Quotes

Reagan on Democracy

“Sometimes you'll hear people ask, 'What's freedom for?' Well, you might as well ask what breathing is for.”

November 10, 1988

“Sometimes you'll hear people ask, 'What's freedom for?' Well, you might as well ask what breathing is for. Just watch a baby. Infants, all infants, will make their tastes and preferences known very clearly to their parents as soon as they're able to turn their heads. That's the act of a free soul. When they reach the age of 3, they'll begin to drive their parents mad by continually asking the question, 'Why?' Why is the sky blue? Why is the grass green? That curiosity, that engagement in the world around them, is the voice of freedom. When they reach adulthood, young men and women will find themselves gazing into the eyes of another and knowing with the force of revelation that they've met their destiny in those eyes. And that's the gaze of freedom.”

— Remarks at a Luncheon for Recipients of the Medal of Freedom