The action we take and the decisions we make in this decade will have consequences far into this century. If America shows weakness and uncertainty, the world will drift toward tragedy. That will not happen on my watch.

America’s promises do not come with a price tag. We meet our commitments. We bear our burdens. That’s one of the reasons why almost every country on Earth sees America as stronger and more respected today than they did eight years ago when I took office.

No notice is taken of a little evil, but when it increases it strikes the eye.

It’s amazing, the culture Coach Belichick has been able to create in our system.

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.

Science never solves a problem without creating ten more.

People seem to know about May Day everywhere except where it began, here in the United States of America. That’s because those in power have done everything they can to erase its real meaning.

‚Speed‘ and ‚Point Break‘ were a lot of running and jumping, and then ‚The Matrix Trilogy‘ had a lot of fights and wire work and green screen elements.

We also can’t try to take over and rebuild every country that falls into crisis. That’s not leadership; that’s a recipe for quagmire, spilling American blood and treasure that ultimately weakens us. It’s the lesson of Vietnam, of Iraq – and we should have learned it by now.

When I was kidnapped, my parents snapped into action. They rented out my room.

If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem.

How does a nice Catholic girl end up going to prison for a year? It’s crazy. I’ve made mistakes. I have to pay for those mistakes.

It’s hard to speculate what tomorrow may bring.

I don’t like to commit myself about heaven and hell – you see, I have friends in both places.

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

As a single withered tree, if set aflame, causes a whole forest to burn, so does a rascal son destroy a whole family.

Public opinion is the thermometer a monarch should constantly consult.

I have no further use for America. I wouldn’t go back there if Jesus Christ was President.

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

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.

In my country we go to prison first and then become President.

You know, you can only lead them from behind.

In America everybody is of the opinion that he has no social superiors, since all men are equal, but he does not admit that he has no social inferiors, for, from the time of Jefferson onward, the doctrine that all men are equal applies only upwards, not downwards.

What we won when all of our people united must not be lost in suspicion and distrust and selfishness and politics. Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as president.

Action is the real measure of intelligence.

Most businesses think that product is the most important thing, but without great leadership, mission and a team that deliver results at a high level, even the best product won’t make a company successful.

There is but one way for a president to deal with Congress, and that is continuously, incessantly, and without interruption. If it is really going to work, the relationship has got to be almost incestuous.

Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.

You can’t try to do things; you simply must do them.

Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things.

Leadership is a choice, not a position.

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

I just want to do God’s will. And he’s allowed me to go to the mountain. And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the promised land! I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land.

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

As President Nixon says, presidents can do almost anything, and President Nixon has done many things that nobody would have thought of doing.

We are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our follies – it is the first law of nature.

Go before the people with your example, and be laborious in their affairs.

I can hear you, the rest of the world can hear you and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.

Our brand of democracy is hard. But I can promise that a year from now, when I no longer hold this office, I’ll be right there with you as a citizen – inspired by those voices of fairness and vision, of grit and good humor and kindness that have helped America travel so far.

When Hillary was First Lady, we went to the Beijing Women’s Conference. She courageously stood up and spoke out on behalf of human rights and women’s rights, inspiring millions to fight for a better future.

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.

Pleasure and action make the hours seem short.

Their mothers had finally caught up to them and been proven right. There were consequences after all but they were the consequences to things you didn’t even know you’d done.

You want me to own a team and deal with these rich, spoiled stubborn athletes, and try to get them to perform? No thank you.

If people lose faith in their government, the result is the same whether or not the loss of confidence is justified.

You’re president, if you conclude my judgment is not the right judgment, I abide by that, but I want an opportunity to have an input.

A hustler has to deal with danger and risk. It’s part of the game. You cannot control it all, nor would you want to. Chaos, unknown factors are not something to be anxious about.

As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.

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.

To the person with a firm purpose all men and things are servants.

Self-centered leaders manipulate when they move people for personal benefit. Mature leaders motivate by moving people for mutual benefit.

We are America, second to none, and we own the finish line. Don’t forget it.

You are 27 or 28 right? It is very tough to live at that age. When nothing is sure. I have sympathy with you.

Probably the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing-fields of Eton, but the opening battles of all subsequent wars have been lost there.

Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall.

The excessive increase of anything causes a reaction in the opposite direction.

Perhaps, after all, America never has been discovered. I myself would say that it had merely been detected.

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.

Some years ago I became president of Columbia University and learned within 24 hours to be ready to speak at the drop of a hat, and I learned something more, the trustees were expected to be ready to speak at the passing of the hat.

Public education is our greatest pathway to opportunity in America. So we need to invest in and strengthen our public universities today, and for generations to come.