I’ve never gone wrong trusting my gut.

There were the questions of what kind of First Lady I would be, what issues would I focus on. Those were the questions that were being pounded on me through the campaign. A lot of times, I wondered what in the world Barack was even getting us into.

Whatever you have, you must either use or lose.

On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, ‚Is it safe?‘ Expediency asks the question, ‚Is it politic?‘ And Vanity comes along and asks the question, ‚Is it popular?‘ But Conscience asks the question, ‚Is it right?‘

We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.

When should a college athlete turn pro? Not until he has earned all he can in college as an amateur.

You should do what other people do, unless you have a very good reason not to.

Every time I try to retire, or even think of retiring from acting, my agent comes up with a script.

The safest course is to do nothing against one’s conscience. With this secret, we can enjoy life and have no fear from death.

I just know what is right and I want to do what is right.

All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant pressure to make people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they can have is to ratify decisions and to consume.

It’s not called quitting if you quit while you ahead. It’s about being aware and being strategic enough to know that you got to get out the pool at some point. You got to put your clothes back on and dry off.

From the time I was a kid, I always knew something was going to happen to me. Didn’t know exactly what.

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own, and you know what you know. And you are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

Since it is difficult to join them together, it is safer to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking.

Beautiful sentences pop into my head. Beautiful sentences that aren’t always absolutely accurate. Then, I have to choose between the beautiful sentence and being absolutely accurate. It can be a difficult choice.

I don’t care much for equations myself. This is partly because it is difficult for me to write them down, but mainly because I don’t have an intuitive feeling for equations.

What matters in the Sun-tzu universe are not positions of strength and power, but situations in which you have options, full of potential force.

There is a time to take counsel of your fears, and there is a time to never listen to any fear.

When I had to make a decision whether or not an activity was appropriate for the Sabbath, I simply asked myself, ‚What sign do I want to give to God?‘ That question made my choices about the Sabbath day crystal clear.

All of us knows, not what is expedient, not what is going to make us popular, not what the policy is, or the company policy – but in truth each of us knows what is the right thing to do. And that’s how I am guided.

Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.

I’ve just tried to grow up in the most natural and gradual process that I possibly can and make choices I feel are right for me and my fans.

There is probably a perverse pride in my administration… that we were going to do the right thing, even if short-term it was unpopular. And I think anybody who’s occupied this office has to remember that success is determined by an intersection in policy and politics and that you can’t be neglecting of marketing and P.R. and public opinion.

I said on the equality side of it, that it is essential to a woman’s equality with man that she be the decision-maker, that her choice be controlling.

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.

I can tell you this: If I’m ever in a position to call the shots, I’m not going to rush to send somebody else’s kids into a war.

It’s easier to aim to please and say what others want to hear than to form an opinion and fight for it, even if it means taking a risk or losing your job.

We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.

Every man, every woman who has to take up the service of government, must ask themselves two questions: ‚Do I love my people in order to serve them better? Am I humble and do I listen to everybody, to diverse opinions in order to choose the best path?‘ If you don’t ask those questions, your governance will not be good.

I don’t have any regrets. I made all my own decisions.

I suppose that’s one of the ironies of life doing the wrong thing at the right moment.

Do I wear a helmet? Ugh. I do when I’m riding through a precarious part of town, meaning Midtown traffic. But when I’m riding on secure protected lanes or on the paths that run along the Hudson or through Central Park – no, I don’t wear the dreaded helmet then.

I don’t want to express my opinion about actual politics, because if I do, I have to be responsible for my decision.

To see what is right and not to do it is want of courage, or of principle.

As a rock star, I have two instincts, I want to have fun, and I want to change the world. I have a chance to do both.

You can tell the tree by the fruit it bears. You see it through what the organization is delivering as far as a concrete program. If the tree’s fruit sours or grows brackish, then the time has come to chop it down – bury it and walk over it and plant new seeds.

If you want to have sustained joy, you have to not only make sure that you think right, but you also have to make decisions now that are going to guarantee some joy in the future.

Leadership is a choice, not a position.

Cowardice asks the question, is it safe? Expediency asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience asks the question, is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right.

My philosophy in life is, Decide what you want to do. You have to have something to hope for.

I had therefore to remove knowledge, in order to make room for belief.

Nothing is more expensive than a missed opportunity.

I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone – and I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions and administrative actions that move the ball forward.

A president has an inescapable responsibility to provide direction: What are we trying to achieve? What are we trying to prevent? Why? To do that, he has to both analyze and reflect.

In business, if you realize you’ve made a bad decision, you change it.

We as women, we have to understand that we know more, just even instinctively, than we think we do.

I’m not a marketing person. I don’t ask myself questions. I go by instinct.

When you are young you tend to do so many things that are not needed. When you get experience, you know what exactly what works for you and you tend to do things that you want.

I think women want to take care of themselves, and I think having a voice in how that is done is very important.

I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn’t, than live as if there isn’t and to die to find out that there is.

The more players I have, the more difficult choices there are for me, but the better it is for LFC.

My parents didn’t want to move to Florida, but they turned sixty and that’s the law.

It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.

Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what’s right.

As president, you can get all kinds of advice from all kinds of people. But at the end of the day, when it comes time to make that decision, as president, all you have to guide you are your values and your vision and the life experiences that make you who you are.

When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.

I’m for women choosing whatever they want to do but they have to really know what they are doing.

Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny.

It’s been my experience in politics that you can try and plan it out: ‚I’m going to hit the three ball which will hit the eight ball.‘ You’ve just got to go run and try to do everything right. And then have a little luck.

The ultimate authority must always rest with the individual’s own reason and critical analysis.