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

Confine yourself to the present.

You have to like the present; if not your life becomes secondhand, if you think it was better before. Or that it will be better in the future.

Freedom from effort in the present merely means that there has been effort stored up in the past.

In Buddhism, we talk of meditation as an act of awakening, to be awake to the fact that the earth is in danger and living species are in danger.

Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish. Do not overdo it.

We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.

The 21st century is going to be the American century. Because we lead not only by the example of our power, but by the power of our example. That is the history of the journey of America.

Cycling can be lonely, but in a good way. It gives you a moment to breathe and think, and get away from what you’re working on.

The buck stops here!

Memories are thoughts that arise. They’re not realities. Only when you believe that they are real, then they have the power over you. But when you realize it’s just another thought arising about the past, then you can have a spacious relationship with that thought. The thought no longer has you in its grip.

I know it’s going to be the private sector that leads this country out of the current economic times we’re in. You can spend your money better than the government can spend your money.

But let me tell you, this gender thing is history. You’re looking at a guy who sat down with Margaret Thatcher across the table and talked about serious issues.

Sometimes I just sit still and enjoy God’s presence.

Everything rises and falls on leadership.

Take care of all your memories. For you cannot relive them.

Hold those things that tell your history and protect them. During slavery, who was able to read or write or keep anything? The ability to have somebody to tell your story to is so important. It says: ‚I was here. I may be sold tomorrow. But you know I was here.‘

The world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system that is not working. To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds.

Never find fault with the absent.

Americans… still believe in an America where anything’s possible – they just don’t think their leaders do.

I am sometimes a fox and sometimes a lion. The whole secret of government lies in knowing when to be the one or the other.

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.

Only that day dawns to which we are awake.

What matters in the Sun-tzu universe are not positions of strength and power, but situations in which you have options, full of potential force.

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

In order to govern, the question is not to follow out a more or less valid theory but to build with whatever materials are at hand. The inevitable must be accepted and turned to advantage.

Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.

There will be no end to the troubles of states, or of humanity itself, till philosophers become kings in this world, or till those we now call kings and rulers really and truly become philosophers, and political power and philosophy thus come into the same hands.

You want me to own a team and deal with these rich, spoiled stubborn athletes, and try to get them to perform? No thank you.

Moral authority is never retained by any attempt to hold on to it. It comes without seeking and is retained without effort.

I would rather try to persuade a man to go along, because once I have persuaded him, he will stick. If I scare him, he will stay just as long as he is scared, and then he is gone.

If I can be a leader, I will.

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.

Except for the title ‚father,‘ there is no title, including ‚vice president,‘ that I am more proud to wear than that of United States senator.

William Gladstone has not a single redeeming defect.

Sometimes I catch myself stooping, and whenever I am like that, I am sure something is not quite right.

I am not interested in power for power’s sake, but I’m interested in power that is moral, that is right and that is good.

You know, you can only lead them from behind.

I know of no single formula for success. But over the years I have observed that some attributes of leadership are universal and are often about finding ways of encouraging people to combine their efforts, their talents, their insights, their enthusiasm and their inspiration to work together.

It is the quality of the moment, not the number of days, or events, or of actors, that imports.

I am a simple Buddhist monk – no more, no less.

As a leader, you have to have the ability to assimilate new information and understand that there might be a different view.

I want a president who will teach our children that everyone in this country matters, a president who truly believes in the vision that our Founders put forth all those years ago that we are all created equal, each a beloved part of the great American story.

I do believe that any successful business starts from the top and works its way down.

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.

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

No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.

Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.

No man should be in politics unless he would honestly rather not be there.

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.

You can either be a host to God, or a hostage to your ego. It’s your call.

Men are more easily governed through their vices than through their virtues.

We need someone with superb judgement in their own right because, yes, a president can hire the best advisors on Earth, but I guarantee you this: Five advisors will give five different opinions. And it is the president – and the president alone – who always makes the final call.

There are as many pillows of illusion as flakes in a snow-storm. We wake from one dream into another dream.

Never let your ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it.

I’m one of the slowest drivers on the road. I mosey along. If you’re doing anything too fast, including living life too fast, that creates sudden death. If I have to be somewhere on time, I make sure I leave early enough.

Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite – inspire fear and insecurity.

Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.

Remind yourself that the greatest technique for bringing peace into your life is to always choose being kind when you have a choice between being right or being kind.

When you want a thing done, ‚Don’t do it yourself‘ is a good motto for Scoutmasters.

You don’t have to give way to careless speech or complaining. You don’t have to let your feelings get in the way of what God wants to do in your life.