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

That government is best which governs least.

To govern means to pillage, as everyone knows.

As to marriage or celibacy, let a man take which course he will, he will be sure to repent.

A director makes 100 decisions an hour. Students ask me how you know how to make the right decision, and I say to them, ‚If you don’t know how to make the right decision, you’re not a director.‘

Women will only have true equality when men share with them the responsibility of bringing up the next generation.

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.

The only bipartisanship you ever see is when they finally sign a bill and everybody says, ‚Gee, isn’t that wonderful?‘

We should work with the principle that a work that can be done at a lower level should never be escalated to a higher level.

It is more difficult to rule yourself than to rule a city.

Control is the source of strategic power.

If you want to reach the top, don’t run over others. Likely, the only way you’ll reach the top is to be carried there by others.

Many Communist government officials have a rigid, dictatorial power, but they live in constant suspicion and fear of anything that might undermine the power they have.

Through every victory and every setback, I’ve insisted that change is never easy and never quick; that we wouldn’t meet all of our challenges in one term, or one presidency, or even in one lifetime.

We must have government that builds stamina into communities and men. That makes men instead of mendicants.

The Scoutmaster who is a hero to his boys holds a powerful lever to their development but at the same time brings a great responsibility on himself. They are quick enough to see the smallest characteristic about him, whether it be a virtue or a vice.

The men who have guided the destiny of the United States have found the strength for their tasks by going to their knees. This private unity of public men and their God is an enduring source of reassurance for the people of America.

No group and no government can properly prescribe precisely what should constitute the body of knowledge with which true education is concerned.

Every family should have the right to spend their money, after tax, as they wish, and not as the government dictates. Let us extend choice, extend the will to choose and the chance to choose.

Anyone who knows history, particularly the history of Europe, will, I think, recognize that the domination of education or of government by any one particular religious faith is never a happy arrangement for the people.

I had rather be first in a village than second at Rome.

But do I think that our actions in anyway violate the War Powers Resolution, the answer is no.

Actually oddly enough, I think my work, the activism, will be forgotten. And I hope it will. Because I hope those problems will have gone away.

The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.

In the late 1960s, the masses were supposed to be passive, not entering into the public arena and having their voices heard.

If we can but prevent the government from wasting the labours of the people, under the pretence of taking care of them, they must become happy.

When I started Virgin from a basement in west London, there was no great plan or strategy. I didn’t set out to build a business empire… For me, building a business is all about doing something to be proud of, bringing talented people together and creating something that’s going to make a real difference to other people’s lives.

In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.

We must think and act like a nation of a billion people and not like that of a million people. Dream, dream, dream!

Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history. We, of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation.

When restraint and courtesy are added to strength, the latter becomes irresistible.

I bought a company in the mid-’90s called Dexter Shoe and paid $400 million for it. And it went to zero. And I gave about $400 million worth of Berkshire stock, which is probably now worth $400 billion. But I’ve made lots of dumb decisions. That’s part of the game.

If you have fear, you are bound by tradition, you follow some leader or guru. When you are bound by tradition, when you are afraid of your husband or your wife, you lose your dignity as an individual human being.

If you call yourself a leader, then you have to be decisive. If you’re decisive, then you have the chance to be a leader. These are two sides to the same coin.

On every front there are clear answers out there that can make this country stronger, but we’re going to break through the fear and the frustration people are feeling. Our job is to make sure that even as we make progress, that we are also giving people a sense of hope and vision for the future.

The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.

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.

Arafat’s departure has created an awesome opportunity.

Government does not create wealth. The major role for the government is to create an environment where people take risks to expand the job rate in the United States.

Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.

If I think too hard about a relationship, I’ll talk myself out of it.

There are websites that any government wants to block. The truth about the Internet is that it’s extremely hard to block anything – extremely hard. You’ll never get perfect blocking.

I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury.

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

Let me tell you what I literally told every world leader I’ve met with, and I’ve met them all: It’s never, never, never been a good bet to bet against America. We have the finest fighting force in the world.

There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.

The problem with car dealerships is you’ve already decided what you want to buy before you even go there, and you’re really just going there to talk through some annoying negotiation.

A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.

People are usually more convinced by reasons they discovered themselves than by those found by others.

At one point he decided enough was enough.

I definitely connected to the fact that life gets out of control and you end up doing things and wishing you were doing other things instead.

In doubtful cases the more liberal interpretation must always be preferred.

I’ve seen firsthand that being president doesn’t change who you are. It reveals who you are.

Every President wants to do right.

One man with courage is a majority.

Never give an order that can’t be obeyed.

Forgiveness is not a feeling – it’s a decision we make because we want to do what’s right before God. It’s a quality decision that won’t be easy and it may take time to get through the process, depending on the severity of the offense.

Waking up early was the first example I noticed in the SEAL Teams in which discipline was really the difference between being good and being exceptional.

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.

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

Wisdom oft times consists of knowing what to do next.