From the Gipper

1. “My fellow Americans. I’m pleased to announce that I’ve signed legislation outlawing the Soviet Union. We begin bombing in five minutes.” - joking during a mike check before his Saturday radio broadcast
2. “I hope you’re all Republicans.” - Speaking to surgeons as he entered the operating room following a 1981 assassination attempt
3. “I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency, even if I’m in a cabinet meeting.” - Said many times during his presidency, 1981-1989
4. “I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself.” - Said during his presidency, 1981-1989
5. “Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.”
6. “Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.” - Remarks at a business conference, Los Angeles, March 2, 1977
7. “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.”
8. “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.” - during a 1984 presidential debate with Walter Mondale
9. “I’ve noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born.” - The New York Times, September 22, 1980
10. “What makes him think a middle-aged actor, who’s played with a chimp, could have a future in politics?” - on Clint Eastwood’s bid to become mayor of Carmel.