We need a president who will choose to do what’s best for the country, even when it doesn’t personally benefit them.

A lot has happened over the years. And while this nation has been tested by war, and it’s been tested by recession and all manner of challenges – I stand before you again tonight, after almost two terms as your president, to tell you I am more optimistic about the future of America than ever before.

Many churches of all persuasions are hiring research agencies to poll neighborhoods, asking what kind of church they prefer. Then the local churches design themselves to fit the desires of the people. True faith in God that demands selflessness is being replaced by trendy religion that serves the selfish.

You know I vowed when I became President not to talk about the loneliest toughest job in the world and I didn’t.

It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.

I just figured out that if I gave my all into this game – if I put everything into the fight business – then I would eventually run the fight business.

One of the roles of the Presidency is to lead a political party. Having a President in office is usually a huge advantage to a party because it gives the party a mouthpiece and an advocate at the highest level.

I can easily imagine Obama sitting down and talking to any leader – or any person – in the world, with no baggage of past servitude or race supremacy to mar their talks.

I always tell people that you should only hire people to be on your team if you would work for them.

Whoever won’t fight when the President calls him, deserves to be kicked back in his hole and kept there.

I vividly remember a conversation I had many years ago in 1974, which marked a turning point in my leadership journey. I was sitting at a Holiday Inn with my friend, Kurt Campmeyer, when he asked me if I had a personal growth plan. I didn’t. In fact, I didn’t even know you were supposed to have one.

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.

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.

Love is when the other person’s happiness is more important than your own.

I loved being Secretary of State, that’s probably evident to everyone who watched me.

The more responsibility the Scoutmaster gives his patrol leaders, the more they will respond.

I think I’d be a better president because I was in combat.

There are slavish souls who carry their appreciation for favors done them so far that they strangle themselves with the rope of gratitude.

The superior man acts before he speaks, and afterwards speaks according to his action.

Everywhere I go I find that people… both leaders and individuals… are asking one basic question, ‚Is there any hope for the future?‘ My answer is the same, ‚Yes, through Jesus Christ.‘

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.

People and organizations don’t grow much without delegation and completed staff work because they are confined to the capacities of the boss and reflect both personal strengths and weaknesses.

The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.

The army teaches boys to think like men.

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

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

The more nobly a man wills and acts, the more avid he becomes for great and sublime aims to pursue. He will no longer be content with family, country, and the remunerative aspect of his work. He will want wider organisations to create, new paths to blaze, causes to uphold, truths to discover, an ideal to cherish and defend.

Especially when you’re at a high level in an organization, criticism can be devastating to an employee. I prefer to praise employees for what they’re doing right, and it tends to lead to them doing more of the same. Not always, but it’s the way I choose to bet.

Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton both had exceptional natural abilities. Nelson Rockefeller was very good statewide but never gained national traction.

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.

We must think and act like a nation of a billion people and not like that of a million people. Dream, dream, dream!

Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.

The main rule to me is to honor God with your life. To life a life of integrity. Not be selfish. You know, help others. But that’s really the essence of the Christian faith.

I’m no longer just a candidate. I’m the President. I know what it means to send young Americans into battle, for I have held in my arms the mothers and fathers of those who didn’t return. I’ve shared the pain of families who’ve lost their homes, and the frustration of workers who’ve lost their jobs.

Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.

The art of delegation is one of the key skills any entrepreneur must master.

You must live for another if you wish to live for yourself.

All my authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

The topic of leadership is a touchy one. A lot of leaders fail because they don’t have the bravery to touch that nerve or strike that chord. Throughout my years, I haven’t had that fear.

I am mindful not only of preserving executive powers for myself, but for predecessors as well.

I like to always lead from the front and set an example for whoever is playing with me or around me. I like taking responsibilities. That is my natural thing.

Gray Davis can run a dirty campaign better than anyone, but he can’t run a state.

I don’t think I would run for president.

Every President I think I’ve ever known, except Truman, has thought they didn’t quite get done what they wanted done. And toward the end of their Administrations, they were disappointed and wished they had done some things differently.

Magnanimity in politics is not seldom the truest wisdom; and a great empire and little minds go ill together.

No foreign policy – no matter how ingenious – has any chance of success if it is born in the minds of a few and carried in the hearts of none.

The law of sacrifice is uniform throughout the world. To be effective it demands the sacrifice of the bravest and the most spotless.

In the long-run every Government is the exact symbol of its People, with their wisdom and unwisdom; we have to say, Like People like Government.

It is a fine thing to have ability, but the ability to discover ability in others is the true test.

My game is really played above time. I don’t say that like I’m saying I’m ahead of my time. I’m saying, like, if I’m on the court and I throw a pass, the ball that I’ve thrown will lead my teammate right where he needs to go, before he even knows that that’s the right place to go to.

I will only hire someone to work directly for me if I would work for that person. It’s a pretty good test.

In George Bush you get experience, and with me you get – The Future!

No one person controls Microsoft. The board and the shareholders decide whether they want to have me as CEO.

Let me tell you what I literally told every world leader I’ve met with, and I’ve met them all: It’s never, never, never been a good bet to bet against America. We have the finest fighting force in the world.

I’ve seen firsthand that being president doesn’t change who you are. It reveals who you are.

That’s the good thing about being president, I can do whatever I want.

The true history of my administration will be written 50 years from now, and you and I will not be around to see it.

I’m not a one-man show. I was never that in my life, and I never want to be that.

Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.

One of the key qualities a leader must possess is the ability to detach from the chaos, mayhem, and emotions in a situation and make good, clear decisions based on what is actually happening.

On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.