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.

It’d be stupid for me to sit here and say that there aren’t kids who look up to me, but my responsibility is not to them. I’m not a baby sitter.

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

Persuasion is clearly a sort of demonstration, since we are most fully persuaded when we consider a thing to have been demonstrated.

Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.

We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.

The measure of a man is what he does with power.

I mean Facebook is no longer a company, it’s a country. 2 billion users. It can influence what we think, what we believe, how we vote, what we buy, even how we feel.

I don’t think that a Justice should have uppermost in her mind, ‚A Democratic president appointed me, so I must leave to be sure that another Democratic president can appoint my successor.‘

A very large majority of the U.S. population is in favor of establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba and has been for a long time with some fluctuations. And even part of the business world is in favor of it, too. But the government won’t allow it.

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.

The influence of ‚Hidden Fortress‘ comes up a lot because it was printed in a book once. The truth is, the only thing I was inspired by was the fact that it’s told from the point of view of two peasants, who get mixed up with a samurai and princess and a lot of very high-level people.

There is only one way… to get anybody to do anything. And that is by making the other person want to do it.

Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.

If we go on your iPhone and go to the dictionary and look up ‚humble,‘ 80 per cent of the definition is negative. It’s a controlling word. It’s a way to control the masses and to control the sheep.

I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president – with the possible exceptions of Johnson, FDR, and Lincoln – just in terms of what we’ve gotten done in modern history. But, you know, but when it comes to the economy, we’ve got a lot more work to do. And we’re gonna keep on at it.

When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer ‚Present‘ or ‚Not guilty.‘

The influence of a mother upon the lives of her children cannot be measured. They know and absorb her example and attitudes when it comes to questions of honesty, temperance, kindness, and industry.

What I’d really like to control is not machines, but people.

Domestic policy can only defeat us; foreign policy can kill us.

There was a time Michael Jackson couldn’t get his video on MTV because he was considered to be ‚urban.‘ The Michael Jackson. So I literally have to be the Michael Jackson of apparel in order to break down the doors for everyone who will come after I’m gone, after I’m dead.

The moment people feel they know what to expect from you, your spell on them is broken. More: You have ceded them power.

Fifty years of isolating Cuba had failed to promote democracy, setting us back in Latin America. That’s why we restored diplomatic relations, opened the door to travel and commerce, and positioned ourselves to improve the lives of the Cuban people.

I don’t think that a leader can control, to any great extent, his destiny. Very seldom can he step in and change the situation if the forces of history are running in another direction.

Bhai was my hero and he had immense influence on me.

The list of U.S. vetoes at the Security Council to protect Israeli aggression and occupation is huge.

Kids are watching us. I experience it every single day. They hang on my every word, what I wear, what I say.

Al Qaeda is almost all in Pakistan, and Pakistan has nuclear weapons. And yet for every dollar we’re spending in Pakistan, we’re spending $30 in Afghanistan. Does that make strategic sense?

Language is a weapon of politicians, but language is a weapon in much of human affairs.

I don’t think the war in Afghanistan was ruthlessly enough waged.

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

The difference is slight, to the influence of an author, whether he is read by five hundred readers, or by five hundred thousand; if he can select the five hundred, he reaches the five hundred thousand.

No foreign policy – no matter how ingenious – has any chance of success if it is born in the minds of a few and carried in the hearts of none.

In fact, the best thing we could do on taxes for all Americans is to simplify the individual tax code. This will be a tough job, but members of both parties have expressed an interest in doing this, and I am prepared to join them.

Nobody is as powerful as we make them out to be.

It is wise to persuade people to do things and make them think it was their own idea.

The Bush Administration’s failure to be consistently involved in helping Israel achieve peace with the Palestinians has been both wrong for our friendship with Israel, as well as badly damaging to our standing in the Arab world.

I know from having had a child, and from having been a child myself, that children will copy you.

Moral authority is never retained by any attempt to hold on to it. It comes without seeking and is retained without effort.

I’m not a big believer in trying to jam stuff down somebody’s throat: ‚You’re going to do it my way.‘ I’d rather show by example and live my life and have people say, ‚You know what, I want to live like Joel has. He’s got peace and joy, and he seems content.‘

If you leave the smallest corner of your head vacant for a moment, other people’s opinions will rush in from all quarters.

In Hawaii, some of the biggest radio stations are reggae. The local bands are heavily influenced by Bob Marley.

I like Italian movies. I was frequently there in the ’60s, in Rome and the vicinity. It was a great period in life. I was very influenced by their stuff.

Success is always dangerous, and we need to be alert and avoid becoming the victims of our own success. Will we influence the world for Christ, or will the world influence us?

Writers write to influence their readers, their preachers, their auditors, but always, at bottom, to be more themselves.

When the external factors over which one has no control in a way start to become negative, it starts to affect our creative juices.

Of course we all know Biden is the intellect of the Democratic Party. Kind of a grin with a body behind it.

I never could get over the fact that The Pixies formed, worked and separated without America taking them to its heart or even recognizing their existence for the most part.

I think members of the legislature, people who have to run for office, know the connection between money and influence on what laws get passed.

Reputation is the cornerstone of power. Through reputation alone you can intimidate and win; once it slips, however, you are vulnerable, and will be attacked on all sides. Make your reputation unassailable.

Character may almost be called the most effective means of persuasion.

Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another.

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.

Foreign policy is like human relations, only people know less about each other.

The good opinion of mankind, like the lever of Archimedes, with the given fulcrum, moves the world.

Neil Young is my hero, and such a great example. You know what that guy has been doing for the past 40 years? Making music. That’s what that guy does. Sometimes you pay attention, sometimes you don’t. Sometimes he hands it to you, sometimes he keeps it to himself. He’s a good man with a beautiful family and wonderful life.

For a sitting U.S. president to see our allies as freeloaders is nuts.

My style influences my music and everything around me.

The man who can dominate a London dinner-table can dominate the world.

Everybody, to some extent, manipulates. Even children learn to cry when they want something. There are all kinds of subtle things we do to get others to follow our lead, not bother us, and so on.

Clinton himself acted in ways which increased the threat of terror.