Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish – too much handling will spoil it.

The most practical kind of politics is the politics of decency.

What we won when all of our people united must not be lost in suspicion and distrust and selfishness and politics. Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as president.

I am not the first Buddha who came upon Earth, nor shall I be the last. In due time, another Buddha will arise in the world – a Holy One, a supremely enlightened One, endowed with wisdom in conduct, auspicious, knowing the universe, an incomparable leader of men, a master of angels and mortals.

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

An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.

Bad news isn’t wine. It doesn’t improve with age.

Don’t throw stones at your neighbors if your own windows are glass.

I neither will aspire to nor will I accept, the position of president of the council of state and commander in chief.

Let no one be slow to seek wisdom when he is young nor weary in the search of it when he has grown old. For no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul.

A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one.

So confident am I in the intentions, as well as wisdom, of the government, that I shall always be satisfied that what is not done, either cannot, or ought not to be done.

When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.

I don’t want to tell President Obama how to make a speech. He’s a much better speech maker than I am. But I think always to tell the truth in a sometimes blatant way, even though it might be temporarily unpopular, is the best approach.

Who bothers to cook TV dinners? I suck them frozen.

All the learnin‘ my father paid for was a bit o‘ birch at one end and an alphabet at the other.

If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts, but if he will content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.

Those who govern, having much business on their hands, do not generally like to take the trouble of considering and carrying into execution new projects. The best public measures are therefore seldom adopted from previous wisdom, but forced by the occasion.

Moral authority is never retained by any attempt to hold on to it. It comes without seeking and is retained without effort.

Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable.

Thought is the wind and knowledge the sail.

If you’re trying to create a company, it’s like baking a cake. You have to have all the ingredients in the right proportion.

It isn’t what we don’t know that gives us trouble, it’s what we know that ain’t so.

Wisdom begins in wonder.

I think whenever something is – whenever there’s something that affects the public good, then there does need to be some form of public oversight.

Books are as useful to a stupid person as a mirror is useful to a blind person.

Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.

A witty saying proves nothing.

Only the pure in heart can make a good soup.

There should be a point to movies. Sure, you’re giving people a diversion from the cold world for a bit, but at the same time, you pass on some facts and rules and maybe a little bit of wisdom.

Regrets are the natural property of grey hairs.

The old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, the young know everything.

All my life I’ve been taught how to die, but no one ever taught me how to grow old.

If I’m going to get you to do stuff, I need to lead you. I can’t just order you to do it.

Many men have been capable of doing a wise thing, more a cunning thing, but very few a generous thing.

We know the truth, not only by the reason, but also by the heart.

Here is the rule to remember in the future, When anything tempts you to be bitter: not, ‚This is a misfortune‘ but ‚To bear this worthily is good fortune.‘

I just think overall there’s not as many female ministers than there are male ministers.

How do you know what it’s like to be stupid if you’ve never been smart?

Doing nothing while the middle class is hurting. That’s not leadership. Loose regulations and lax enforcement. That’s not leadership. That’s abandoning our middle class.

It is most unwise for people in love to marry.

Only the guy who isn’t rowing has time to rock the boat.

It is wise to persuade people to do things and make them think it was their own idea.

What one fool can understand, another can.

I’m a mentor to anybody who’s interested.

Authority poisons everybody who takes authority on himself.

I hate letting my teammates down. I know I’m not going to make every shot. Sometimes I try to make the right play, and if it results in a loss, I feel awful. I don’t feel awful because I have to answer questions about it. I feel awful in that locker room because I could have done something more to help my teammates win.

I want to use my position of leadership to help move along at a faster pace what I believe and know the Obama administration wants to do around the urgency of climate change.

Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction.

If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.

One civilization after another has been wrecked upon the attempt to secure sufficient leadership from a single group or class.

The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty. The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits.

If you’re a quarterback, you want everything on your shoulders. You want to be the one to make the decisions.

Now from a distance, I look back on what the Corps taught me: to think like men of action, and to act like men of thought!

I believe in benevolent dictatorship provided I am the dictator.

There is nothing which we receive with so much reluctance as advice.

Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing.

That’s what a man wants in a wife, mostly; he wants to make sure one fool tells him he’s wise.

Through every victory and every setback, I’ve insisted that change is never easy and never quick; that we wouldn’t meet all of our challenges in one term, or one presidency, or even in one lifetime.

I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.

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.