The most important thing for a director is being able to communicate.

Listen, I think that people want a president who is going to be interested in the things that keep them up at night, the things that are weighing on them, the things that are debilitating and can be addressed.

Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.

Good management consists in showing average people how to do the work of superior people.

A leader is a dealer in hope.

In the long-run every Government is the exact symbol of its People, with their wisdom and unwisdom; we have to say, Like People like Government.

When you’re one of the leaders of the team, there are no days off.

What I admire most about Hillary is that she never buckles under pressure. She never takes the easy way out. And Hillary Clinton has never quit on anything in her life.

As a leader, the first person I need to lead is me. The first person that I should try to change is me.

I believe in benevolent dictatorship provided I am the dictator.

It means, people who are in high and responsible positions, if they go against righteousness, righteousness itself will get transformed into a destroyer.

In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.

Compromise used to mean that half a loaf was better than no bread. Among modern statesmen it really seems to mean that half a loaf; is better than a whole loaf.

How can a president not be an actor?

I think that there is never an indispensable leader, you know? I think that there is a time with dignity that one needs to leave.

I loved being Secretary of State, that’s probably evident to everyone who watched me.

So when I speak in front of thousands, tens of thousands of people, I don’t really get nervous because I know what I want to say and I know what message I want to give.

The President is going to benefit from me reporting directly to him when I arrive.

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

Public opinion is the thermometer a monarch should constantly consult.

But even the President of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked.

Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else’s hands, but not you.

The events of October 1962 are widely hailed as Kennedy’s finest hour.

A company is a group organized to create a product or service, and it is only as good as its people and how excited they are about creating. I do want to recognize a ton of super-talented people. I just happen to be the face of the companies.

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

I’ve been known to preach.

To lead people walk behind them.

Everybody accuses me of moving fast when I direct a picture. I don’t move fast, but I just keep moving.

The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.

Being president is like being a jackass in a hailstorm. There’s nothing to do but to stand there and take it.

Eventually you get to this point where you understand what you want to do and get across and sound like.

The time has come for all evangelists to practice full financial disclosure. The world is watching how we walk and how we talk. We must have the highest standards of morality, ethics and integrity if we are to continue to have influence.

There is no necessity to separate the monarch from the mob; all authority is equally bad.

I think I’d be a better president because I was in combat.

The wicked leader is he who the people despise. The good leader is he who the people revere. The great leader is he who the people say, ‚We did it ourselves.‘

If you tell people where to go, but not how to get there, you’ll be amazed at the results.

Be the chief but never the lord.

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.

My desire to devolve authority has nothing to do with a wish to shirk responsibility.

I’m not a person that socializes very well.

I love that we can trust Barack to do what he says he’s going to do, even when it’s hard – especially when it’s hard.

One civilization after another has been wrecked upon the attempt to secure sufficient leadership from a single group or class.

One of the roles of the Presidency is to lead a political party. Having a President in office is usually a huge advantage to a party because it gives the party a mouthpiece and an advocate at the highest level.

Leaders in all spheres who are living with HIV should be encouraged, not coerced, to lead by example and disclose their HIV status.

Just as discipline and freedom are opposing forces that must be balanced, leadership requires finding the equilibrium in the dichotomy of many seemingly contradictory qualities between one extreme and another.

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.

To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble.

It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.

Our chief justices have probably had more profound and lasting influence on their times and on the direction of the nation than most presidents.

Politics is not bean bags. It’s serious, tough stuff.

Americans… still believe in an America where anything’s possible – they just don’t think their leaders do.

You gotta make sure the listener is listening to you, so if you put it into a song, often times, if the song is striking enough, then you can really deliver the story most effectively while keeping the ear of the listener the whole time.

Our friends at the Republican convention were more than happy to talk about everything they think is wrong with America, but they didn’t have much to say about how they’d make it right. They want your vote, but they don’t want you to know their plan.

As a leader, you have to have the ability to assimilate new information and understand that there might be a different view.

I know of no single formula for success. But over the years I have observed that some attributes of leadership are universal and are often about finding ways of encouraging people to combine their efforts, their talents, their insights, their enthusiasm and their inspiration to work together.

The new ruler must determine all the injuries that he will need to inflict. He must inflict them once and for all.

One of the issues I kept saying to my students is you have to learn to interrupt. When you raise your hand at a meeting, by the time they get to you, the point is not germane. So the bottom line is active listening. If you are going to interrupt, you look for opportunities. You have to know what you’re talking about.

I don’t want to spend the rest of my life giving speeches.

Barack knows the American Dream because he’s lived it, and he wants everyone in this country to have that same opportunity, no matter who we are or where we’re from or what we look like or who we love.

A president either is constantly on top of events or, if he hesitates, events will soon be on top of him. I never felt that I could let up for a moment.

One of the key qualities a leader must possess is the ability to detach from the chaos, mayhem, and emotions in a situation and make good, clear decisions based on what is actually happening.