"The challenge of statesmanship is to have..." - Quote by Ronald Reagan

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

“Our status as a free society and world power is not based on brute strength. When we've taken up arms, it has been for the defense of freedom for ourselves and for other peaceful nations who needed our help. But now, faced with the development of weapons with immense destructive power, we've no choice but to maintain ready defense forces that are second to none. Yes, the cost is high, but the price of neglect would be infinitely higher.”

“I will stand on, and continue to use, the figures I have used, because I believe they are correct. Now, I'm not going to deny that you don't now and then slip up on something; no one bats a thousand.”

“Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.”

“...to befoul the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.”

“When everybody has got money they cut taxes, and when they're broke they raise them. That's statesmanship of the highest order.”

“I don't want my generals or my defense secretary or my national-security team to ever feel deploying weapons to kill people as routine or abstract, even if the targets are bad people.”

“In every society some men are born to rule, and some to advise.”

“What the statesman is most anxious to produce is a certain moral character in his fellow citizens, namely a disposition to virtue and the performance of virtuous actions.”