列根的故事 - 古德明
"One day," said Ronald Reagan during his 1980 campaign against President Jimmy Carter, "I publicly declared that this is a depression and the President before the day was out went to the press and said, 'That shows how little he knows. This is a recession.' If the President wants a definition, I'll give him one. Recession is when your neighbour loses his job, depression is when you lose yours, and"--here Reagan paused as the laughs began --"recovery will be when Jimmy Carter loses his."
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Not long after leaving the White House, Reagan visited his former agent, Lew Wasserman, now a Hollywood mogul. Wasserman asked whether there was any way he could lure him back to the movies. "No," said Reagan,"that would be cashing in on the presidency." "Well," returned Wasserman, "we don't necessarily have to pay you."
一九八零年，列根競選總統，與總統卡特相爭，曾經說：「有一天，我公開指出，現在是經濟蕭條。當天，卡特總統就去跟新聞界說：『列根顯然十分無知，現在其實是經濟衰退。』假如卡特總統要二者的定義，我就告訴他吧：你鄰居失業，是經濟衰退；你自己失業，則是經濟蕭條──」他在聽眾笑聲漸起之中，頓了頓，又說：「而卡特失業，則是經濟復蘇。」
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列根離開白宮之後不久，去探訪他以前的經理人盧．沃瑟曼。沃瑟曼這時已是好萊塢大亨，問可不可以請列根重投電影業。列根說：「不行，那等於藉總統之名賺錢。」沃瑟曼說：「嗯，我們不一定要給你報酬。」
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