My Politics

I’m a conservative and while I could say more, I think I’m long-winded enough in my posts.  On this page I thought I’d sum up my views with a collection of politically-motivated quotes from some of the world’s great statesmen, including a few of this country’s greatest patriots.

Mr. Roosevelt

“A typical vice of American politics is the avoidance of saying anything real on real issues.” – Teddy Roosevelt

“We can have no “50-50″ allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else, or he is not an American at all.” – Teddy Roosevelt

“A good many of you are probably acquainted with the old proverb, “Speak softly and carry a big stick – you will go far.” If a man continually blusters, if he lacks civility, a big stick will not save him from trouble, and neither will speaking softly avail, if back of the softness there does not lie strength, power.” – Teddy Roosevelt

“Every reform movement has a lunatic fringe.” – Teddy Roosevelt

“I don’t pity any man who does hard work worth doing. I admire him. I pity the creature who does not work, at whichever end of the social scale he may regard himself as being.” – Teddy Roosevelt

“Is America a weakling, to shrink from the work of the great world powers? No! The young giant of the West stands on a continent and clasps the crest of an ocean in either hand. Our nation, glorious in youth and strength, looks into the future with eager eyes and rejoices as a strong man to run a race.”- Teddy Roosevelt

“Let us speak courteously, deal fairly, and keep ourselves armed and ready.” – Teddy Roosevelt

“Don’t hit at all if you can help it; don’t hit a man if you can possibly avoid it; but if you do hit him, put him to sleep.” – Teddy Roosevelt

“No man is above the law and no man is below it; nor do we ask any man’s permission when we require him to obey it.  Obedience to the law is demanded as a right; not asked as a favor.”- Teddy Roosevelt

“If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month.” – Teddy Roosevelt

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” – Teddy Roosevelt

“Rhetoric is a poor substitute for action, and we have trusted only to rhetoric. If we are really to be a great nation, we must not merely talk; we must act big.” – Teddy Roosevelt

“The first requisite of a good citizen in this Republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his weight; that he shall not be a mere passenger, but shall do his share in the work that each generation of us finds ready to hand; and, furthermore, that in doing his work he shall show, not only the capacity for sturdy self-help, but also self-respecting regard for the rights of others.” – Teddy Roosevelt

Mr. Jefferson

“A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.”
- Thomas Jefferson

“A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor and bread it has earned – this is the sum of good government.” – Thomas Jefferson

“I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage with my books, my family and a few old friends, dining on simple bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to occupy the most splendid post, which any human power can give.” – Thomas Jefferson

“The republican is the only form of government which is not eternally at open or secret war with the rights of mankind.” – Thomas Jefferson

“We are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty in a featherbed.” – Thomas Jefferson

“I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground: That “all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States or to the people.” To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress, is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any definition.” – Thomas Jefferson

“I believe… that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another.” – Thomas Jefferson

Mr. Reagan

“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.” – Ronald Reagan

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on 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 what it was once like in the United States when men were free.” – Ronald Reagan

“Welfare’s purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence.” – Ronald Reagan

“I’m convinced that today the majority of Americans want what those first Americans wanted: A better life for themselves and their children; a minimum of government authority. Very simply, they want to be left alone in peace and safety to take care of the family by earning an honest dollar and putting away some savings. This may not sound too exciting, but there is something magnificent about it. On the farm, on the street corner, in the factory and in the kitchen, millions of us ask nothing more, but certainly nothing less than to live our own lives according to our values – at peace with ourselves, our neighbors and the world.” – Ronald Reagan

“Depression is when you’re out of work. A recession is when your neighbor’s out of work. Recovery is when Carter’s out of work.” – Ronald Reagan

“We cannot diminish the value of one category of human life — the unborn — without diminishing the value of all human life.” – Ronald Reagan

“If you don’t know whether a body is alive or dead, you would never bury it. I think this consideration itself should be enough for all of us to insist on protecting the unborn.” – Ronald Reagan

“The abortionist who reassembles the arms and legs of a tiny baby to make sure all its parts have been torn from its mother’s body can hardly doubt whether it is a human being” – Ronald Reagan

“We must all educate ourselves to the reality of the horrors taking place. Doctors today know that unborn children can feel a touch within the womb and that they respond to pain.” – Ronald Reagan

“I have only one thing to say to the tax increasers: Go ahead, make my day.” – Ronald Reagan

“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.” – Ronald Reagan

“If it’s to be a bloodbath, let it be now. Appeasement is not the answer” – Ronald Reagan

Others

“I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.” – Winston Churchill

“A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money.” – G Gordon Liddy

“Show me a young conservative and I’ll show you a person without a heart.  Show me an old liberal and I’ll show you a person without a brain.” – Winston Churchill

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These guys said it much better than I could.