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.

Cowardice asks the question, is it safe? Expediency asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience asks the question, is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right.

You’ve all seen over the last eight years what President Obama means to this country. He is the embodiment of honor, resolve, and character – one of the finest presidents we have ever had.

I never worry about action, but only inaction.

A democracy which makes or even effectively prepares for modern, scientific war must necessarily cease to be democratic. No country can be really well prepared for modern war unless it is governed by a tyrant, at the head of a highly trained and perfectly obedient bureaucracy.

Jump out the window if you are the object of passion. Flee it if you feel it. Passion goes, boredom remains.

If you tell people where to go, but not how to get there, you’ll be amazed at the results.

I have a strong feeling that I shall be glad when I am dead and done for – scrapped at last to make room for somebody better, cleverer, more perfect than myself.

The new ruler must determine all the injuries that he will need to inflict. He must inflict them once and for all.

I had to make a choice at one point in my life, of missing films or missing my children. It was a very easy decision to make because I missed my children so very much.

I’ve turned down shows offering large amounts of money.

Perhaps it is better to be irresponsible and right, than to be responsible and wrong.

To see the right and not to do it is cowardice.

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.

Above all, this country is our own. Nobody has to get up in the morning and worry what his neighbors think of him. Being a Jew is no problem here.

Never allow a person to tell you no who doesn’t have the power to say yes.

I don’t want to express my opinion about actual politics, because if I do, I have to be responsible for my decision.

I’ve noticed a terrible thing, which is I will agree to anything if it’s far enough in the future.

I have considered voting Conservative because I am so against the Labour party.

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

Remember that the essence of authority is that people willingly follow your lead.

It is a paradox that every dictator has climbed to power on the ladder of free speech. Immediately on attaining power each dictator has suppressed all free speech except his own.

Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.

Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.

When your soul is resting, your emotions are okay, your mind is okay, and your will is at peace with God, not resisting what He’s doing.

Necessity never made a good bargain.

I think our democracy has it exactly right: two terms, eight years. It’s enough. Because it’s important to have one foot in reality when you have access to this kind of power.

Good leaders must communicate vision clearly, creatively, and continually. However, the vision doesn’t come alive until the leader models it.

There’s no difference between one’s killing and making decisions that will send others to kill. It’s exactly the same thing, or even worse.

The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously.

I decided, very early on, just to accept life unconditionally; I never expected it to do anything special for me, yet I seemed to accomplish far more than I had ever hoped. Most of the time it just happened to me without my ever seeking it.

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.

My gold, my money couldn’t stop cancer from appearing on my body. If they can’t save me, then I don’t need them.

If you only do things where you know the answer in advance, your company goes away.

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.

One must change one’s tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one’s superiority.

If you’re going to do something tonight that you’ll be sorry for tomorrow morning, sleep late.

Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter could be said to remedy anything.

Gray Davis can run a dirty campaign better than anyone, but he can’t run a state.

The world is weary of statesmen whom democracy has degraded into politicians.

If you make up your own mind, you can only blame yourself.

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

Soldiers generally win battles; generals get credit for them.

Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash.

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.

Chavez, who came out of the ranks of the Venezuelan Army, is methodical and tireless. I have observed him over the course of 17 years, since his first visit to Cuba. He is an extremely humanitarian and law-abiding person; he has never taken revenge on anybody.

There is no necessity to separate the monarch from the mob; all authority is equally bad.

The safest course is to do nothing against one’s conscience. With this secret, we can enjoy life and have no fear from death.

When in doubt, don’t.

Leadership is hard. It’s a skill. It’s a technique.

If you’re a quarterback, you want everything on your shoulders. You want to be the one to make the decisions.

Forgiveness is not a feeling – it’s a decision we make because we want to do what’s right before God. It’s a quality decision that won’t be easy and it may take time to get through the process, depending on the severity of the offense.

I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit.

Never give an order that can’t be obeyed.

The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly.

Vulnerability is about showing up and being seen. It’s tough to do that when we’re terrified about what people might see or think.

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.

I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.

One aspect of appellate judging is we have to give reasons for all of our decisions. And when you sit down and try to write it out, sometimes you find that your first judgment wasn’t the right one.

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.

There are hunters, and there are victims. By your discipline, cunning, obedience, and alertness, you will decide if you are a hunter or a victim.