I am a leader by default, only because nature does not allow a vacuum.

My love is a hummingbird sitting that quiet moment on the bough, as the same cat crouches.

Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

We still think of a powerful man as a born leader and a powerful woman as an anomaly.

Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans – born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace.

My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.

Men may change their climate, but they cannot change their nature. A man that goes out a fool cannot ride or sail himself into common sense.

I’m going to be so much better a president for having been at the CIA that you’re not going to believe it.

We can’t allow the world’s worst leaders to blackmail, threaten, hold freedom-loving nations hostage with the world’s worst weapons.

I love that we can trust Barack to do what he says he’s going to do, even when it’s hard – especially when it’s hard.

Only that thing is free which exists by the necessities of its own nature, and is determined in its actions by itself alone.

My absolute favourite piece of information is the fact that young sloths are so inept that they frequently grab their own arms and legs instead of tree limbs, and fall out of trees.

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

I believe in Coach Louis Wong. He is so much more than just a football coach.

Virtue is a habit of the mind, consistent with nature and moderation and reason.

Trees go wandering forth in all directions with every wind, going and coming like ourselves, traveling with us around the sun two million miles a day, and through space heaven knows how fast and far!

What is a farm but a mute gospel?

The eye of the master will do more work than both his hands.

If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem.

Control is the source of strategic power.

Having the support from everyone, the bosses, whoever within the team, definitely makes it much easier for me as a driver.

During my first years in the Sierra, I was ever calling on everybody within reach to admire them, but I found no one half warm enough until Emerson came. I had read his essays, and felt sure that of all men he would best interpret the sayings of these noble mountains and trees. Nor was my faith weakened when I met him in Yosemite.

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

For success of any mission, it is necessary to have creative leadership. Creative leadership is vital for government, non-governmental organisations as well as for industries.

The presidency has many problems, but boredom is the least of them.

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.

The pagan loves the earth in order to enjoy it and confine himself within it; the Christian in order to make it purer and draw from it the strength to escape from it.

The trouble with Nixon is that he’s a serious politics junkie. He’s totally hooked and like any other junkie, he’s a bummer to have around, especially as President.

When a man assumes a public trust he should consider himself a public property.

People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.

I’m definitely a Polaroid camera girl. For me, what I’m really excited about is bringing back the artistry and the nature of Polaroid.

Whatever position I occupied, it was the result of colleagues – of my comrades in the movement – who had decided in their wisdom to use me for the purpose of focusing the attention of the country and the international community on me.

I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.

A wind has blown the rain away and blown the sky away and all the leaves away, and the trees stand. I think, I too, have known autumn too long.

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

Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.

As an elder of the Americas and of the rest of the planet, it is my responsibility to care for and protect, to the best of my ability, the young.

A lot of times, people make other people responsible for their joy: ‚You’re not making me happy, you’re not doing this, you’re not doing that.‘

The President is not only the leader of a party, he is the President of the whole people. He must interpret the conscience of America. He must guide his conduct by the idealism of our people.

We all have the duty to do good.

Those who can win a war well can rarely make a good peace and those who could make a good peace would never have won the war.

If future generations are to remember us more with gratitude than sorrow, we must achieve more than just the miracles of technology. We must also leave them a glimpse of the world as it was created, not just as it looked when we got through with it.

Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect.

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

Most of the problems a President has to face have their roots in the past.

Man takes his law from the Earth; the Earth takes its law from Heaven; Heaven takes its law from the Tao. The law of the Tao is its being what it is.

If I can be a leader, I will.

The people respect and believe in men who fulfill their duty.

If you don’t drive your business, you will be driven out of business.

Every guilty person is his own hangman.

People invest in businesses that they believe have the leadership, mission and team to grow and operate profitably.

The man who occupies the first place seldom plays the principal part.

It’s so easy to settle for less than God’s best for us because we don’t always feel like taking responsibility for our behavior or putting forth some effort to do what we need to do so we can accomplish great things for God and help people. But the cost of settling for less is actually harder than being completely obedient to God’s will.

And I love that even in the toughest moments, when we’re all sweating it – when we’re worried that the bill won’t pass, and it seems like all is lost – Barack never lets himself get distracted by the chatter and the noise. Just like his grandmother, he just keeps getting up and moving forward… with patience and wisdom, and courage and grace.

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.

Leave no authority existing not responsible to the people.

Anywhere in Latin America there is a potential threat of the pathology of caudillismo and it has to be guarded against.

My parents were dealing with evictions and repossessions and electricity getting shut off, and I just realized that I had to get it together.

The Youth of a Nation are the trustees of posterity.

It started to weigh on me that I was responsible for the moves that had made me successful, but I wasn’t reaping the lion’s share of the profits, and that was problematic for me.

Since the team understands that the leader is de facto in charge, in that respect, a leader has nothing to prove. But in another respect, a leader has everything to prove: Every member of the team must develop the trust and confidence that their leader will exercise good judgment, remain calm, and make the right decisions when it matters most.