It is as hard and severe a thing to be a true politician as to be truly moral.

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.

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.

A moral monopoly is the antithesis of a marketplace of ideas.

I have something in common with Nazis in that I am opposed to the radical Left. And when you oppose the radical Left, you end up being a part of a much larger group that includes Nazis in it.

If the federal government had been around when the Creator was putting His hand to this state, Indiana wouldn’t be here. It’d still be waiting for an environmental impact statement.

I think governments can’t do much.

Politics doesn’t make strange bedfellows – marriage does.

Let me even say before I even get inaugurated, during the transition we are going to be having meetings all across the country with community organizations so that you have input into the agenda for the next presidency of the United States of America.

I have learned, in my life and work as a sportswriter, that big-time Sports and big-time Politics are not so far apart in America. They are both a means to the same end, which is victory… And why not? Victory is good for you, and don’t let anybody tell you different.

Politics is not a game. It is an earnest business.

I’m not a politician. And I don’t want to be.

If you don’t drive your business, you will be driven out of business.

It’s not that every single thing that happens on Facebook is gonna be good. This is humanity. People use tools for good and bad, but I think that we have a clear responsibility to make sure that the good is amplified and to do everything we can to mitigate the bad.

The best leaders are readers of people. They have the intuitive ability to understand others by discerning how they feel and recognizing what they sense.

When I look back on what I did for the Left, I’m in a small way quite proud of some of it – I only wish I’d done more.

Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude.

The most important thing for a director is being able to communicate.

Doing nothing while the middle class is hurting. That’s not leadership. Loose regulations and lax enforcement. That’s not leadership. That’s abandoning our middle class.

And I will do everything that I can as long as I am President of the United States to remind the American people that we are one nation under God, and we may call that God different names but we remain one nation.

As president, I’m committed to making Washington work better and rebuilding the trust of the people who sent us here.

Taking care of children has nothing to do with politics. I think perhaps with time, instead of there being a politicization of humanitarian aid, there will be a humanization of politics.

I think that we all know what evil is. We have a sense of what’s evil, and certainly killing innocent people is evil. We’re less sure about what is good. There’s sort of good, good enough, could be better – but absolute good is a little harder to define.

The greatest destroyer of peace is abortion because if a mother can kill her own child, what is left for me to kill you and you to kill me? There is nothing between.

The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.

The great thieves lead away the little thief.

Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it.

One lesson you better learn if you want to be in politics is that you never go out on a golf course and beat the President.

In my view of the present aspect of affairs, there is no need of bloodshed and war. There is no necessity for it. I am not in favor of such a course, and I may say in advance, there will be no blood shed unless it be forced upon the government. The government will not use force unless force is used against it.

So long as men worship the Caesars and Napoleons, Caesars and Napoleons will duly arise and make them miserable.

By most accounts, Aristide is the most popular figure in Haiti.

Hanging out with politicians and corporations is very unhip work. But I think that the U2 audience have turned out to be incredibly subtle in their understanding.

It is the duty of the President to propose and it is the privilege of the Congress to dispose.

Obama himself has been highly supportive of Mubarak.

I love that for Barack, there is no such thing as ‚us‘ and ‚them‘ – he doesn’t care whether you’re a Democrat, a Republican, or none of the above… he knows that we all love our country… and he’s always ready to listen to good ideas… he’s always looking for the very best in everyone he meets.

I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

To govern means to pillage, as everyone knows.

So, for example, a country was into recession right after I was sworn in, a dot-com bust had taken place. Then the attacks of September the 11th, and then of course the great financial meltdown in the -the fundamental question facing any presidency is how do you deal with the hand you’re dealt?

No man will ever carry out of the Presidency the reputation which carried him into it.

Example is leadership.

The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse.

A president either is constantly on top of events or, if he hesitates, events will soon be on top of him. I never felt that I could let up for a moment.

Well, I thought the deal was, when you went to work for the government you weren’t supposed to make money!

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.

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.

In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.

Means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek.

I break ground. I trailblaze.

The first step in the evolution of ethics is a sense of solidarity with other human beings.

The Chinese government wants me to say that for many centuries Tibet has been part of China. Even if I make that statement, many people would just laugh. And my statement will not change past history. History is history.

Commodities such as gold and silver have a world market that transcends national borders, politics, religions, and race. A person may not like someone else’s religion, but he’ll accept his gold.

With tech companies, whoever’s the leader is always questioned, you know. They say, ‚Is this the end of them?‘ And – there’s more – more times people think that’s the case than it really is the case.

Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.

King Louis Philippe once said to me that he attributed the great success of the British nation in political life to their talking politics after dinner.

A President cannot always be popular.

Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.

Clever tyrants are never punished.

Ethics is the activity of man directed to secure the inner perfection of his own personality.

When one has the feeling of dislike for evil, when one feels tranquil, one finds pleasure in listening to good teachings; when one has these feelings and appreciates them, one is free of fear.

When I came to Johannesburg from the countryside, I knew nobody, but many strangers were very kind to me. I then was dragged into politics, and then, subsequently, I became a lawyer.