A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.

Every first-term president has to learn something after he comes into office. Nobody can be completely ready for the inevitable crises.

Small aim is a crime; have great aim.

There have to be reasons that you get up in the morning and you want to live. Why do you want to live? What’s the point? What inspires you? What do you love about the future? If the future does not include being out there among the stars and being a multi-planet species, I find that incredibly depressing.

What I’ve discovered is that in art, as in music, there’s a lot of truth-and then there’s a lie. The artist is essentially creating his work to make this lie a truth, but he slides it in amongst all the others. The tiny little lie is the moment I live for, my moment. It’s the moment that the audience falls in love.

I can make something magical and wonderful out of nothing.

I have my permanent muses and my muses of the moment.

It’d be stupid for me to sit here and say that there aren’t kids who look up to me, but my responsibility is not to them. I’m not a baby sitter.

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.

Always have something beautiful in sight, even if it’s just a daisy in a jelly glass.

Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.

My job is not to represent Washington to you, but to represent you to Washington.

Many of my fans often tell me that they listen to my songs to get through things. And therefore, obviously, I hope that they can picture being in a place where things are better… I hope my songs can bring people to a calm place.

When I’m inspired, I get excited because I can’t wait to see what I’ll come up with next.

Lord keep us all from sin. Teach us how to walk circumspectly; enable us to guard our minds against error of doctrine, our hearts against wrong feelings, and our lives against evil actions.

Which government is the best? The one that teaches us to govern ourselves.

Everybody has a purpose.

Leadership is a choice, not a position.

When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest.

A lot of the stuff I do in terms of PR, I learned it from Muhammad Ali.

If you call yourself a leader, then you have to be decisive. If you’re decisive, then you have the chance to be a leader. These are two sides to the same coin.

If it weren’t for the Beatles, I would not be a musician.

Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.

Just try new things. Don’t be afraid. Step out of your comfort zones and soar, all right?

I can die a happy man never having been president of the United States of America. But it doesn’t mean I won’t run.

If you’re going to change things, you have to be with the people who hold the levers.

Of all the things I’ve done, the most vital is coordinating those who work with me and aiming their efforts at a certain goal.

Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.

One of the things that was really an issue was I did not want to just be a woman secretary of state. I wanted to be a secretary of a state who was a woman, but not just chosen for that particular reason.

In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.

Zappa was very technical and impressed by things that were musically challenging – weird time signatures, strange keys, awkward chord sequences. Zappa was important to me as an example of everything I didn’t want to do. I’m very grateful to him, actually.

I always knew that St. Jude was an amazing organization but meeting the kids and seeing how the hospital works first hand was truly beautiful. It doesn’t feel like a regular hospital all dreary and sad. It’s a colorful, beautiful, comfortable, fun place to live and the energy is wonderful.

Every day that is born into the world comes like a burst of music and rings the whole day through, and you make of it a dance, a dirge, or a life march, as you will.

Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory.

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.

I don’t like to see a president who is just out campaigning all year long or for the last four years. I’d like to see somebody who’s going in the office. In fact, I’d like to not see them because that way you’d be sure that they’d be working.

All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.

Imagination decides everything.

Until the men of action clear out the talkers we who have social consciences are at the mercy of those who have none.

One of the things you do when you make a piece of art is you try to make the world you’d rather be in.

Every once in a while, I get mad. ‚The Lorax‘ came out of my being angry. The ecology books I’d read were dull… In ‚The Lorax,‘ I was out to attack what I think are evil things and let the chips fall where they might.

Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.

It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.

Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude.

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.

No man is good enough to govern another man without the other’s consent.

We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.

I love those who do not know how to live for today.

I want to thank The Beatles for almost single-handedly getting me out of writer’s block.

Let us be sure that those who come after will say of us in our time, that in our time we did everything that could be done. We finished the race; we kept them free; we kept the faith.

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.

You can’t do it unless you can imagine it.

I find a lot of inspiration through visuals. When I was 12, I saw Aurora’s ‚Runaway‘ music video. Something inside me clicked, like, ‚That is what I want to do, no matter whether it goes anywhere or not.‘

You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was.

No one was ever great without some portion of divine inspiration.

You do things when the opportunities come along. I’ve had periods in my life when I’ve had a bundle of ideas come along, and I’ve had long dry spells. If I get an idea next week, I’ll do something. If not, I won’t do a damn thing.

A good writer possesses not only his own spirit but also the spirit of his friends.

I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled poets to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean.

The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.

I think life on Earth must be about more than just solving problems… It’s got to be something inspiring, even if it is vicarious.

Leadership is influence.