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

I’m asking myself, ‚What do my girls, what do all our children deserve in their president? What kind of a president do we want for them?‘ Well, to start with, I think we want someone who is a unifying force in this country: someone who sees our differences not as a threat, but as a blessing.

I have been on the road and visited numerous places and met people from all over the globe. I can say that it looks nearly the same everywhere I have been: The climate crisis is ignored by people in charge, despite the science being crystal clear.

One leader, one people, signifies one master and millions of slaves.

People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.

At the end of the day, when it comes time to make that decision, as president, all you have to guide you are your values, and your vision, and the life experiences that make you who you are.

Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.

The authority you establish must emerge naturally from your character, from the particular strengths you possess.

History has proven that each generation of Howard graduates will forge the way forward for our country and our world.

Never give an order that can’t be obeyed.

I am not saying I am the best manager in the world. But I’m quite good.

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

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

If you lead a country like Britain, a strong country, a country which has taken a lead in world affairs in good times and in bad, a country that is always reliable, then you have to have a touch of iron about you.

All of us are mentors. You’re mentors right here and now. And one of the things I’ve always done throughout my life, I have always found that person, that group of people that I was going to reach my hand out and help bring them along with me.

We need to have business leaders who live by deep, strong principles.

For me every ruler is alien that defies public opinion.

There are times when a leader must move out ahead of the flock, go off in a new direction, confident that he is leading his people the right way.

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

A kingdom founded on injustice never lasts.

Use power to help people. For we are given power not to advance our own purposes nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power and it is to serve people.

One’s only rival is one’s own potentialities. One’s only failure is failing to live up to one’s own possibilities. In this sense, every man can be a king, and must therefore be treated like a king.

I just want to do God’s will. And he’s allowed me to go to the mountain. And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the promised land! I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land.

I try to lead by example, being conscious of others and being responsible.

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

I have no ambition to govern men; it is a painful and thankless office.

Military school was great and especially great for leadership and then I spent two years in Vietnam.

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.

The punishment which the wise suffer who refuse to take part in the government, is to live under the government of worse men.

It is a paradox that every dictator has climbed to power on the ladder of free speech. Immediately on attaining power each dictator has suppressed all free speech except his own.

I think Clinton, after getting into office and into Washington, was shocked at being bludgeoned. So he spent time trying to be all things to all people – one way guaranteed not to be successful or respected in a lion’s den. You can’t just play around with all those big cats – you’ve got to take somebody on.

Putin goes to bed at night knowing he can break all the rules, and the West will follow all the rules.

As our enemies have found we can reason like men, so now let us show them we can fight like men also.

The issues a president faces are not black and white, and cannot be boiled down into 140 characters. Because when you have the nuclear codes at your fingertips and the military at your command, you can’t make snap decisions. You can’t have a thin skin or the tendency to lash out.

When the leaders choose to make themselves bidders at an auction of popularity, their talents, in the construction of the state, will be of no service. They will become flatterers instead of legislators; the instruments, not the guides, of the people.

My dear sisters, whatever your calling, whatever your circumstances, we need your impressions, your insights, and your inspiration. We need you to speak up and speak out in ward and stake councils.

Political courage is not political suicide.

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.

Leaders must invoke an alchemy of great vision.

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.

Many people, including some conservatives, have been very impressed with how brainy the president and his advisers are. But that is not quite as reassuring as it might seem.

We should work with the principle that a work that can be done at a lower level should never be escalated to a higher level.

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.

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.

As his vice president for eight years, I learned more from Ronald Reagan than from anyone I encountered in all my years of public life.

Sadly, the truth is, there aren’t many people who can be put in high positions who won’t start thinking highly of themselves.

I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.

The attempt to combine wisdom and power has only rarely been successful and then only for a short while.

At Microsoft there are lots of brilliant ideas but the image is that they all come from the top – I’m afraid that’s not quite right.

We named the book ‚Extreme Ownership‘ because we really found that when we looked at not only at leaders but at teams that were the most successful, we found that the ones that had this attitude of extreme ownership were the ones that did the best, and it’s definitely an attitude that I had.

By most accounts, Aristide is the most popular figure in Haiti.

I don’t think that a leader can control, to any great extent, his destiny. Very seldom can he step in and change the situation if the forces of history are running in another direction.

War should be the only study of a prince. He should consider peace only as a breathing-time, which gives him leisure to contrive, and furnishes as ability to execute, military plans.

If you’re looking for the safe choice, you shouldn’t be supporting a black guy named Barack Obama to be the next leader of the free world.

Politics is not a game. It is an earnest business.

He who is not a good servant will not be a good master.

My relationship to power and authority is that I’m all for it. People need somebody to watch over them. Ninety-five percent of the people in the world need to be told what to do and how to behave.

But for me to have the opportunity to stand in front of a bunch of executives and present myself, I had to hustle in my own way. I can’t tell you how frustrating it was that they didn’t get that. No joke – I’d leave meetings crying all the time.

I think that there is never an indispensable leader, you know? I think that there is a time with dignity that one needs to leave.

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

You don’t lead by hitting people over the head – that’s assault, not leadership.