My relationship to power and authority is that I’m all for it. People need somebody to watch over them. Ninety-five percent of the people in the world need to be told what to do and how to behave.

The colonel replied that he didn’t care how my men had got the job done. He was happy that it had been accomplished. He said that, obviously, no matter how much or how little I knew technically, I was able to get the best out of people I worked with.

In other words, don’t expect to always be great. Disappointments, failures and setbacks are a normal part of the lifecycle of a unit or a company and what the leader has to do is constantly be up and say ‚we have a problem, let’s go and get it‘.

I have always believed in evolving a consensus before taking any major decision.

In the world of money and investing, you must learn to control your emotions.

It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.

A consistent anarchist must oppose private ownership of the means of production, and the wage-slavery which is a component of this system, as incompatible with the principle that labor must be freely undertaken and under the control of the producer.

Leadership to me means duty, honor, country. It means character, and it means listening from time to time.

Next to enjoying ourselves, the next greatest pleasure consists in preventing others from enjoying themselves, or, more generally, in the acquisition of power.

Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.

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.

The more a person seeks security, the more that person gives up control over their life.

As president, you can get all kinds of advice from all kinds of people. But at the end of the day, when it comes time to make that decision, as president, all you have to guide you are your values and your vision and the life experiences that make you who you are.

It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.

Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions.

I’m the president of the United States. I’m not the emperor of the United States.

Communism has never come to power in a country that was not disrupted by war or corruption, or both.

I’ve studied authoritarianism for a very long time – for 40 years – and they’re started by people’s attempts to control the ideological and linguistic territory.

Leave no authority existing not responsible to the people.

Affluence means influence.

When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike.

There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly.

There are massive efforts on the part of the internet’s corporate owners to try to direct it to become a technique of marginalisation and control.

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.

I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.

The day-to-day making of policy is arguing all the time. You’re trying to get the right approach and the right answer, and there are moments that aren’t very pleasant. But in the end, you look at the overall product.

Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism to power.

People are generally better persuaded by the reasons which they have themselves discovered than by those which have come in to the mind of others.

I think the personal relationships I established mattered in terms of what I was able to get done. And I did bring women’s issues to the center of our foreign policy.

Thaw with her gentle persuasion is more powerful than Thor with his hammer. The one melts, the other breaks into pieces.

As social animals, we are extremely susceptible to the moods of other people. This gives us the power to subtly infuse into people the appropriate mood for influencing them.

Presumptuous for me to say, but at least – at a minimum – I’ve been able to influence the direction of the Democratic Party on foreign policy. And I’ve been relatively – presumptuous to say – relatively successful legislatively in the Senate, being able to win a lot of Republican friends, and being able to cross the aisle.

Back in the day, what motivated me was overcoming myself. Now I believe in being a leader. I’ve done it all – I’m good. Now, it’s about setting an example for others to follow. I can’t just talk it – I have to live it.

I’m not comparing myself with anyone, but I am very confident about my captaincy, as I have already led India and in the IPL also. I have confidence I can bring out each player’s ability fully and also give them a lot of confidence… I would like to stick to what I know best and what I have confidence in.

In times of need, God can come to you in a myriad of disguises.

Here in the West, people often don’t like listening to their leaders, even if they are right.

Immaturity is the incapacity to use one’s intelligence without the guidance of another.

The revolution has always been in the hands of the young. The young always inherit the revolution.

The onus is on the managers to send out an attacking formation and to tell their players to be bold.

To rule is easy, to govern difficult.

I vividly remember a conversation I had many years ago in 1974, which marked a turning point in my leadership journey. I was sitting at a Holiday Inn with my friend, Kurt Campmeyer, when he asked me if I had a personal growth plan. I didn’t. In fact, I didn’t even know you were supposed to have one.

The issues a president faces are not black and white, and cannot be boiled down into 140 characters. Because when you have the nuclear codes at your fingertips and the military at your command, you can’t make snap decisions. You can’t have a thin skin or the tendency to lash out.

When the best leader’s work is done the people say, ‚We did it ourselves.‘

The purposes of the United States should not be doubted. The Security Council resolutions will be enforced – the just demands of peace and security will be met – or action will be unavoidable. And a regime that has lost its legitimacy will also lose its power.

Power is poison. Its effect on Presidents had always been tragic.

You cannot be in a position of power and destroy the life of another person.

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

We are second-hand people. We have lived on what we have been told, either guided by our inclinations, our tendencies, or compelled to accept by circumstances and environment. We are the result of all kinds of influences, and there is nothing new in us, nothing that we have discovered for ourselves: nothing original, pristine, clear.

To bear means to support the weight of that which is held. It is a sacred trust to bear the priesthood, which is the mighty power and authority of God.

The President’s post should not be politicised. Once a president is elected, he is above politics.

It is more agreeable to have the power to give than to receive.

I think a number of the leaders are, whether you like it or not, in the hip-hop generation. And when they understand enough, they’ll do wonders. I count on them.

For ideas to prevail, many of their defenders have to die in obscurity. Their anonymous influence makes itself felt.

I always tell people that you should only hire people to be on your team if you would work for them.

You must capture and keep the heart of the original and supremely able man before his brain can do its best.

If an individual wants to be a leader and isn’t controversial, that means he never stood for anything.

I’ve always wanted to own and control the primary technology in everything we do.

A word after a word after a word is power.

Even though the risks of death are higher driving than flying, many people would rather drive simply because they feel they have more control driving. The facts are that only a few hundred people die a year flying, and 44,000 are killed a year driving.

When I was running training, we would fire a couple of leaders from every SEAL team because they couldn’t lead. And 99.9% of the time, it wasn’t a question of their ability – it was a question of their ability to listen.

I’ve seen how the issues that come across a president’s desk are always the hard ones – the problems where no amount of data or numbers will get you to the right answer.