: "The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time." And George Washington: "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.”
― H.W. Brands, Reagan: The Life

“Reagan’s critics often dismissed the role of conviction in his persuasiveness; they attributed his speaking skill to his training as an actor. But this was exactly wrong. Reagan wasn’t acting when he spoke; his rhetorical power rested on his wholehearted belief in all the wonderful things he said about the United States and the American people, about their brave past and their brilliant future. He believed what Americans have always wanted to believe about their country, and he made them believe it too.”
― H.W. Brands, Reagan: The Life

“He told of visiting Nancy in the recovery room. “She was asleep when Dick and I got there. Suddenly, as we were standing by her bed, there was a little movement of her body. Her eyes didn’t open, but I heard a tiny voice say, ‘My breast is gone.’ Barely conscious because of her anesthesia, Nancy somehow had sensed we were there. She was devastated by the loss of her breast—not because she was worried about herself, but because she was worried about me and how I would feel about her as a woman. ‘It doesn’t matter,’ I said. ‘I love you.’ Then I leaned over and kissed her softly, and repeated that it made no difference to me. But seeing that sadness in her eyes, it was all I could do to avoid breaking up again.”
― H.W. Brands, Reagan: The Life

“His strong, gentle, confident voice resonated across the nation with an eloquence that brought comfort and resilience to a nation caught up in a storm and reassured us that we could lick any problem,” Reagan recalled. “I will never forget him for that.”
― H.W. Brands, Reagan: The Life

“What rendered it all acceptable was that government won the war, in astonishingly short order. Had the war dragged on or ended badly, the trust reposed in government might have been withdrawn. But the greatest conflict in human history was brought to a victorious conclusion for the United States only three and a half years after American entry. America’s unprecedentedly large government defeated fascism; America’s big government placed the United States at the pinnacle of world power. In the process, big government restored the nation’s economic vitality and self-confidence. By 1945 most Americans found big government thoroughly acceptable, even necessary, and they had ample reason for feeling the way they did.”
― H.W. Brands, Reagan: The Life

“These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war.”
― H.W. Brands, Reagan: The Life

“CONSERVATIVES IN MODERN America face a chronic problem in running for office. Often believing government to be the enemy, they have to explain to themselves and others why they want to join that enemy.”
― H.W. Brands, Reagan: The Life

“Reagan is described as "delivering Barry Goldwater's doctrine with John F. Kennedy's technique.”
― H.W. Brands, Reagan: The Life