The presidency has made every man who occupied it, no matter how small, bigger than he was; and no matter how big, not big enough for its demands.

The 21st century is going to be the American century. Because we lead not only by the example of our power, but by the power of our example. That is the history of the journey of America.

I have seen how leaders rule by intimidation. Leaders who demonize and dehumanize entire groups of people often do so because they have nothing else to offer. And I have seen how places that stifle the voices and dismiss the potential of their citizens are diminished: how they are less vital, less hopeful, less free.

I am often asked if, when I was secretary, I had problems with foreign men. That is not who I had problems with, because I arrived in a very large plane that said United States of America. I had more problems with the men in our own government.

There is but one way for a president to deal with Congress, and that is continuously, incessantly, and without interruption. If it is really going to work, the relationship has got to be almost incestuous.

One must change one’s tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one’s superiority.

With every word we utter, with every action we take, we know our kids are watching us. We as parents are their most important role models.

For Forms of Government let fools contest; whatever is best administered is best.

I like pushing boundaries.

Life is a lively process of becoming.

Never forget that no military leader has ever become great without audacity.

I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there.

A politician needs the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn’t happen.

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.

I am sometimes a fox and sometimes a lion. The whole secret of government lies in knowing when to be the one or the other.

I cannot lead you into battle. I do not give you laws or administer justice but I can do something else – I can give my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.

He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.

If we have to use force, it is because we are America. We are the indispensable nation. We stand tall. We see further into the future.

I never wanted to stay in one genre; I never wanted to be pigeon-holed or defined as the actor who only worked in one genre. I want to be able to work in all different genres. For me it’s fun, and that’s how I grow as an actor.

Because, you know, resilience – if you think of it in terms of the Gold Rush, then you’d be pretty depressed right now because the last nugget of gold would be gone. But the good thing is, with innovation, there isn’t a last nugget. Every new thing creates two new questions and two new opportunities.

Start a part-time business and make as many mistakes as you possibly can while you still have your daytime job.

It sure is hell to be president.

All difficult things have their origin in that which is easy, and great things in that which is small.

I’m no leader; I’m a little humble follower.

How should a man be capable of grooming his own horse, or of furbishing his own spear and helmet, if he allows himself to become unaccustomed to tending even his own person, which is his most treasured belonging?

Ours is one continued struggle against degradation sought to be inflicted upon us by the European, who desire to degrade us to the level of the raw Kaffir, whose occupation is hunting and whose sole ambition is to collect a certain number of cattle to buy a wife with, and then pass his life in indolence and nakedness.

I knew I wasn’t going to be a rocket scientist – let’s not be fools – but I wasn’t going to be a bum.

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.

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.

Just as we develop our physical muscles through overcoming opposition – such as lifting weights – we develop our character muscles by overcoming challenges and adversity.

Love is the flower you’ve got to let grow.

If your heart is a volcano, how shall you expect flowers to bloom?

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

When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.

Your success, or lack of success, is your responsibility. Even when you have a chain of command that you don’t like as well, its your responsibility to work with the up chain of command.

Train up a child in the way that he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Everybody could be an entrepreneur, but very few will become very rich entrepreneurs.

I wanted in my lifetime to vote for a radical Native American woman, since my vision of any future that we might have is that it will be led by women and older women.

The time has come for all evangelists to practice full financial disclosure. The world is watching how we walk and how we talk. We must have the highest standards of morality, ethics and integrity if we are to continue to have influence.

At twelve I looked like a girl of seventeen. My body was developed and shapely. I still wore the blue dress and the blouse the orphanage provided. They made me look like an overgrown lummox.

It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what others say in a whole book.

We are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not unreasonable that we grapple with problems. But there are tens of thousands of years in the future. Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions, and pass them on.

I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying.

There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.

I can’t deny that the thought of being governor, the thought of being president, is alluring. And beyond that, it would be an opportunity to make a real impact on people’s lives on a global scale. But there are a lot of other things I want to do first.

What is a fear of living? It’s being preeminently afraid of dying. It is not doing what you came here to do, out of timidity and spinelessness. The antidote is to take full responsibility for yourself – for the time you take up and the space you occupy. If you don’t know what you’re here to do, then just do some good.

We have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it.

Every human being is under construction from conception to death.

We have the duty to protect the life of an unborn child.

I’m just looking to learn, grow, stay focused, and become a better fighter and a better athlete.

We also can’t try to take over and rebuild every country that falls into crisis. That’s not leadership; that’s a recipe for quagmire, spilling American blood and treasure that ultimately weakens us. It’s the lesson of Vietnam, of Iraq – and we should have learned it by now.

Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.

It is my responsibility that I must make demonstrative efforts to reach out to every citizen of the country.

We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.

Many a man’s strength is in opposition, and when he faileth, he grows out of use.

Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all.

Founding a company is hard. Most of it isn’t smooth. You’ll have to make very hard decisions. You have to fire a few people. Therefore, if you don’t believe in your mission, giving up is easy. The majority of founders give up. But the best founders don’t give up.

Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.

Being the boss anywhere is lonely. Being a female boss in a world of mostly men is especially so.

I always thought that if I made it big or got successful at what I had started out to do, that I wanted to come back to my part of the country and do something great, something that would bring a lot of jobs into this area.

I thought it completely absurd to mention my name in the same breath as the presidency.