The Greatest Conservative Quotes

I would like to invite everyone to post the Conservative Quotes they feel most effect their lives, guide them or describe their individual character or philosophy.

For me it has to be the Late and Great Ronald Reagan...

"We've gone astray from first principles. We've lost sight of the rule that individual freedom and ingenuity are at the very core of everything that we've accomplished. Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives."
President Ronald Reagan

"Above all, we must realize that 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. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have."
Ronald Reagan

"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."
Ronald Reagan

Semper

Here's another one. I'm paraphrasing, so bear with me...

It concerned big gov't intrusion into American life:

"These are the scariest nine words in the English language: I'm from the gov't and I want to help."

I doubt that's the exact quote, but I think the sentiment came through.

Certainly in the next 50 years we shall see a woman president, perhaps sooner than you think. A woman can and should be able to do any political job that a man can do.
Richard M. Nixon

Gee its the quick or the dead around here when it comes to posting great quotes.

Here are my picks from Winston Churchill.

Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.

Source

This is the quote in full. The last sentenced seems to be quoted the most rather then the quote as a whole. I certainly subscribe to Churchill thinking and in today world it as an important as ever.

This one is more obscure but it is spoken by Churchhill and deals with who I regard as one of the most fascinating figures of the 20th century .

The world looks with some awe upon a man who appears unconcernedly indifferent to home, money, comfort, rank, or even power and fame. The world feels not without a certain apprehension, that here is some one outside its jurisdiction; someone before whom its allurements may be spread in vain; some one strangely enfranchised, untamed, untrammelled by convention, moving independent of the ordinary currents of human action.

Source

Spoken at the unveiling of a memorial dedicated to T. E. Lawrence . While I cant say that the above quote reflects on my nature in an era of fat bonuses for company directors and outsourcing it really strikes home to me.

And finally from the man himself in A History of the English-Speaking Peoples

# No one can understand history without continually relating the long periods which are constantly mentioned to the experiences of our own short lives. Five years is a lot. Twenty years is the horizon to most people. Fifty years is antiquity.

Source

To read the full quote click on the link.
Wise words need I say more ?

[edit on 16-3-2008 by xpert11]

[edit on 16-3-2008 by xpert11]

I found one recently. I liked it so much I made it my signature.

It was true in 1964 just like it is true right now.

"We don't intend to turn the Republican Party over to the traitors in the battle just ended. We will have no more of those candidates who are pledged to the same goals of our opposition and who seek our support. Turning the party over to the so-called moderates wouldn't make any sense at all." Ronald Reagan 1964

John McCain???

"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

"I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself."
Ronald Reagan

One of my very favorites..

"I've never been able to understand why a Republican contributor is a 'fat cat' and a Democratic contributor of the same amount of money is a 'public-spirited philanthropist'."
Ronald Reagan

That is SOOOO True..

Semper

Gotta love the truth in this:

"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."
Winston Churchill

Semper

Originally posted by semperfortis
Gotta love the truth in this:

"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."
Winston Churchill

Semper

Too true. There's more than a little truth to that. We, as voters, tend to vote what's important to US, not the nation as a whole. Nothing wrong with that in absolute terms, but it is a bit shortsighted, seems to me.

Some of Margaret Thatcher's are almost legendary in UK politics (given that she was both the first female British Prime Minister and arguably the most effective post war Prime Minister):

"To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the U-turn, I have only one thing to say: You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning."

In the above quote she was discussing her economic policies (which, on the surface, seemed to be making things worse). This was basically her mantra all the way through her premiership; no U-turns.

"I like Mr. Gorbachev. We can do business together."

Thatcher was the first Western leader to meet Gorbachev, and she soon realised that he was someone both she and other Western nations could cooperate with. Her views fed into the policies and approach that both the UK and the US took when Gorbachev became the Soviet leader in 1985. It's quite an interesting quote because she identified the man who would contribute greatly to the end of the Cold War before anyone else had.

"I came to office with one deliberate intent: to change Britain from a dependent to a self-reliant society — from a give-it-to-me, to a do-it-yourself nation. A get-up-and-go, instead of a sit-back-and-wait-for-it Britain."

"My policies are based not on some economics theory, but on things I and millions like me were brought up with: an honest day's work for an honest day's pay; live within your means; put by a nest egg for a rainy day; pay your bills on time; support the police."

The above two are summaries of her ideals and her plans for the time she had in office. Of course, it's highly debatable as to what extent she achieved her personal goals but I think it's undeniable that the 1980s saw a major change in the UK - politically, socially and economically (not always for the better, but not always for the worse either).

"we don't understand the irationality of Middle-Eastern Polotics" -Regan


Thats close, i don't have the exact quote...

“I think every good Christian ought to kick Falwell right in the ass.”


Barry Goldwater