The atomic bomb certainly is the most powerful of all weapons, but it is conclusively powerful and effective only in the hands of the nation which controls the sky.

I’m an introvert… I love being by myself, love being outdoors, love taking a long walk with my dogs and looking at the trees, flowers, the sky.

Immense power is acquired by assuring yourself in your secret reveries that you were born to control affairs.

Nothing is more gratifying to the mind of man than power or dominion.

The separation of church and state is a source of strength, but the conscience of our nation does not call for separation between men of state and faith in the Supreme Being.

The Medici created and destroyed me.

‚Tis best to weigh the enemy more mighty than he seems.

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.

A master performer like Bill Clinton never lost sight of the fact that as president he had to project confidence and power, but if he was speaking to a group of autoworkers he would adjust his accent and his words to fit the audience, and do the same for a group of executives.

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.

A pair of powerful spectacles has sometimes sufficed to cure a person in love.

Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it, and it will go nowhere at all.

I don’t run restaurants that are out of control. We are about establishing phenomenal footholdings with talent.

No other country in the world does what we do. On every issue, the world turns to us, not simply because of the size of our economy or our military might – but because of the ideals we stand for, and the burdens we bear to advance them.

The thing is, if you control the Senate meetings, you control the gavel. And the gavel is a very important instrument… an instrument of power. An instrument that establishes the agenda.

I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be.

In the usual progress of things, the necessities of a nation in every stage of its existence will be found at least equal to its resources.

Now if there is one thing that we do worse than any other nation, it is try and manage somebody else’s affairs.

Control and surrender have to be kept in balance. That’s what surfers do – take control of the situation, then be carried, then take control. In the last few thousand years, we’ve become incredibly adept technically. We’ve treasured the controlling part of ourselves and neglected the surrendering part.

It’s a mystery. That’s the first thing that interests me about the idea of God. If there is one, it’s mysterious and powerful and awesome to even consider the concept, and you have to take it seriously.

The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced.

In a world of complex threats, our security and leadership depends on all elements of our power – including strong and principled diplomacy.

The Spanish Empire eventually collapsed because of its expensive taste for warfare and conquest.

It’s wonderful to climb the liquid mountains of the sky. Behind me and before me is God and I have no fears.

No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.

Man is supposed to be the maker of his destiny. It is only partly true. He can make his destiny, only in so far as he is allowed by the Great Power.

As our enemies have found we can reason like men, so now let us show them we can fight like men also.

The United States never lost a war or won a conference.

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

If men can develop weapons that are so terrifying as to make the thought of global war include almost a sentence for suicide, you would think that man’s intelligence and his comprehension… would include also his ability to find a peaceful solution.

The three most powerful and most apparent means used by Rome to retain her power over the minds of her votaries are Ignorance, Superstition, and Persecution.

Life comes with many challenges. The ones that should not scare us are the ones we can take on and take control of.

You listen to Charlie Parker or John Coltrane before they found their voice, they sounded different. And when you listen to them after they found their voice on their instruments, they sound more confident and in control. Artists have that, too.

The great defense against the air menace is to attack the enemy’s aircraft as near as possible to their point of departure.

One thing I hope I’ll never be is drunk with my own power. And anybody who says I am will never work in this town again.

Regimes planted by bayonets do not take root.

Force does not constitute right… obedience is due only to legitimate powers.

The power of an air force is terrific when there is nothing to oppose it.

It is a paradox that every dictator has climbed to power on the ladder of free speech. Immediately on attaining power each dictator has suppressed all free speech except his own.

The genius, wit, and the spirit of a nation are discovered by their proverbs.

What is true of the individual will be tomorrow true of the whole nation if individuals will but refuse to lose heart and hope.

The Corps is in good hands, and it’s been a privilege to serve with the Leathernecks. Now it’s time to go.

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.

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.

The power of man has grown in every sphere, except over himself.

It is good taste, and good taste alone, that possesses the power to sterilize and is always the first handicap to any creative functioning.

Wherever the enemy wants to fight, we will follow him to the ends of the Earth. We’ll adapt, we’ll train, we’ll advise, we’ll mentor, and we’ll fight, and we’ll fight well.

Our Nation must defend the sanctity of marriage.

Freedom does not die from frontal attack. It dies because men in power no longer believe in a system based upon liberty.

The biggest difference in the wet between F2 and F1 is that there’s so much more power in F1 as being on the throttle earlier has a bigger advantage.

The Marine Corps is the Navy’s police force and as long as I am President that is what it will remain. They have a propaganda machine that is almost equal to Stalin’s.

Hence it comes about that all armed Prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed Prophets have been destroyed.

At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.

The world’s biggest power is the youth and beauty of a woman.

I would storm the gates of Hell if Third Marine Air Wing was overhead.

Patriots always talk of dying for their country and never of killing for their country.

There are few things that we so unwillingly give up, even in advanced age, as the supposition that we still have the power of ingratiating ourselves with the fair sex.

When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the area of man’s concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.

The totalitarian, to me, is the enemy – the one that’s absolute, the one that wants control over the inside of your head, not just your actions and your taxes.

We do not covet anything from any nation except their respect.

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.