“My parents constantly drummed into me the importance of judging people as individuals. There was no more grievous sin at our household than a racial slur or other evidence of religious or racial intolerance. A lot of it, I think, was because my dad had learned what discrimination was like firsthand. He’d grown up in an era when some stores still had signs at their door saying, NO DOGS OR IRISHMEN ALLOWED. When my brother and I were growing up, there were still ugly tumors of racial bigotry in much of America, including the corner of Illinois where we lived. At our one local movie theater, blacks and whites had to sit apart—the blacks in the balcony. My mother and father urged my brother and me to bring home our black playmates, to consider them equals, and to respect the religious views of our friends, whatever they were. My brother’s best friend was black, and when they went to the movies, Neil sat with him in the balcony. My mother always taught us: “Treat thy neighbor as you would want your neighbor to treat you,” and “Judge everyone by how they act, not what they are.” Once my father checked into a hotel during a shoe-selling trip and a clerk told him: “You’ll like it here, Mr. Reagan, we don’t permit a Jew in the place.” My father, who told us the story later, said he looked at the clerk angrily and picked up his suitcase and left. “I’m a Catholic,” he said. “If it’s come to the point where you won’t take Jews, then some day you won’t take me either.” Because it was the only hotel in town, he spent the night in his car during a winter blizzard and I think it may have led to his first heart attack.”

“Resolve is what makes a man manifest. Not puny resolve; not crude determinations; not errant”

“Knowing we will be with Christ forever far outweighs our burdens today! Keep your eyes on eternity!”

“Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless and add what is specifically your own”

“Reward only finished work: It’s good to praise effort, but you should never reward it.

“One of the main weaknesses of mankind is the average man's familiarity with the word "impossible.”

“Always winter but never Christmas.”

“When we take steps of faith to make progress in life, there is no guarantee that we will not experience opposition. But we do have God’s guarantee that He will always be with us, and that is truly all we need.”

“To safeguard democracy the people must have a keen sense of independence, self-respect and their oneness, and should insist upon choosing as their representatives only such persons as are good and true.”

“Cultivate the habit of defining, refining, redefining and redeeming your opportunities. Failure is a temporal event, not a permanent trademark.”

“Jesus also said, …In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer…For I have overcome the world… (John 16:33).” 

“If standard of living is your major objective, quality of life almost never improves, but if quality of life is your number one objective, your standard of living almost always improves.”

“Kebanyakan orang mengatakan bahwa kecerdasanlah yang melahirkan seorang ilmuwan besar. Mereka salah, karakterlah yang melahirkannya.”

“God can use the fear that grips the hearts of men today to point them to eternal truths—the truth of God’s eternal judgment, and the truth of His eternal love.”

“In contrast, world-class Christians know they were saved to serve and made for a mission. They are eager to receive a personal assignment and excited about the privilege of being used by God. World-class Christians are the only fully alive people on the planet. Their joy, confidence, and enthusiasm are contagious because they know they’re making a difference. They wake up each morning expecting God to work through them in fresh ways. Which type of Christian do you want to be?”