I don’t run restaurants that are out of control. We are about establishing phenomenal footholdings with talent.

To rule is easy, to govern difficult.

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.

We’re not a fragile people. We’re not a frightful people. Our power doesn’t come from some self-declared savior promising that he alone can restore order as long as we do things his way. We don’t look to be ruled.

When it comes to the qualifications that we should demand of our president, to start with, we need someone who will take the job seriously.

There are massive efforts on the part of the internet’s corporate owners to try to direct it to become a technique of marginalisation and control.

I remember the last three days that I was president, I never went to bed at all. I never went to bed until we had negotiated the final release of the hostages.

Great is the hand that holds dominion over man by a scribbled name.

Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.

Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.

Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.

To some degree it matters who’s in office, but it matters more how much pressure they’re under from the public.

The path to the CEO’s office should not be through the CFO’s office, and it should not be through the marketing department. It needs to be through engineering and design.

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.

You know, one of the things I think you understand as president is you’re held responsible for everything, but you don’t always have control of everything, right?

Music is something no one can control.

The people will save their government, if the government itself will allow them.

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 don’t want to tell President Obama how to make a speech. He’s a much better speech maker than I am. But I think always to tell the truth in a sometimes blatant way, even though it might be temporarily unpopular, is the best approach.

As president, you can get all kinds of advice from all kinds of people. But 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.

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

In business, if you realize you’ve made a bad decision, you change it.

The faults of a superior person are like the sun and moon. They have their faults, and everyone sees them; they change and everyone looks up to them.

True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.

We should understand the source of our authority and something of the keys that control its power.

The Creator has not thought proper to mark those in the forehead who are of stuff to make good generals. We are first, therefore, to seek them blindfold, and then let them learn the trade at the expense of great losses.

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

Leadership is absolutely vital if there are comparable countries which can affect the security of the world you live in. Between Lincoln and Roosevelt’s time, America was protected by huge oceans and, in practice, by the British navy. Today, it’s different, and the obsession of the Obama administration has been for retrenchment.

Some years ago I became president of Columbia University and learned within 24 hours to be ready to speak at the drop of a hat, and I learned something more, the trustees were expected to be ready to speak at the passing of the hat.

I just think you ought to talk straight with your people.

This President is going to lead us out of this recovery.

You know we’re going to control the insurance companies.

Soldiers generally win battles; generals get credit for them.

If I had chosen the populist course, it would have been a breach of the trust placed in me by the people.

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.

A good leader can engage in a debate frankly and thoroughly, knowing that at the end he and the other side must be closer, and thus emerge stronger. You don’t have that idea when you are arrogant, superficial, and uninformed.

Some day I shall be President.

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.

A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man. His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example.

You know I vowed when I became President not to talk about the loneliest toughest job in the world and I didn’t.

The presidency has made every man who occupied it, no matter how small, bigger than he was; and no matter how big, not big enough for its demands.

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

The more you can increase fear of drugs and crime, welfare mothers, immigrants and aliens, the more you control all the people.

The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.

The other day the President said, I know you’ve had some rough times, and I want to do something that will show the nation what faith that I have in you, in your maturity and sense of responsibility. He paused, then said, would you like a puppy?

Being prime minister is a lonely job… you cannot lead from the crowd.

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.

Every President I think I’ve ever known, except Truman, has thought they didn’t quite get done what they wanted done. And toward the end of their Administrations, they were disappointed and wished they had done some things differently.

In addition to building better products, a more open world will also encourage businesses to engage with their customers directly and authentically. More than four million businesses have Pages on Facebook that they use to have a dialogue with their customers. We expect this trend to grow as well.

If we could just find out who’s in charge, we could kill him.

When I take action, I’m not going to fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt. It’s going to be decisive.

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.

In the world of money and investing, you must learn to control your emotions.

My celebrity status allows me an opportunity, allows me a pulpit to preach and reach out to the people. Not even always preaching but just leading, motivating them by being a leader.

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

All gods are homemade, and it is we who pull their strings, and so, give them the power to pull ours.

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.

You can play fast but not in a hurry. As a point guard, I can dictate that.

Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is power; religion gives man wisdom which is control.

Yeah, I wasn’t chosen to be first. I was just chosen to command that flight. Circumstance put me in that particular role. That wasn’t planned by anyone.

Are you a politician asking what your country can do for you or a zealous one asking what you can do for your country? If you are the first, then you are a parasite; if the second, then you are an oasis in the desert.