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.

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.

I’m the only president you’ve got.

Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.

Those of us who submitted or surrendered our ideas and dreams and identities to the ‚leaders‘ must take back our rights, our identities, our responsibilities.

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

In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.

I found that the corridors of power in Delhi were littered with lobbies of various kinds.

If I can be a leader, I will.

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.

Football is a game you cannot play without making mistakes.

The most successful war seldom pays for its losses.

Whenever you put a man on the Supreme Court he ceases to be your friend.

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

Good leadership consists of showing average people how to do the work of superior people.

Always do everything you ask of those you command.

Withdrawal of American troops must be a unilateral act, as the invasion of Vietnam by the American government was a unilateral act in the first place.

I think that both parties should declare the debt limit as a political weapon of mass destruction which can’t be used. I mean, it is silly to have a country that has 237 years building up its reputation and then have people threaten to tear it down because they’re not getting some other matter.

The republican is the only form of government which is not eternally at open or secret war with the rights of mankind.

I wasn’t sure of the exact mindset you should have when you go into a Test match. So I probably became too defensive when I played my first Test match. Short balls in one-day cricket, I have never thought of just defending.

If I made a commitment, I stood by that commitment – and try to make it real. Because when you become leaders, the most important thing you have is your word, your trust. That’s where respect comes from.

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.

The time has come for us to draw the line. The time has come for the responsible leaders of both political parties to take a stand against overgrown Government and for the American taxpayer.

There is probably a perverse pride in my administration… that we were going to do the right thing, even if short-term it was unpopular. And I think anybody who’s occupied this office has to remember that success is determined by an intersection in policy and politics and that you can’t be neglecting of marketing and P.R. and public opinion.

We find ourselves under the government of a system of political institutions, conducing more essentially to the ends of civil and religious liberty, than any of which the history of former times tells us.

All good leaders are connectors. They relate well and make people feel confident about themselves and their leader.

One must steer, not talk.

It is a fine game to play – the game of politics – and it is well worth waiting for a good hand before really plunging.

Well I do think, when there are more women, that the tone of the conversation changes, and also the goals of the conversation change. But it doesn’t mean that the whole world would be a lot better if it were totally run by women. If you think that, you’ve forgotten high school.

I would rather earn 1% off a 100 people’s efforts than 100% of my own efforts.

The true measure of the value of any business leader and manager is performance.

If we can but prevent the government from wasting the labours of the people, under the pretence of taking care of them, they must become happy.

I do have a political agenda. It’s to have as few regulations as possible.

You can kill ten of our men for every one we kill of yours. But even at those odds, you will lose and we will win.

Most people don’t like change. They revolt against it unless they can clearly see the advantage it brings. For that reason, when good leaders prepare to take action or make changes, they take people through a process to get them ready for it.

People who add value to others do so intentionally. I say that because to add value, leaders must give of themselves, and that rarely occurs by accident.

My observation is that whenever one person is found adequate to the discharge of a duty… it is worse executed by two persons, and scarcely done at all if three or more are employed therein.

Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.

Work is of two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the earth’s surface relative to other matter; second, telling other people to do so.

Politics is not bean bags. It’s serious, tough stuff.

I began playing Monopoly for real when I was 26 years old. Today, my wife and I have approximately 1,400 little green houses – each paying us monthly. You do not have to be a rocket scientist or have a Harvard degree to play Monopoly for real.

I’ve seen how the issues that come across a president’s desk are always the hard ones – the problems where no amount of data or numbers will get you to the right answer.

We don’t believe in planners and deciders making the decisions on behalf of Americans.

Hillary doesn’t play. She has more experience and exposure to the presidency than any candidate in our lifetime – yes, more than Barack, more than Bill. So she is absolutely ready to be Commander-in-Chief on day one. And, yes, she happens to be a woman.

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.

Democracy is worth dying for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man.

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

I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?

No fundamental social change occurs merely because government acts. It’s because civil society, the conscience of a country, begins to rise up and demand – demand – demand change.

I can’t really criticize the Tea Party people, because I came into the White House pretty much on the same basis that they have become popular. That is dissatisfaction with the way things are going in Washington and disillusionment and disencouragement about the government.

How can a president not be an actor?

Football is a simple game based on the giving and taking of passes, of controlling the ball and of making yourself available to receive a pass. It is terribly simple.

One of my direct subordinates, one of my guys that worked for me, he would call me up or pull me aside with some major problem, some issue that was going on. And he’d say, ‚Boss, we’ve got this, and that, and the other thing.‘ And I’d look at him and I’d say, ‚Good.‘

An individual’s refusal to carry out the criminal acts of his government sets the stage, in the most effective way possible, for the attempt to demonstrate the criminal nature of these acts.

Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish – too much handling will spoil it.

How you go about testing is just very different to just being in the situation of qualifying, having to go out, having to nail the lap.

To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.

Policy makers who have never served in the military continue to use the military to lead social change in this country.

There’s no such thing as going to a soapbox and saying, ‚The government’s corrupt,‘ and not having the intelligence service see your face. In the digital world, that can be done.

Political courage is not political suicide.

The only bipartisanship you ever see is when they finally sign a bill and everybody says, ‚Gee, isn’t that wonderful?‘