I have always believed in evolving a consensus before taking any major decision.

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

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.

China and the U.S. need each other very badly. Yes, we should argue about some things, but it’s not an ‚us versus them,‘ it’s an ‚us and them‘ type scenario.

Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.

I played football for a team called the East Dragons on the east side of town. We only had six regular season games. And six games I played tail back and I had 18 touchdowns in six games. That’s when I knew I had some athletic ability.

I would like to be remembered as a guy who had a set of priorities, and was willing to live by those priorities. In terms of accomplishments, my biggest accomplishment is that I kept the country safe amidst a real danger.

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

I could imagine at a certain age, when I have no vocal cords left, that I would find a young man who could sing my parts for me. But I don’t see why I would stop.

The chain of wedlock is so heavy that it takes two to carry it – and sometimes three.

Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.

Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.

Once I’ve decided to do something, I do usually try to carry it through to fruition.

Young people are fitter to invent than to judge; fitter for execution than for counsel; and more fit for new projects than for settled business.

Choose the life that is most useful, and habit will make it the most agreeable.

Fires can’t be made with dead embers, nor can enthusiasm be stirred by spiritless men. Enthusiasm in our daily work lightens effort and turns even labor into pleasant tasks.

I was planning to go into architecture. But when I arrived, architecture was filled up. Acting was right next to it, so I signed up for acting instead.

From a young age, I learned to focus on the things I was good at and delegate to others what I was not good at. That’s how Virgin is run. Fantastic people throughout the Virgin Group run our businesses, allowing me to think creatively and strategically.

It’s one of the few regrets of my presidency – that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better. There’s no doubt a president with the gifts of Lincoln or Roosevelt might have better bridged the divide, and I guarantee I’ll keep trying to be better so long as I hold this office.

When you’re one of the leaders of the team, there are no days off.

As President Nixon says, presidents can do almost anything, and President Nixon has done many things that nobody would have thought of doing.

We will burn that bridge when we come to it.

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

How could you have a soccer team if all were goalkeepers? How would it be an orchestra if all were French horns?

The American President resembles the commander of a ship at sea. He must have a helm to grasp, a course to steer, a port to seek.

The British people know that, given strong leadership, time, and a little bit of hope, the forces of good ultimately rally and triumph over evil.

Our chief justices have probably had more profound and lasting influence on their times and on the direction of the nation than most presidents.

It’s very important to like the people you work with. Otherwise, your job is going to be quite miserable.

People want to listen to a message, word from Jah. This could be passed through me or anybody. I am not a leader. Messenger. The words of the songs, not the person, is what attracts people.

Leadership is a choice, not a position.

Football is a team game and none can survive or excel without the help of the other.

My job is to play quarterback, and I’m going to do that the best way I know how, because I owe that to my teammates regardless of who is out there on the field with me.

Tony Visconti and I had been wanting to work together again for a few years now. Both of us had fairly large commitments and for a long time we couldn’t see a space in which we could get anything together.

To not be modest about it, you’ll find that with only a couple of exceptions, most of the musicians that I’ve worked with have done their best work by far with me.

The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.

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.

Trust your instinct to the end, though you can render no reason.

I’m not going to change the world. You’re not going to change the world. But we can help – we can all help.

I realized why directors are such horrible people – in a way – because you want things to be right, and people will just not listen to you, and there is no time to be nice to people, no time to be delicate.

As the builders say, the larger stones do not lie well without the lesser.

I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.

It is a clear gain to sacrifice pleasure in order to avoid pain.

I have done one thing that I think is a contribution: I helped Buddhist science and modern science combine. No other Buddhist has done that. Other lamas, I don’t think they ever pay attention to modern science. Since my childhood, I have a keen interest.

The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation.

There are times when a leader must move out ahead of the flock, go off in a new direction, confident that he is leading his people the right way.

There are some women I definitely would not want to succeed me… but a man like David Souter, that would be great.

Even the best and biggest teams in the world do not reach finals of tournaments.

A piece of spaghetti or a military unit can only be led from the front end.

If I think too hard about a relationship, I’ll talk myself out of it.

I don’t know what’s better gettin‘ laid or gettin‘ paid.

One word sums up probably the responsibility of any vice-president, and that one word is ‚to be prepared‘.

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.‘

No foreign policy – no matter how ingenious – has any chance of success if it is born in the minds of a few and carried in the hearts of none.

What can I know? What ought I to do? What can I hope?

Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.

One of the key qualities a leader must possess is the ability to detach from the chaos, mayhem, and emotions in a situation and make good, clear decisions based on what is actually happening.

No man is so foolish but he may sometimes give another good counsel, and no man so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel than his own. He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master.

I am certainly not one of those who need to be prodded. In fact, if anything, I am the prod.

The wicked leader is he who the people despise. The good leader is he who the people revere. The great leader is he who the people say, ‚We did it ourselves.‘

Kings will be tyrants from policy, when subjects are rebels from principle.

A friendship founded on business is better than a business founded on friendship.