I feel good because I believe I have made progress in rebuilding the people’s trust in their government.

Believing in progress does not mean believing that any progress has yet been made.

To reform a world, to reform a nation, no wise man will undertake; and all but foolish men know, that the only solid, though a far slower reformation, is what each begins and perfects on himself.

Not to go back is somewhat to advance, and men must walk, at least, before they dance.

The faults of a superior person are like the sun and moon. They have their faults, and everyone sees them; they change and everyone looks up to them.

There is no more independence in politics than there is in jail.

We need someone with superb judgement in their own right because, yes, a president can hire the best advisors on Earth, but I guarantee you this: Five advisors will give five different opinions. And it is the president – and the president alone – who always makes the final call.

Politicians must set their aims for the high ground and according to our various leanings, Democratic, Republican, Independent, we will follow. Politicians must be told if they continue to sink into the mud of obscenity, they will proceed alone.

One of the things that was really an issue was I did not want to just be a woman secretary of state. I wanted to be a secretary of a state who was a woman, but not just chosen for that particular reason.

The proper study of Man is anything but Man; and the most improper job of any man, even saints (who at any rate were at least unwilling to take it on), is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity.

What is ominous is the ease with which some people go from saying that they don’t like something to saying that the government should forbid it. When you go down that road, don’t expect freedom to survive very long.

Leadership is hard. It’s a skill. It’s a technique.

When I checked into SEAL Team One many years ago, one of the things that I noticed was there was this old guy, who was younger than I am today, who I decided that I was going to be like. I wanted to emulate what he was doing, and one of those things was he got to work before anybody else.

People do not make wars; governments do.

It is a way to take people’s wealth from them without having to openly raise taxes. Inflation is the most universal tax of all.

Power is the measure of the degree of control you have over circumstances in your life and the actions of the people around you. It is a skill that is developed by a deep understanding of human nature, of what truly motivates people, and of the manipulations necessary for advancement and protection.

So long as governments set the example of killing their enemies, private individuals will occasionally kill theirs.

The people who are doing the work are the moving force behind the Macintosh. My job is to create a space for them, to clear out the rest of the organization and keep it at bay.

A jug fills drop by drop.

The eye of the master will do more work than both his hands.

Surveys show our standing around the world is higher than when I was elected to this office, and when it comes to every important international issue, people of the world do not look to Beijing or Moscow to lead – they call us.

Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.

There are some women I definitely would not want to succeed me… but a man like David Souter, that would be great.

Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people.

The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise.

I just want to do God’s will. And he’s allowed me to go to the mountain. And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the promised land! I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land.

Withdrawal of American troops must be a unilateral act, as the invasion of Vietnam by the American government was a unilateral act in the first place.

Positional leaders ignore the fact that every person has hopes, dreams, desires, and goals of his own. And leaders must bring their vision and the aspirations of the people they lead together in a way that benefits everyone.

The point in history at which we stand is full of promise and danger. The world will either move forward toward unity and widely shared prosperity – or it will move apart.

Developing nations want to become developed nations.

Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish. Do not overdo it.

When you are winning a war almost everything that happens can be claimed to be right and wise.

A President needs political understanding to run the government, but he may be elected without it.

When I was running training, we would fire a couple of leaders from every SEAL team because they couldn’t lead. And 99.9% of the time, it wasn’t a question of their ability – it was a question of their ability to listen.

Religion flourishes in greater purity, without than with the aid of Government.

There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.

Sometimes what works 40 years ago doesn’t work today.

Protecting the rights of even the least individual among us is basically the only excuse the government has for even existing.

People always fear change. People feared electricity when it was invented, didn’t they? People feared coal, they feared gas-powered engines… There will always be ignorance, and ignorance leads to fear. But with time, people will come to accept their silicon masters.

I understand everybody in this country doesn’t agree with the decisions I’ve made. And I made some tough decisions. But people know where I stand.

Let me define a leader. He must have vision and passion and not be afraid of any problem. Instead, he should know how to defeat it. Most importantly, he must work with integrity.

Most people don’t like change. They revolt against it unless they can clearly see the advantage it brings. For that reason, when good leaders prepare to take action or make changes, they take people through a process to get them ready for it.

In America today, we are nearer a final triumph over poverty than is any other land.

Of all the things I’ve done, the most vital is coordinating those who work with me and aiming their efforts at a certain goal.

Our country was founded by geniuses, but it’s being run by idiots.

I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.

It seems that I have always been ahead of my time. I had to wait nineteen years before Niagara was harnessed by my system, fifteen years before the basic inventions for wireless which I gave to the world in 1893 were applied universally.

If men were angels, no government would be necessary.

Government isn’t that good at rapid advancement of technology. It tends to be better at funding basic research. To have things take off, you’ve got to have commercial companies do it.

There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.

I don’t create companies for the sake of creating companies, but to get things done.

I would rather try to persuade a man to go along, because once I have persuaded him, he will stick. If I scare him, he will stay just as long as he is scared, and then he is gone.

Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people.

Taxation is just a sophisticated way of demanding money with menaces.

Competition is not only the basis of protection to the consumer, but is the incentive to progress.

And I think it’s that time. And I think if you just step aside and Mr. Romney can kind of take over. You can maybe still use a plane. Though maybe a smaller one. Not that big gas guzzler you are going around to colleges and talking about student loans and stuff like that.

By what principle of original right is it that one-fiftieth or one-ninetieth of a great nation, by calling themselves a State, have the right to break up and ruin that nation as a matter of original principle?

The income tax has made liars out of more Americans than golf.

I often say of George Washington that he was one of the few in the whole history of the world who was not carried away by power.

We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.

When governments rely increasingly on sophisticated public relations agencies, public debate disappears and is replaced by competing propaganda campaigns, with all the accompanying deceits. Advertising isn’t about truth or fairness or rationality, but about mobilising deeper and more primitive layers of the human mind.