Most of the problems a President has to face have their roots in the past.

Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of man will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint.

A good politician is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar.

Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is.

Politics I supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.

You might win some, you might lose some. But you go in, you challenge yourself, you become a better man, a better individual, a better fighter.

In England, when an athlete gets to the top, we do our best to destroy him.

I would rather have peace in the world than be President.

Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.

In countries where innocent people are dying, the leaders are following their blood rather than their brains.

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.

Loyalty to the Nation all the time, loyalty to the Government when it deserves it.

Instead of being critical of people in authority over you and envious of their position, be happy you’re not responsible for everything they have to do. Instead of piling on complaints, thank them for what they do. Overwhelm them with encouragement and appreciation!

No one person controls Microsoft. The board and the shareholders decide whether they want to have me as CEO.

I’m no leader; I’m a little humble follower.

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

I have been very happy in the House of Representatives.

Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else’s hands, but not you.

Politics is a science. You can demonstrate that you are right and that others are wrong.

The point in history at which we stand is full of promise and danger. The world will either move forward toward unity and widely shared prosperity – or it will move apart.

For the introduction of a new kind of music must be shunned as imperiling the whole state; since styles of music are never disturbed without affecting the most important political institutions.

The people are hungry: It is because those in authority eat up too much in taxes.

Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite – inspire fear and insecurity.

You and I are stuck with the necessity of taking the worst of two evils or none at all. So-I’m taking the immature Democrat as the best of the two. Nixon is impossible.

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

Politics is just like show business. You have a hell of an opening, coast for a while, and then have a hell of a close.

We all know we have a finite period of time. I just feel if I’m going to be alive, I want to be challenged – to be as immortal as possible. The path to that isn’t an easy way, but it’s a rewarding way.

Some people want to win races. Other people want to be President of the United States.

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

What interests me in life is curiosity, challenges, the good fight with its victories and defeats.

The time is long overdue to stop looking for progress through racial or ethnic leaders. Such leaders have too many incentives to promote polarizing attitudes and actions that are counterproductive for minorities and disastrous for the country.

I cannot swallow whole the view of Lincoln as the Great Emancipator.

Anything important is never left to the vote of the people. We only get to vote on some man; we never get to vote on what he is to do.

Many shoulder heavy burdens of righteous responsibility which, on occasion, seem so difficult to bear. I have heard those challenges termed impossible.

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

What Britain needs is an iron lady.

The topic of leadership is a touchy one. A lot of leaders fail because they don’t have the bravery to touch that nerve or strike that chord. Throughout my years, I haven’t had that fear.

Well, I have great respect for Senator Hirono.

Last year we said, ‚Things can’t go on like this‘, and they didn’t, they got worse.

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.

I think my message to the politicians who have within their power the ability to make change is, ‚Do you really, really not care about the future of your great-grandchildren? Because if we let the world continue to be destroyed the way we are now, what’s the world going to be like for your great-grandchildren?‘

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

It’s just hard to meet new people, in my position.

There are some members of the House leadership whose only mission in life is to demonize the president.

People make a big fuss over you when you’re President. But I’m very serious about doing everything I can to make sure that it doesn’t go to my head.

Nothing can be more hurtful to the service, than the neglect of discipline; for that discipline, more than numbers, gives one army the superiority over another.

When a new source of taxation is found it never means, in practice, that the old source is abandoned. It merely means that the politicians have two ways of milking the taxpayer where they had one before.

It is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it… anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.

If you’re in business or politics, you need to have an intense understanding of what’s going on around you.

Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure.

We need to reject any politics that targets people because of race or religion. This isn’t a matter of political correctness. It’s a matter of understanding what makes us strong. The world respects us not just for our arsenal; it respects us for our diversity and our openness and the way we respect every faith.

When our governments want to sell us a course of action, they do it by making sure it’s the only thing on the agenda, the only thing everyone’s talking about. And they pre-load the ensuing discussion with highly selected images, devious and prejudicial language, dubious linkages, weak or false ‚intelligence‘ and selected ‚leaks.‘

In George Bush you get experience, and with me you get – The Future!

Being a full human being is difficult, frightening, and problematical.

Those who can win a war well can rarely make a good peace and those who could make a good peace would never have won the war.

I mean… in life… what relationship is easy?

Honor is not the exclusive property of any political party.

Decisiveness is a characteristic of high-performing men and women. Almost any decision is better than no decision at all.

The Soviet government is the most realistic regime in the world – no ideals.

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

I nearly failed when Virgin was in its infancy; I nearly failed in the early 1980s, and, of course, I have nearly died more than once trying to achieve a world record for boating or ballooning. But through a combination of luck and planning, both Virgin and I are still here.