Below, you can find a remarkable collection of quotes that encapsulate the wisdom, wit, and enduring principles of Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States.
As a transformative leader and influential statesman, Reagan’s words continue to resonate today, offering insights into his vision for America and the world. Explore this curated compilation of quotes about nuclear weapons to gain a deeper understanding of his values, beliefs, and the legacy he left behind. Each quote serves as a testament to Reagan’s enduring impact on American politics, conservatism, and the global stage.
Apart from Ronald Reagan, this page also features relevant quotes by other notable historical figures, sharing their thoughts on the topic of nuclear safety.
Ronald Reagan’s Quotes
“We seek the total elimination one day of nuclear weapons from the face of the Earth.”
Ronald Reagan, Inaugural Address, 1985
“A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. The only value in our two nations possessing nuclear weapons is to make sure they will never be used. But then would it not be better to do away with them entirely?”
Ronald Reagan, State of the Union, 1984
“It is my fervent goal and hope…that we will some day no longer have to rely on nuclear weapons to deter aggression and assure world peace. To that end the United States is now engaged in a serious and sustained effort to negotiate major reductions in levels of offensive nuclear weapons with the ultimate goal of eliminating these weapons from the face of the earth.”
Ronald Reagan, October 20, 1986
“I can’t believe that this world can go on beyond our generation and on down to succeeding generations with this kind of weapon on both sides poised at each other without someday some fool or some maniac or some accident triggering the kind of war that is the end of the line for all of us. And I just think of what a sigh of relief would go up from everyone on this earth if someday–and this is what I have–my hope, way in the back of my head–is that if we start down the road to reduction, maybe one day in doing that, somebody will say, ‘Why not all the way? Let’s get rid of all these things’.”
Ronald Reagan, May 16, 1983
“My central arms control objective has been to reduce substantially, and ultimately to eliminate, nuclear weapons and rid the world of the nuclear threat. The prevention of the spread of nuclear explosives to additional countries is an indispensable part of our efforts to meet this objective. I intend to continue my pursuit of this goal with untiring determination and a profound sense of personal commitment.”
Ronald Reagan, Message to Congress on NPT, March 25, 1988
“Peace is not the absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.”
Ronald Reagan, from Reagan’s Secret War by Martin and Annelise Anderson’s
“The challenge of statesmanship is to have the vision to dream of a better, safer world and the courage, persistence, and patience to turn that dream into a reality.”
Ronald Reagan, from Reagan’s Secret War by Martin and Annelise Anderson’s
“Our moral imperative is to work with all our powers for that day when the children of the world grow up without the fear of nuclear war.”
Ronald Reagan, from Reagan’s Secret War by Martin and Annelise Anderson’s
Other Notable Figures’ Quotes
“We cannot at once keep sacred the miracle of existence and hold sacrosanct the capacity to destroy it.”
General Lee Butler, U.S. Air Force
“There is, in fact, an axiom of proliferation. It states that as long as any state holds nuclear weapons, others will seek to acquire them.”
Richard Butler, former Australian UN Ambassador
“Safety will be the sturdy child of terror, and survival the twin brother of annihilation.”
Winston Churchill, on living with a Nuclear Deterrence Policy
“One cannot worship at the altar of nuclear weapons and raise heresy charges against those who want to join the sect.”
Sergio Duarte, UN Representative
“The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking, and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophe.”
Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist and social activist-humanist
“It is my firm belief that the infinite and uncontrollable fury of nuclear weapons should never be held in the hands of any mere mortal ever again, for any reason.”
Mikhail Gorbachev, former Secretary General Soviet Union
“While it may be theoretically possible to demonstrate the risks inherent in any treaty… the far greater risk to our security are the risks of unrestricted testing, the risks of a nuclear arms race, the risks of new nuclear powers….”
President John F. Kennedy
“We will not prematurely or unnecessarily risk the costs of worldwide nuclear war in which even the fruits of victory would be ashes in our mouth.”
“The best way to solve any problem is to remove its cause.”
Martin Luther King, “Stride Towards Freedom,“ 1964
“Seventeen years after the Cold War, how can it be in the Unites States’ national security interest for the President of Russia to have only a few minutes to decide whether to fire his nuclear weapons or lose them in response to what could be a false warning?”
Sam Nunn, former U.S. Senator “The Mountaintop: A World Free of Nuclear Weapons” Oslo, 2008
Abolishing nuclear weapons is not a narrowly partisan or nationalistic issue; it is an issue of fundamental moral values that should unite people across national and ideological boundaries.
Most Reverend Edwin O’Brien, U.S. Catholic Bishops, July 2009
“You can’t deter someone who doesn’t have a home address.”
Richard Rhodes, author
“Mistakes are made in every other human endeavor. Why should nuclear weapons be exempt?”
Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Governor of California “Letter to Hoover Institute”, 2007
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