I try to keep the idea that there's an audience in as little space in my mind as possible, but you can't erase it entirely, the idea that when you're sitting down to write a song, people are going to hear it.

I'm always fascinated when people really fervently believe, because I have such a hard time believing anything. When people have real faith in something, it's fascinating to me. And the fact that so many people, in surveys, so many people say they do. It kind of blows my mind.

People come in and out of our lives, and the true test of friendship is whether you can pick back up right where you left off the last time you saw each other.

Politics is just like show business. You have a hell of an opening, coast for a while, and then have a hell of a close.

We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone.

It's silly talking about how many years we will have to spend in the jungles of Vietnam when we could pave the whole country and put parking stripes on it and still be home by Christmas.

We should declare war on North Vietnam. We could pave the whole country and put parking strips on it, and still be home by Christmas.

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.

Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.

Let us ask ourselves, 'What kind of people do we think we are?' And let us answer, 'Free people, worthy of freedom and determined not only to remain so but to help others gain their freedom as well.'

Man is not free unless government is limited.

I noticed words crudely spray-painted upon the wall, perhaps by a young Berliner: 'This wall will fall. Beliefs become reality.' Yes, across Europe, this wall will fall. For it cannot withstand faith; it cannot withstand truth. The wall cannot withstand freedom.

We don't hide our space program. We don't keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That's the way freedom is, and we wouldn't change it for a minute.

Don't be afraid to see what you see.

Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face.

If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen.

The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave.

While I take inspiration from the past, like most Americans, I live for the future.

If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.

We are never defeated unless we give up on God.

There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder.

All great change in America begins at the dinner table.

I call upon the scientific community in our country, those who gave us nuclear weapons, to turn their great talents now to the cause of mankind and world peace: to give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete.

Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.

We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.

The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

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.

Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.

The problem is not that people are taxed too little, the problem is that government spends too much.

Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.

No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!

Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.

Today, if you invent a better mousetrap, the government comes along with a better mouse.

The taxpayer - that's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination.

Protecting the rights of even the least individual among us is basically the only excuse the government has for even existing.

Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets.

If the federal government had been around when the Creator was putting His hand to this state, Indiana wouldn't be here. It'd still be waiting for an environmental impact statement.

The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away.

One way to make sure crime doesn't pay would be to let the government run it.

Democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man.

History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap.

When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat.

The British people know that, given strong leadership, time, and a little bit of hope, the forces of good ultimately rally and triumph over evil.

Trust, but verify.

Recession is when a neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours.

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'.

Inflation is as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber and as deadly as a hit man.

It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.

Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.

For the sake of peace and justice, let us move toward a world in which all people are at last free to determine their own destiny.