A President’s hardest task is not to do what is right, but to know what is right.

No great man lives in vain. The history of the world is but the biography of great men.

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

Sin, also for those who don’t have faith, exists when one goes against one’s conscience. To listen to and obey it means, in fact, to decide in face of what is perceived as good or evil. And on this decision pivots the goodness or malice of our action.

A leader who confines his role to his people’s experience dooms himself to stagnation; a leader who outstrips his people’s experience runs the risk of not being understood.

Should surveillance be usable for petty crimes like jaywalking or minor drug possession? Or is there a higher threshold for certain information? Those aren’t easy questions.

If you continue to keep low performers on your team, that are actually dragging the team down; you’re failing the whole team, and eventually, the whole team is going to fail.

True virtue is life under the direction of reason.

A public man must never forget that he loses his usefulness when he as an individual, rather than his policy, becomes the issue.

The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.

A good name is rather to be chosen than riches.

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?

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.

I’ll be judged on the body of work and not the popularity of any one decision.

Wise leaders generally have wise counselors because it takes a wise person themselves to distinguish them.

Many religious confessions share common values. They teach that we should do unto others as we would have them do unto us.

It is pretty ironic that the so-called ‚least advanced‘ people are the ones taking the lead in trying to protect all of us, while the richest and most powerful among us are the ones who are trying to drive the society to destruction.

I want a president with a record of public service, someone whose life’s work shows our children that we don’t chase fame and fortune for ourselves: we fight to give everyone a chance to succeed.

I am worrying about my country. I feel I have a responsibility as a novelist to do something.

I base a lot of decisions on my gut, and going with an independent label was a good one.

The time comes upon every public man when it is best for him to keep his lips closed.

I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.

Being a good listener is absolutely critical to being a good leader; you have to listen to the people who are on the front line.

No man will ever carry out of the Presidency the reputation which carried him into it.

The Creator has not thought proper to mark those in the forehead who are of stuff to make good generals. We are first, therefore, to seek them blindfold, and then let them learn the trade at the expense of great losses.

There are hunters, and there are victims. By your discipline, cunning, obedience, and alertness, you will decide if you are a hunter or a victim.

It is as hard and severe a thing to be a true politician as to be truly moral.

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.

He who molds the public sentiment… makes statutes and decisions possible or impossible to make.

The leaders come up from the volunteers that do the work, and it’s amazing because then they do these incredible things in their community that they never thought they had the power to make that happen.

The day-to-day making of policy is arguing all the time. You’re trying to get the right approach and the right answer, and there are moments that aren’t very pleasant. But in the end, you look at the overall product.

The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.

Morality is the theory that every human act must be either right or wrong, and that 99 % of them are wrong.

He who commits injustice is ever made more wretched than he who suffers it.

Virtue cannot separate itself from reality without becoming a principle of evil.

I believe the most solemn duty of the American president is to protect the American people. If America shows uncertainty and weakness in this decade, the world will drift toward tragedy. This will not happen on my watch.

Politics is not bean bags. It’s serious, tough stuff.

Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t interfere as long as the policy you’ve decided upon is being carried out.

I believe God wants you to have money to pay your bills, send your kids to college and do charity work and build orphanages. There’s the teaching that we’re supposed to be poor to show that we’re humble. I don’t buy that. I think we’re supposed to be leaders. We’re supposed to excel.

You should see what our Founding Fathers used to say to each other and in the early part of our nation. But what they were able to do, especially in Philadelphia in 1787, four months, they argued about what a House should be, what a Senate should be, the power of the president, the Congress, the Supreme Court. And they had to deal with slavery.

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.

You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong.

Do right. Do your best. Treat others as you want to be treated.

People need to be insured so when you have an accident out there, or when something catastrophic happens to you, that you’re covered and there’s not someone else has to pay for you. That is as simple as that.

Good management consists in showing average people how to do the work of superior people.

Being prime minister is a lonely job… you cannot lead from the crowd.

Our friends at the Republican convention were more than happy to talk about everything they think is wrong with America, but they didn’t have much to say about how they’d make it right. They want your vote, but they don’t want you to know their plan.

A lot of people tell me a lot of things about my conduct, my game, my future… but I try to stay away from their words of wisdom. I don’t let it distract me. On the field, you will be facing the ball alone. If you fail, you will the only one to blame. So, you should be the one deciding for yourself.

It has not yet become obvious to me that there’s no real problem. I cannot define the real problem; therefore, I suspect there’s no real problem, but I’m not sure there’s no real problem.

I’ve never gone wrong trusting my gut.

The function of wisdom is to discriminate between good and evil.

Compassion is the basis of morality.

Forgiveness is not a feeling – it’s a decision we make because we want to do what’s right before God. It’s a quality decision that won’t be easy and it may take time to get through the process, depending on the severity of the offense.

I’m not sure if it’s good to have freedom or not. I’m really confused now.

You do the policy, I’ll do the politics.

The computer brings out the worst in some people.

I am a child but I have to think and act like a woman, this business forces you to.

We did not choose to be the guardians of the gate, but there is no one else.

What I believe unites the people of this nation, regardless of race or region or party, young or old, rich or poor, is the simple, profound belief in opportunity for all – the notion that if you work hard and take responsibility, you can get ahead.

Of all the varieties of virtues, liberalism is the most beloved.

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.