I don’t see the wisdom in modern politicians that I once saw in men like Dean Acheson, David Bruce, or George Marshall. In my day, the northeastern establishment dominated foreign policy formulation, but the composition and distribution of our population is very different today.

There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophy.

The right honourable gentleman caught the Whigs bathing, and walked away with their clothes. He has left them in the full enjoyment of their liberal positions, and he is himself a strict conservative of their garments.

Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood. All is riddle, and the key to a riddle is another riddle.

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

There’s no political point worth my son’s life.

When one has finished building one’s house, one suddenly realizes that in the process one has learned something that one really needed to know in the worst way – before one began.

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.

There is no act of treachery or meanness of which a political party is not capable; for in politics there is no honour.

The more people who are dependent on government handouts, the more votes the left can depend on for an ever-expanding welfare state.

Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of man will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint.

There’s a lot of fuss on the Left about election irregularities, like, you know, the voting machines were tampered with, they didn’t count the votes right, and so on. That’s all accurate and of some importance, but of far more importance is the fact that elections just don’t take place, not in any meaningful sense of the term ‚election.‘

Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.

All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.

The more you know the less you need to say.

For somebody who loves foreign policy, being Secretary is the best job in the world – but it doesn’t happen twice.

Men must be taught as if you taught them not, and things unknown proposed as things forgot.

I am not one who was born in the possession of knowledge; I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it there.

The wise man does not expose himself needlessly to danger, since there are few things for which he cares sufficiently; but he is willing, in great crises, to give even his life – knowing that under certain conditions it is not worthwhile to live.

He who knows best knows how little he knows.

When the President does it, that means that it’s not illegal.

Old age: the crown of life, our play’s last act.

Being elected to Congress, though I am very grateful to our friends for having done it, has not pleased me as much as I expected.

People do not make wars; governments do.

Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.

With Benghazi, I don’t see anyone saying, ‚Hey look, I am overall responsible for this and therefore, I take responsibility for what happened. It’s my fault.‘ I haven’t heard that yet. Meanwhile, the other side of the coin, the Osama bin Laden raid, it seems everyone made that decision, and that’s just unbelievable to me.

Every Republican’s voted for it. Look at what they value and look at their budget and what they’re proposing. Romney wants to let the – he said in the first 100 days he’s going to let the big banks once again write their own rules – unchain Wall Street. They’re gonna put y’all back in chains.

Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure.

A good politician is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar.

Many a good hanging prevents a bad marriage.

He that gives good advice, builds with one hand; he that gives good counsel and example, builds with both; but he that gives good admonition and bad example, builds with one hand and pulls down with the other.

Politics… have always been the systematic organization of hatreds.

I am such a political person.

It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.

I’ll be honest: I haven’t ruled politics out.

Politics is a noble activity. We should revalue it, practise it with vocation and a dedication that requires testimony, martyrdom, that is to die for the common good.

Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.

I loved being Secretary of State, that’s probably evident to everyone who watched me.

Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast.

I think my message to the politicians who have within their power the ability to make change is, ‚Do you really, really not care about the future of your great-grandchildren? Because if we let the world continue to be destroyed the way we are now, what’s the world going to be like for your great-grandchildren?‘

Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.

As long as the people don’t fear the truth, there is hope. For once they fear it, the one who tells it doesn’t stand a chance. And today, truth is still beautiful… but so frightening.

Obama, of course, outspent McCain.

Every man is a quotation from all his ancestors.

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.

Speak the truth, do not yield to anger; give, if thou art asked for little; by these three steps thou wilt go near the gods.

If people lose faith in their government, the result is the same whether or not the loss of confidence is justified.

We’ve switched from a culture that was interested in manufacturing, economics, politics – trying to play a serious part in the world – to a culture that’s really entertainment-based.

We are not going to be satisfied by politicians saying ‚we support you‘ and then walking away. We won’t be satisfied until they meet our demands and act. That’s why simply taking a selfie or posting support on Twitter isn’t enough. That’s why we have to keep striking.

We also can’t try to take over and rebuild every country that falls into crisis. That’s not leadership; that’s a recipe for quagmire, spilling American blood and treasure that ultimately weakens us. It’s the lesson of Vietnam, of Iraq – and we should have learned it by now.

An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows.

More helpful than all wisdom is one draught of simple human pity that will not forsake us.

Ignorance and bungling with love are better than wisdom and skill without.

A candidate is not going to suddenly change once they get into office. Just the opposite, in fact. Because the minute that individual takes that oath, they are under the hottest, harshest light there is. And there is no way to hide who they really are.

The Iranian government is undoubtedly a severe danger to its own population, but not beyond that.

Politics is a science. You can demonstrate that you are right and that others are wrong.

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

Admiration is the daughter of ignorance.

Ronald Reagan used to alarm other constituencies by speaking freely about the End Times foreshadowed in the Bible.

I used to wish there was a useful term for those of us who thought American power should be used to remove psychopathic dictators.

Truth has no special time of its own. Its hour is now – always.