As our nation mourns, below are 15 of the best quotes from President George H. W. Bush:

“We know what works. Freedom Works. We know what’s right. Freedom is right.”

“I learned more from Ronald Reagan than from anyone I encountered in all my years of public life.”

“I will never apologize for the United States — I don’t care what the facts are. … I’m not an apologize-for-America kind of guy.”

“There is nothing more fulfilling than to serve your country and your fellow citizens and to do it well.”

“Be bold in your caring, be bold in your dreaming and above all else, always do your best.”

“In crucial things, unity. In important things, diversity. In all things, generosity.”

“I stand for anti-bigotry, anti-semitism, and anti-racism.”

“We are not the sum of our possessions.”

“Still hard to believe I had the honor to serve as President.”

“Aging’s all right. Better than the alternative, which is not being here.”

“You don’t have to go to college to be a success … We need the people who run the offices, the people who do the hard physical work of our society.”

“No problem of human making is too great to be overcome by human ingenuity, human energy, and the untiring hope of the human spirit.”

“The ‘American Dream’ means giving it your all, trying your hardest, accomplishing something. And then I’d add to that, giving something back. No definition of a successful life can do anything but include serving others.”

“America is never wholly herself unless she is engaged in high moral principle. We as a people have such a purpose today. It is to make kinder the face of the nation and gentler the face of the world.”

“I do not mistrust the future. I do not fear what is ahead. For our problems are large, but our heart is larger. Our challenges are great, but our will is greater.”

– George H. W. Bush, 41st President of the United States of America