Leaders who are kind of insecure or egocentric, they basically sabotage themselves.

The thing is, if you control the Senate meetings, you control the gavel. And the gavel is a very important instrument… an instrument of power. An instrument that establishes the agenda.

Ever since Israel has been a nation the United States has provided the leadership. Every president down to the ages has done this in a fairly balanced way, including George Bush senior, Gerald Ford, and others including myself and Bill Clinton.

You know, one of the things I think you understand as president is you’re held responsible for everything, but you don’t always have control of everything, right?

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.

The man who occupies the first place seldom plays the principal part.

Policy makers who have never served in the military continue to use the military to lead social change in this country.

Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.

Anywhere in Latin America there is a potential threat of the pathology of caudillismo and it has to be guarded against.

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.

The mob is the mother of tyrants.

Governments need to have both shepherds and butchers.

How easy it is to govern when one follows a system of consulting the will of the people and one holds as the only norm all the actions which contribute to the well being of the people.

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

We don’t believe in planners and deciders making the decisions on behalf of Americans.

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

To paraphrase Winston Churchill, I did not take the oath I have just taken with the intention of presiding over the dissolution of the world’s strongest economy.

When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing more to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.

Personally, I’d like to see more of our leaders take a technocratic approach to solving our biggest problems.

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.

Unless a president can protect the privacy of the advice he gets, he cannot get the advice he needs.

One must steer, not talk.

I’ve been so blessed to play for the greatest coach at a time when our organization has done incredible things. I’ve played with the best teammates. Playing for Mr. Kraft and what his influence on the team has been.

He who has great power should use it lightly.

I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone – and I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions and administrative actions that move the ball forward.

Control is the source of strategic power.

Every first-term president has to learn something after he comes into office. Nobody can be completely ready for the inevitable crises.

In every society some men are born to rule, and some to advise.

I’m not a one-man show. I was never that in my life, and I never want to be that.

I speak directly to the people, and I know that the people of California want to have better leadership. They want to have great leadership. They want to have somebody that will represent them. And it doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or a Republican, young or old.

I am often asked if, when I was secretary, I had problems with foreign men. That is not who I had problems with, because I arrived in a very large plane that said United States of America. I had more problems with the men in our own government.

I’m responsible for starting a whole new school of pretension.

Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.

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

I always believe the rule by king or official leader is outdated. Now we must catch up with the modern world.

To rule a country of a thousand chariots, there must be reverent attention to business, and sincerity; economy in expenditure, and love for men; and the employment of the people at the proper seasons.

What matters in the Sun-tzu universe are not positions of strength and power, but situations in which you have options, full of potential force.

How can we help President Obama?

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.

People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook. I earned everything I’ve got.

Me not finishing school – in my head, I still have this insecurity when I’m talking to someone educated.

It sure is hell to be president.

Those who govern, having much business on their hands, do not generally like to take the trouble of considering and carrying into execution new projects. The best public measures are therefore seldom adopted from previous wisdom, but forced by the occasion.

I’m a mentor to anybody who’s interested.

The presidency has made every man who occupied it, no matter how small, bigger than he was; and no matter how big, not big enough for its demands.

Cruel leaders are replaced only to have new leaders turn cruel.

All leaders in the Lord’s Church are called by proper authority. No prophet or any other leader in this Church, for that matter, has ever called himself or herself. No prophet has ever been elected.

The President is going to benefit from me reporting directly to him when I arrive.

Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

If you are a leader, you should never forget that everyone needs encouragement. And everyone who receives it – young or old, successful or less-than-successful, unknown or famous – is changed by it.

Those who cannot think or take responsibility for themselves need, and clamor for, a leader.

The attempt to combine wisdom and power has only rarely been successful and then only for a short while.

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

I think our politicians could learn a lot from Mandela.

One civilization after another has been wrecked upon the attempt to secure sufficient leadership from a single group or class.

To supervise people, you must either surpass them in their accomplishments or despise them.

In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.

I know of no single formula for success. But over the years I have observed that some attributes of leadership are universal and are often about finding ways of encouraging people to combine their efforts, their talents, their insights, their enthusiasm and their inspiration to work together.

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.

I hate letting my teammates down. I know I’m not going to make every shot. Sometimes I try to make the right play, and if it results in a loss, I feel awful. I don’t feel awful because I have to answer questions about it. I feel awful in that locker room because I could have done something more to help my teammates win.

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.‘