It’s been my experience in politics that you can try and plan it out: ‚I’m going to hit the three ball which will hit the eight ball.‘ You’ve just got to go run and try to do everything right. And then have a little luck.

Martyrdom is the only way a man can become famous without ability.

It is difficult to violently suppress people in the long run, as the example of the Soviet Union and the Eastern European countries has shown.

Two things control men’s nature, instinct and experience.

There’s nothing like white trash at the White House.

Carry the battle to them. Don’t let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive and don’t ever apologize for anything.

The best luck of all is the luck you make for yourself.

No one has ever drowned in sweat.

You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference.

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 won’t do something unless I can get at least two or three good laughs out of it. If I can’t, it’s not gonna make the team.

I just use fashion as an excuse to talk about politics. Because I’m a fashion designer, it gives me a voice, which is really good.

The mark of a true politician is that he is never at a loss for words because he is always half-expecting to be asked to make a speech.

Business is never so healthy as when, like a chicken, it must do a certain amount of scratching around for what it gets.

I’ll be judged on the body of work and not the popularity of any one decision.

We are right to take alarm at the first experiment upon our liberties.

I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.

Indecision may or may not be my problem.

If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.

I don’t care about age. Nor do I care about those who do not accept the science. I don’t have as much experience, and therefore I listen more. But I also have the right to express my opinion, no matter my age.

Do your work with your whole heart, and you will succeed – there’s so little competition.

A hustler has to deal with danger and risk. It’s part of the game. You cannot control it all, nor would you want to. Chaos, unknown factors are not something to be anxious about.

Smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles and all the years you have lived.

One of the more difficult tasks for me as president was to decide on the issue of confirming capital punishment awarded by courts… to my surprise… almost all cases which were pending had a social and economic bias.

What prudent merchant will hazard his fortunes in any new branch of commerce when he knows not that his plans may be rendered unlawful before they can be executed?

My relationship with the mountains actually started when I was 16. Every year, a group used to be taken from Auckland Grammar down to the Tangariro National Park for a skiing holiday.

Unlike presidential administrations, problems rarely have terminal dates.

All very successful commanders are prima donnas and must be so treated.

Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of intelligent effort.

If I’d been born ugly, you’d never have heard of Pele.

I think Clinton, after getting into office and into Washington, was shocked at being bludgeoned. So he spent time trying to be all things to all people – one way guaranteed not to be successful or respected in a lion’s den. You can’t just play around with all those big cats – you’ve got to take somebody on.

The greenhorn is the ultimate victor in everything; it is he that gets the most out of life.

What is once well done is done forever.

A President cannot always be popular.

Your emotions are very unstable and should never be the foundation for direction in your life.

A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success.

The temptation to take the easy road is always there. It is as easy as staying in bed in the morning and sleeping in. But discipline is paramount to ultimate success and victory for any leader and any team.

Only stupid people are changed by success.

Diligence is the mother of good luck.

It was the experience of mystery – even if mixed with fear – that engendered religion.

The finest steel has to go through the hottest fire.

Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes.

We should never lose an occasion. Opportunity is more powerful even than conquerors and prophets.

Any man who wants to be president is either an egomaniac or crazy.

The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.

I don’t think a coach becomes the right coach until he wins a championship.

I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‚Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.‘

I think governments can’t do much.

Obamacare sucks, it can’t be fixed.

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.

Success consecrates the most offensive crimes.

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

You’re president, if you conclude my judgment is not the right judgment, I abide by that, but I want an opportunity to have an input.

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

The drama and the trauma of the relationship you have when you’re 16 can mirror the one you have when you’re 26. Life repeats itself.

I remember they used to tell me, they said, ‚Khaled, you can’t get a Rolls-Royce; you need to get one of them small ones.‘ So I went and bought a Phantom.

The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.

With the casino and the beds, our passengers will have at least two ways to get lucky on one of our flights.

An act has no ethical quality whatever unless it be chosen out of several all equally possible.

It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.

Even as you make progress, you need the discipline to keep from backtracking and sabotaging the success as it’s happening.