“In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and defend it." I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearth-stone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

“The person who uses his free time solely for personal pleasure and play will never be a success at anything.

“Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic.”

“We think there is a parallel between federal involvement in education and the decline in profit over recent years.”

“When you are told that science has disproved the Bible, ask specifically where such is the case. True science and a true understanding of the Bible are never at variance.”

“But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle.”

“There are some actions from which an escape is a godsend both for the man who escapes and for those about him. Man, as soon as he gets back his consciousness of right, is thankful to the Divine mercy for the escape. As we know that a man often succumbs to temptation, however much he say resist it, we also know that Providence often intercedes and saves him in spite of himself. How all this happens—how far a man is free and how far a creature of circumstances—how far free-will comes into play and where fate enters on the scene—all this is a mystery and will remain a mystery.”

“One of the great healing balms of the Holy Spirit is forgiveness. To forgive is to break the link between you and your past.”

“Face the giants in your life, slay them, and move on. Do not be daunted by the mistakes and failures in your life.”

“The great evangelist D. L. Moody once said, “The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge, but to change our lives.”

“Only those who become “money conscious” ever accumulate great riches. “Money consciousness” means that the mind has become so thoroughly saturated with the DESIRE for money, that one can see one’s self already in possession of it.”

“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.”

“Step one is to decide what you want from God and find scriptures that promise you the things you desire. Step number two to receiving answered prayer is ask God for the things you want and believe that you receive them. Certainly, the Lord knows what we need even before we ask, but He still said for us to ask Him. The Bible says, “. . . your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things” (Matt. 6:32). But He also tells you to ask for what you need: “. . . ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24).”

“Every generation needs a new revolution.”

“Although the principle of equality has always been self-evident, it has never been self-executing.”