Last month President Ronald Reagan's most loyal son, Newsmax favorite Michael Reagan, passed away. This month represents his father’s 115th birthday.
Reagan was known as the great communicator — and for good reason. He could touch hearts, stir passion, and prompt action with the magic of his voice.
His words "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" spoken on June 12, 1987 in West Berlin led eventually to the collapse of the Soviet Union, the end of the Cold War, and the destruction of the Berlin Wall.
Reagan loved America and her Founding principles of individual liberty, limited government, and personal responsibility.
Here are some of his greatest quotes, some laced with his trademark sense of humor.
Government / Politics:
"Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives." (At the National Conference of the Building and Construction Trades, AFL-CIO on March 30, 1981)
"Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them. Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." (First Inaugural Address on January 20, 1981)
"Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other." (During his California gubernatorial campaign in 1965)
"Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets." (Address to the Nation on the Fiscal Year 1983 Federal Budget on April 29, 1982)
"I hope we once again have reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There's a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts." (Jan. 11, 1989, Farewell address to the Nation)
"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.” (presidential news conference on Aug. 12, 1986)
"[My opponent] sees an America in which every day is tax day, April 15th. Well, we see an America in which every day is Independence Day, the Fourth of July." (Repeated at campaign stops in his 1984 reelection campaign)
"You know, it has been said that politics is the second oldest profession and I've come to realize over the last few years, it bears a great similarity to the first." (Speech at Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan on Nov. 10, 1977)
"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." (Remarks to the White House Conference on Small Business on Aug. 15, 1986)
Freedom:
"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, 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." (California governor inaugural address on Jan. 5, 1967)
"Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged." (Convention of the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, FL. March 8, 1983.)
"If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth. And this idea that government is beholden to the people, that it has no other source of power except to sovereign people, is still the newest and most unique idea in all the long history of man’s relation to man.
"This is the issue of this election. Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves." ("A Time for Choosing" speech on Oct. 27, 1964.)
"Lord Acton said power corrupts. Surely then, if this is true, the more power we give the government the more corrupt it will become.
"And if we give it the power to confiscate our arms we also give up the ultimate means to combat that corrupt power. In doing so we can only assure that we will eventually be totally subject to it.
"When dictators come to power, the first thing they do is take away the people's weapons. It makes it so much easier for the secret police to operate, it makes it so much easier to force the will of the ruler upon the ruled." (In a 1975 article he wrote)
Abortion / Value of Life:
"I've noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born." Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets. (Address to the Nation on the Fiscal Year 1983 Federal Budget on April 29, 1982)
"I know in my heart that man is good, that what is right will always eventually triumph, and there is purpose and worth to each and every life." (Farewell address to the Nation, January 11, 1989)
Economics:
"Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his." (Labor Day Address at Liberty State Park, Jersey City, New Jersey on Sept. 1, 1980)
"Balancing the budget is a little like protecting your virtue: You just have to learn to say ‘no.'" (Remarks at Kansas State University at the Alfred M. Landon Lecture Series on Public Issues on Sept. 9, 1982)
Communism:
"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." (Remarks at the Annual Convention of Concerned Women for America held at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Virginia on Sept. 25, 1987)
Aging:
"I did turn 75 today - but remember, that's only 24 Celsius." (At his February 6, 1986 birthday celebration)
“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." (At a Feb. 6, 1984 birthday celebration)
"I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience." (presidential debate against Walter Mondale on Oct. 21, 1984)
Parting Words:
"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." (Farewell Address to the Nation, January 11, 1989)
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and is a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He's also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and a Second Amendment supporter. Read more Michael Dorstewitz Insider articles — Click Here Now.